Running head: CASE STUDY OF A CHILD AGE 8 1

Case Study of a Child Age 8

Oscar Garcia

EDU 220 - 1003

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Case Study of a Child Age 8

Physical Development:

Some typical behaviors for a child who is 8 years old include being active and keeping

themselves occupied, making goofy faces, having accidents, eating right, and improving their

health (University of Washington, 1993). This means that the child is full of energy and have a

great sense of humor. The kids at this age are still timid but will explore new things. According

to Snowman and McCown (2013), children of this age are extremely active, but they become

fatigued from too much activity. There is also large-muscle control to fine coordination, such as

holding a pencil and writing. More students will be farsighted, and the bones and ligaments are

still developing. From my observations, my nephew who is 8 years old struggles to carry a gallon

of milk whenever he wants cereal and describes it as being too heavy. He also wears glasses and

loves being a clown by making sounds and faces. Furthermore, he has plenty of energy but will

get tired of writing. Some recommendations towards these types of behaviors would be to not

take them serious when they are not being serious, tolerate their accidents, encourage their

improvements, and comfort them (University of Washington, 1993). Teachers should also

prioritize resting periods, so their students energy is not drained. They should also limit the

amounts of writing and reading to prevent fatigue and discouragement of school (Snowman &

McCown, 2013).

Emotional Development

Some typical behaviors for an 8-year-old include self-criticism, dramatize everything,

and conflicting of emotions. They may also argue and rebel against instructions for a short period

of time until finally following orders, and love receiving rewards based on behavior (University

of Washington, 1993). There are a lot of feelings and emotions starting to occur and conflict with
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each other. However, children may not understand their feelings and emotions. Students are

starting to feel sensitive towards criticism and will have a difficult time accepting failure

(Snowman & McCown, 2013). The criticism could come from themselves or of others. My 8-

year-old nephew can be harsh on himself. For example, one of the drawings he made, he threw

away and tore to pieces calling it dumb and ugly. This happened once I found the drawing and

praised him on it, but he thought otherwise. He can also be rude with no manners but loves being

helpful. Some recommendations for this type of behavior can be I Statements to understand

how they feel and the reason behind it (PBS Parents, 2017). With a little practice, kids can

formulate and understand their emotions as well as control them. Praise and recognition are also

important for a teacher to acknowledge for their students. This is the age of industry versus

inferiority in accordance to Erikson (Snowman & McCown, 2013). The teacher wants to make

sure to avoid ridicule and criticism for that reason. Finally, assigning job roles in the classroom is

a healthy way for the students to help around the classroom (Snowman & McCown, 2013).

Cognitive/Intellectual Development

Some typical behaviors for a child who is 8 years old include knowing there are multiple

ways of doing something and which way is better, showing curiosity in many things,

overestimating own ability, thinking silently in their head, and being aware of the ability of their

memory (Snowman & McCown, 2013). Psychologist who studied in this field of cognitive

development are Vygotsky and Piaget. Vygotsky developed the sociocultural approach which

cognitive development varies across cultures. He also believed cognitive development is

influenced within the zone of proximal development (McLeod, 2014). This is where children are

learning through social interactions with others. In contrast to Vygotsky, Piaget believed that

cognitive development is distributed in stages. The stage of development that corresponds with
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an 8-year-old is the concrete operational stage (McLeod, 2015). In this stage, children can work

things out in their head, and the beginning of logic. From observing my 8-year-old nephew, he

understands the quantity of something being the same even when it is something different. He

starts to question things and tries to think of solutions of the reasoning behind it. He sometimes

thinks out loud. Recommendations would be to give small tasks that the child can accomplish,

help the child state the reason for something, and help them be aware of the meaning behind

vocabulary words or unfamiliar words (Snowman & McCown, 2013).

Psychosocial/Social Development

Some typical behaviors of an 8-year-old would be making friends easily of the same sex,

enjoying organized games with the feeling of competitiveness, and getting into verbal fights than

physical ones more often (Snowman & McCown, 2013). Erik Erikson theorized the Stages of

Psychosocial Development in which contributes to the childs identity. The 8-year-old falls under

the industry versus inferiority stage. In this stage, children are becoming more competitive and

want to do things that other children of the same age can do. If they succeed, they develop self-

confidence. However, if they fail, they feel inferior to others (Psychology Notes HQ, 2017).

From my observations in a 3rd grade class, girls usually work with other girls, and boys usually

work with other boys. I have not seen competitiveness in the classroom, but the students usually

make up their own games, such as who can run the fastest and touch the fence.

Recommendations for this would be to generate the idea of games being just for fun to avoid the

rowdiness as well as changing the teams frequently. Finally, paying attention to the difference

between bullying and minor teasing (Snowman & McCown, 2013).

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Moral Development

The typical behavior for an 8-year-old would be the feeling of guilt and shame

(University of Washington, 1993). This is where the child knows the difference between right

and wrong. Kohlbergs theory of morality is fixed in stages. The 8-year-old falls under the

preconventional stage of morality, which is where the child does not fully understand the rules in

a society. Therefore, they are obeying to avoid punishment or the idea of doing something for an

equal exchange (Snowman & McCown, 2013). From my observations, the feeling of guilt and

shame usually occurs when the students are not behaving respectfully towards the substitute

teacher, and then hearing the disappointment the next day by the teacher. However, there are also

those students who try and make sure everyone or specific people are behaving while the teacher

is away. Recommendations for this would be to focus on each individual rather than behavior

and reasonableness expectations (University of Washington, 1993).

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References

McLeod, S. A. (2015). Jean Piaget. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html

McLeod, S. A. (2014). Lev Vygotsky. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html

PBS Parents. (2017). Child development tracker Ages 2- 8. Retrieved

from http://www.pbs.org/parents/child-development/

Psychology Notes HQ. (2017). Erik eriksons theory of psychosocial development. Retrieved

November 5, 2017, from https://www.psychologynoteshq.com/erikerikson/

Snowman, J. & McCown, R. (2013). ED PSYCH. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

University of Washington. (1993). Child development: Using the child development

guide. Retrieved from http://depts.washington.edu/allcwe2/fosterparents/training/chidev/

cd06.htm