PEPSI:

Understanding the Whole Child 1

PEPSI- Understanding the Whole Child

Wendy Garcia

College of Southern Nevada

PEPSI: Understanding the Whole Child 2

Abstract

Paris Taylor is a three year old girl. She lives only with her mother and her

brother, Patrick, who is nine years old. Her mother works at Subway full time. This is the

first time Paris attended an early childhood program. She is currently enrolled in

preschool at Acelero Learning. They are a company affiliated with Headstart; which

provides child care for low income families. During the beginning of the school year,

Pariss behavior became challenging for the teachers because she refused to meet

expectations. Paris refused to cooperate and participate with other classmates. Paris

began hitting teachers when she was told what to do. Every time Paris is removed from a

prefer choice, she began throwing chairs and hitting her classmates. Her sentences

consisted of maximum five words (ex. No, I dont want). When behaviors were brought

up to mother, the mother responded by saying that Paris did not act like that at home.

During the home visit, the teacher witnessed Paris wrestling with her older brother. Her

brother told her to stop and push Paris off him, mom told son that he needed to stop

hurting his sister and disregarded the fact that Paris had been told to stop. When mother

dropped Paris off in the morning, Paris started hitting her mother. Her mother called the

teacher to take Paris away from her because she had to go to work. When mother left,

Paris began crying. After 10 minutes Paris sooth herself down with the help of the

teachers; just after that mother came back and told Paris she was going to be back later

and Paris began crying again.

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Physical

During the physical section of the PEPSI Model, the Gross motor control

increases. On Paris, her balance wasnt fully developed. She failed to walk in a straight

line guided by a tape. When teacher demonstrated how to stand on one foot, Paris fell

down. Paris attempted to kick a ball three times. Two out of those three times, she lost

balance and fell backwards. She used on hand to throw. Paris precession on motion failed

when she was asked to make a pyramid with three squared blocks. She was asked to draw

a cross after the teacher demonstrated how to do it and Paris did two vertical lines.

Emotional

During this stage, self help skills improve and some children become more

interested in other children. Paris was not able to recognized emotions in herself or other

people. Images of feelings where presented to her along with sentences stating the words

I feel _____. Paris snatch toys from children during choice time. She refuse to take

turns even with teacher assistance. She kept on saying, Mine, No, Mine. During read

out loud, Paris had high distractibility. She peeled off the pictures on the wall. When a

new teacher came into the room, Paris hugged them and said, Im sad.

Philosophical

During this stage, child does not differentiate between right and wrong but is able

to recognize what makes the caregivers upset. Paris started responding well to

consistency and structure within the classroom. After hitting a classmate and pulling her

PEPSI: Understanding the Whole Child 4

hair, Paris was asked, Why did you do that. Paris responded by saying, Im mad, my

friend sad.

Social

During this stage socialize play begins. Paris started following what another

classmate is doing. She follows her during mealtime and outside time. During choice

time, Paris is invited to play in housekeeping. Paris agrees to play and says, I am sister.

During outside time, another classmates tapped Paris shoulder and said, Paris, you cant

catch me. Paris begins giggling. While washing hands, Paris hit another girl and said

Move. Teacher began helping Paris see others viewpoints and suggested the word

Excuse me.

Intellectual

During this stage teacher assists child to move from sensory to a more concrete

use of the mind. Throughout this month Paris expressions have consisted in present tense.

She does not talk about past events. Her sentences are limited to few words pertaining

mostly to something she needs, feels, or wants. Teacher prompts Paris on counting.

Teacher uses bears to facilitate the one on one correspondence and eye to hand

coordination. Paris approached teacher and said, Look Ms. Karla I hurt

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Intellectual

Social

Philosophical Other Kids

Paris

Emotional

Physical

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4

The chart above compares the developmental progress of Paris to her peer group.

Strengths

From the last observations and information gathered of Paris, many suggestions

were offered to her mother. We started doing a behavioral tracking report. This allowed

us to recognize at what time and after what circumstance a behavior occurred. After

collecting different times and moments, we realized that Paris had difficulty expressing

herself with words. Many times the frustration of not being able to communicate

aggravated her. Her mother was willing to cooperate and decided to accept help from

Child Find and Paris is currently in speech therapy classes. Paris is able to express her

emotions and recognized other peoples feelings. This has increased her empathy towards

others. One of the things that was mentioned to mom was to establish consequences after

every action especially at home. When applied in a supportive way, this will increase her

discipline.

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