Running head: PEPSI SCREENING 1

PEPSI Screening

Kennedy Tate

College of Southern Nevada

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PEPSI Screening

For my PEPSI Screening, I chose to observe a child from work. His name is Ethan, and

he is seven years old, and in second grade. I could observe him a lot while he was at Kids Quest.

Ethan usually had his mom pick him up, and he always was kind of excited to get here, but never

ready to leave. Ethan would always be ready to play any game, and is very friendly with all the

other kids.

Although Ethan is seven years old, his physical development is more like an eight-year-

old. According to J’Anne Ellsworth’s PEPSI chart, Ethan is very well coordinated, although he

never really seemed to accidentally hurt himself, he was very balanced. He tended to do attempt

a lot of trick while playing Freeze Dance, like balancing on hands and head. Going along with

the article “5 Developmental Milestones: 7-8 Years Old.” Ethan should be right on track with the

fact that he would try to do that, as it is a bit dangerous, but still needs a lot of coordination with

the hands.

I have also heard stories from Ethan about his adventures on the playground at school.

How he likes to climb on top of the monkey bars and just sit there most of the time. This goes to

show his active development is above his age level by at least one, because around the age of 8

the child would be able to basically coordinated the way they wanted to, and become more

active, although during the age of 7 is when he would become more reckless, and get more

injuries. According to PBS’s article “Your Seven Year Old”, Ethan is right on check with being

more active and exploring the sports, and coordination that he has.

As Ethan grows older, I know he would be ahead of others of the same age in physical

activity, he seems to like being active and playing all the different games we play at work along

with the older kids. He has told be how he loves playing soccer and actively trying to goal, and
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very proud of himself when he does in fact make a goal in the game. I would say that Ethan has

developed exceptionally when it comes to physical activity, and would place more like an eight-

year-old when it comes to J’Anne Ellsworth’s PEPSI rubric.

Ethan’s emotional state seems stable, and ready to do most things. He tends to second

guess himself on video games played alone, and he also tends to get upset when things don’t go

his way. Though he does over the hurt very easily, he usually tries his best to impress others

while playing the group activities at work, but when playing on the iPad by himself he tends to

do what he wants. Although when I tend to notice him not following rules he gets upset, and just

like J’Anne Ellsworth’s PEPSI rubric says, Ethan has had some “bad days” because he had not

paid attention to the adult. Ethan follows the rubric to a “T” for a seven-year-old. He does have

some characteristics of that of an eight-year-old though, like being very enthusiastic at the

beginning of Freeze Dance, but then losing a bit of steam after it had lasted for a while, then gets

upset when I call him out because he tends to want to win.

Over the course of observing Ethan I have realized that he tends to walk away in

frustrating situations and play alone, just like PBS says in their “Social and Emotional Growth”

article, would happen, he would usually react irrationally, or tend to work alone when frustrated.

I have seen Ethan walk away from a friend when it had become too confrontational. Ethan is

very passive about most thinks.

I know that Ethan takes pride in making goals in soccer, supporting his victories with him

helps him with the basic step of avoiding peer pressure. Emotionally Ethan, per verywell.com, is

very stable, he doesn’t really need to be talked to about being the mean one to all the other kids

at Kids Quest. He tends to be the one that keeps me sane when there are other kids there that

would annoy me, not the other way around.

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Socially, Ethan is like a butterfly. Every time he comes in he has a new story to tell about

a new friend, and he even makes friends so easily while there as well. The book says that he

would be very sensitive to criticism, so we need to show praise when it arises and show support.

Ethan though tends to be very reliant on himself, and is very responsive to when he wins at a

game. It seems that Ethan’s mom is just as supportive as he needs her to be.

Along with the book J’Anne Ellsworth says that he would be ready for other social

interactions outside of the family. Although Ethan is an only child, his social skills are far beyond

that of a different child, he already could have lengthy conversations with other adults if

necessary. He also plays well with others in a video game, gearing up to have many friends in the

future.

A little advice would be for the parent to encourage their child into doing a sport that they

want to do. Try to encourage their activity as much as possible, especially when it comes to

physical activity. A child will want to be reckless, and will eventually lead to a bunch of

accidental injuries, try to stock up on first aid items.

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Figure 1

Figure 1 Series one show the actual Development of Ethan, and series 2 show the ideal, or where

he should be on the scale.

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References

Ellsworth, J. (n.d.). Methods and Materials in Special Education. Retrieved December 12, 2017,

from http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jde7/ese504/class/pepsi/PEPSIObserv/year8.html

5 Developmental Milestones: 7-8 Years Old. (n.d.). Retrieved December 12, 2017, from

https://www.education.com/slideshow/developmental-milestones-7-8-years-

old/developmental-tasks-4/

Your Seven Year Old. (n.d.). Retrieved December 12, 2017, from

http://www.pbs.org/parents/childdevelopmenttracker/seven/index.html

Lee, K. (n.d.). What Type of Emotional Development Can You Expect in a 7-Year-Old?

Retrieved December 12, 2017, from https://www.verywell.com/your-7-year-old-child-

emotional-development-620704

Snowman, J., & McCown, R. (2015). Chapter 3: Age-Level Characteristics. In Psychology

Applied to Teaching (14th ed., pp. 84-88). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.