PEPSI Case Study 1

PEPSI Case Study

Mackenzie Melnar

EDU 220-3003 Fall

December 9, 2017
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PEPSI Case Study

Nicholas is a 9 year old male in the 4th grade. He was born in 2008 and has one older

half-sister. His parents are separated and his family life is somewhat complicated. His half-sister

is the daughter of his father and was only in his life until he was about 4; her mother took her to

another state. Currently he lives with his mother, maternal grandmother, and a younger brother.

He attends a public elementary school in Las Vegas and has been at this school since the

beginning of third grade; he previously attended another public elementary school for

kindergarten through second grade. Although his family life is not typically desired, this young

man seems to be developing rather well.

Physical
12
10
8
6
Intellectual 4 Emotional Average Development of 9
2 year old boys
0
Nicholas's Development

Social Philosophical

This graph shows how Nicholas compares to the typically developing 9 year old male in

the areas of his physical, emotional, philosophical, social, and intellectual development. Based

on observation his physical development is that of the average 9 year old, his emotional

development is closer to that of an 8 year old, his philosophical and social development are

closer to that of an 11 year old, and his intellectual ability is closer to 10 year old abilities.
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I. Physical

Nicholas weighs about 63 lbs and is approximately 4’2”. As far as boys go he is average

in height and weight (Average Height to Weight Chart). His physical development is on track

with his peers and he exhibits well developed large motor and fine motor skills. One of his

favorite activities is playing on his soccer team and he enjoys being active which are typical

characteristics of 9 year old boys (Milestones). He is able to get dressed and ready for school on

his own and really enjoys coloring and is able to do so inside the lines, suggesting that his fine

motor skills are developing on track as well (Milestones).

II. Emotional

One of the first things that I observed in him was that he is sensitive. It is typical of

children in the age range of 6-8 to be sensitive to criticism and ridicule (Snowman, 86). Nicholas

dyed his hair and was made fun of by his peers. When faced by the ridicule he cried at school,

suggesting his emotional skills are not well developed enough to overcome these situations on

the spot. It is also typical of students in this age range to become sensitive to the feelings of other

(Snowman, 87). Nicholas shows signs of this by asking his mother and father how their days

were, and being aware of the moods they are in. Nicholas has yet to “develop a more global,

integrated, and complex self-image” (Snowman, 90). Typically at age 9, children will begin to

develop more senses of self (i.e self-esteem, self-image, etc.) (Snowman, 90). When asked

questions about how he feels about himself he mostly responded “I don’t know.” I believe that

Nicholas has the emotional development of an 8-year-old. It seems that he is not significantly

behind his peers in regards to emotional development, and will soon hit the milestones for 9-

year-old as expected.
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III. Philosophical

Philosophy can be defined as “any system of belief, values, or tenets” (Dictionary.com).

When observing Nicholas and conversing with him I noticed that his outlook on the world

appears to be more advanced than that of his typically developing peers. His mother takes him to

church on Sundays and his father instills ideas of the world in him. Asking him questions about

his beliefs he was able to give detailed answers and ask thoughtful questions in return. One

question I asked him was “what does it mean to live a good life?” His answer surprised me,

when he said his idea of a good life is “to be happy and kind and generous.” His dreams for his

own future include “playing soccer professionally and having a bunch of money that [he] can use

for good and helping others.” He not only has the belief that the world needs his help but he has

the ability to think and give thoughtful responses. I feel that he is ahead of his peers in his

philosophical development because “Jean Piaget's… well-known theory of cognitive

development suggests that prior to age 11 or 12, most children are not capable of philosophical

thinking” (Pritchard). Since Nicholas has shown signs of these abilities I would consider him to

be showing philosophical development more common to the age of an 11 year old.

IV. Social

Nicholas has developed well socially. He has a few strong friendships and gets along well

with a majority of his peers. This is typical of children his age (Milestones). However some of

his other social characteristics include empathy, desire to conform, and seeking advice mainly

from his friends. Most school days he is more interested in chatting with his friends than paying

attention in class. These are typical social characteristics of middle schoolers (Snowman, 95).

Another characteristic that Nicholas shows is that he prefers to be with his friends independently

and does not want his parents hanging around when he is with his friends. Children tend to start
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showing this characteristic from ages 11 to 14 (Milestones). This leads me to believe that his

social development is more akin to an 11 year old.

V. Intellectual

Typical milestones in cognitive development for 10-year-olds listed according WebMD

include “…know the complete date, can name the months of the year in order, can read and

understand a paragraph of complex sentences, are reading books with chapters, are skilled in

addition and subtraction and are building skills in multiplication, division, and fractions, have

learned to write in cursive, can write simple stories” (Milestones). All of these skills were

observed in Nicholas. He exhibited excellent intellectual ability for his age. He is very organized

and has the ability to think logically consistently throughout the day and in a variety of

circumstances. This is a sign that he may be slightly ahead of his peers intellectually (Snowman,

92). I observed him thinking logically on multiple occasions when his father was doing math

homework with him. He would ask his dad appropriate questions and was able to follow along

with his dad’s logical explanations, following the progression of reason presented to him. He has

demonstrated to me that he has mainly mastery goals in mind and he strives to do the best he can

in all subjects. This is another sign that his intelligence is more advanced than his typical peers

(Snowman, 99). Based on the given observations and data, a reasonable stage of intellectual

development for Nicholas would be approximately the same as a 10-year-old.

Recommendations

Nicholas is developmentally on track if not ahead of his age group. Given his skills and

determination, as well as a variety of other factors, I would recommend that he be presented with

more challenges and his ideas be challenged to increase his philosophical development. I think

he has the potential to become anything he sets his mind to because of his ability to set and attain
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mastery goals. I would recommend that he be considered for accelerated classes to help

challenge him in the school setting. Nicholas seems somewhat out of touch with his emotions

and unable to control them consistently. For this I would recommend that his parents have more

conversations with him about his emotions and teach him tricks on how to control bad feelings

such as taking deep breaths. His social abilities are ahead of his peers but I would implore his

parents to remind him that he’s just a kid and to embrace his childhood. By getting more in touch

with his family than his friends he might also become more in touch with his emotions.

Conclusion

I think that in spite of Nicholas’s atypical family life he is developing very well and at a

steady rate. Based on my research I conclude that his development physically is on track with his

age group because he has average height and weight and demonstrates excellent large motor and

fine motor skills. His development emotionally is about a year behind because he is more

sensitive than his peers and has fewer sense-of-self concepts. His development philosophically is

ahead about two years due to the fact that he is aware of others’ needs and knows how to ask the

“big questions.” His development socially is heightened approximately two years as well

because he makes close friends and prefers their company independently. Lastly, his

development intellectually is ahead about one year because he is a concrete and consistent

logical thinker.
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References

Average Height to Weight Chart - Babies to Teenagers. (n.d.). Retrieved December 09, 2017,

from https://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/height-weight-teens.shtml

Milestones for 9-Year-Olds - Topic Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved December 09, 2017, from

https://www.webmd.com/children/tc/milestones-for-9-year-olds-topic-overview#1

Philosophy. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved December 9, 2017 from

Dictionary.com website http://www.dictionary.com/browse/philosophy

Pritchard, M. (2017, February). Philosophy for Children. Retrieved December 9, 2017, from

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/children/

Snowman, J., & McCown, R. R. (2015). Psychology applied to teaching. Belmont, CA:

Wadsworth.