RUNNING HEAD: PEPSI Screening 1

PEPSI Screening of Jennifer March

Alexandra Anderl

College of Southern Nevada

EDU 220- 1005

Dr. Hooks

October 22, 2017

Intro
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This PEPSI screening is of Jennifer March. Jennifer is a current elementary student in

fourth grade. She is nine years old. Jennifer has a fraternal twin brother. She lives in a

multigenerational home with her grandmother, mother, father, half-brother, twin brother, half-

sister, and sister’s boyfriend. The household is also home to three dogs, a cat, a hamster, and

several fish tanks. The family is a modest, upper-middle class family. They live a comfortable

lifestyle and have no problems providing for the children.

Jennifer’s mother travels for work and is gone usually from every Sunday evening/night

through Thursday evening. While mom is gone, her father is the head of the household. In the

absence of her mother, Jennifer’s sister steps in not only as a sister, but as a second mother

figure. Her grandmother often leaves for Mexico to be with family, so she is only intermittently

an adult figure in Jennifer’s life. Her older brother works and goes to school, so he does not

spend a lot of one on one time with her. She has a close relationship with her twin brother. Her

sister’s boyfriend is also a prominent adult figure, and they have a good relationship.

Jennifer enjoys going to school, however she may tend to struggle academically. Outside

of school, she attends an art class that she thoroughly enjoys. She attended a gymnastic class for

a few weeks, but has since stopped going. Although she doesn’t attend the class, she still enjoys

doing acrobatics in the home and is still very active. She spends a lot of time playing games on

her iPad, but is very private about which games or other apps she uses. She is very motherly and

loves to spend time caring for the animals in the home. Jennifer struggles with social and

emotional difficulties, which will be discussed in further detail throughout the screening. Despite

those difficulties, Jennifer lives a happy life.

Physical
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Between the ages of nine and eleven, most young girls have started or will soon start

entering puberty. Jennifer has hit this stage of development. She has begun to develop breasts.

To my knowledge, she does not have armpit hair or pubic hair yet. According to an article found

on VeryWell.com, “Nine-year-old children are on the brink of adolescence. In the next few

years, they will experience significant changes in physical development as they enter puberty and

their preteen years” (Lee). Following the statement, Jennifer is right on track with her

development in regards to puberty.

A chart published by the CDC shows that the average nine year old girl weighs between

60 and 70 pounds and is between 50 and 55 inches tall. Jennifer weighs about 70 pounds and is

58 inches tall. While her weight falls into the average, she is taller than the average. Her body is

very thin. In comparison with her family, she is on track to be the tallest in her family. She is a

head taller and ten pounds heavier than her twin brother. Her mom and sister are only 63 inches

tall. Her dad is 69 inches. According to her doctor, Jennifer is on track to be 72 inches tall.

In the Michigan State University Extension an author states of children that “They will

experience growth spurts at different rates that moves them towards adolescence. Typically girls

will begin to grow and mature faster than boys during this time period” (Stewart). This is proven

true with Jennifer’s development. She rapidly outgrows her clothes and sher shoes. She is much

taller and weighs much more than her twin brother. Her physical maturation is very rapid

compared to other children her age, specifically compared to boys. This will be true for her

maturation in other areas of development as well.

Emotional
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Just as puberty plays a role in her physical growth, it also plays a role in her emotional

growth. She is starting to be hormonal which impacts her moods. Beyond emotions cause by

hormonal turmoil, Jennifer is also impacted by other emotional difficulties. She has been

diagnosed with ADD. While not diagnosed, I have also seen signs of struggles with anxiety. At

this age it may be too difficult to diagnose her with an anxiety disorder. John Mersch, MD states

that “The tween age can be filled with anxiety.” So at this age, anxiety may be just a general

struggle many children face, or it may be a more serious issue to watch in the future.

At this age Janelle Stewart lists that this age is when children begin to “accept parent and

family beliefs, admire and imitate older youth, develop decision-making skills, begin to question

authority, need involvement with caring adult, and find comparisons with others difficult to

process.” In regards to this list, Jennifer strongly exhibits a few of these traits. Her close

relationship with her sister has allowed her to adopt a lot of her sister’s personality traits. She

imitates how her sister acts toward their parents. Their closeness has allowed her to look to her

sister as the caring adult.

Mersch also states that “the 9- to 11-year-old starts down the path of self-identity,

independence, and development of moral values that will mark the teen years.” I have not

observed this in Jennifer. While she may inwardly have an idea of who she is and what she

wants, she does not express those thoughts out loud. This lack of expression may also be caused

by her undiagnosed emotional disorders. She does not enjoy talking about herself or the future.

Other emotional issues I have observed are her inabilities to accept compliments and her

unwillingness to be hugged and kissed by the family. These traits have been present throughout

her life and are not due to puberty. While there is still time that she could outgrow these feelings,

it is something to watch for now and in the future.

Philosophical

At this age, a child’s sense of self begins to develop. According to J’Anne Ellsworth, at

the age of nine a child should have a strong sense of right and wrong. Jennifer is on track with

her sense of what is inherently right and wrong in the world. With recent events like the shooting

on October 1st, Jennifer has started to discuss why those events have happened. At one dinner

discussion, she asked me “Why do people do bad things?” She is starting to understand that

although some actions are considered wrong, there are people out there who still do them. This is

leading to create a sense of real fears. She now focuses on the “real” world, rather than a world

of fantasy. She has begun to question us about the reality of Santa. On the other hand, her brother

still strongly believes.

Ellsworth also writes that at this age “jobs and responsibilities are accepted, but the child

tends to procrastinate at this age, forgetting to perform agreed upon tasks.” Jennifer often agrees

to do things in turn for rewards, but often forgets to do the task she agreed to do. When she was

gifted a hamster for her 9th birthday, she promised to care for the hamster all on her own. But

either a parent has to remind her to care for the pet, or they have to perform the duties

themselves.

Ellsworth also discusses that at this age a group identity may begin to form. However,

this is not true with Jennifer. Instead Jennifer is very solitary. She prefers to be alone and does

not like to do things with other people. She doesn’t participate in group activities. She does not

participate in family activities. She has a strong sense of self identity, however she does not

identify with the group. This leads to a shortcoming in her social development.

Social
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Jennifer is very behind in her social development. I believe this comes from her ADD and

some undiagnosed anxiety disorders. She does not to do well in social interactions. “Children

become somewhat more selective in their choice of friends and are likely to have a more or less

permanent best friend” (Snowman & McCown 2015). She claims to have a few friends, however

they do not ever have play dates or do anything together outside of school. When at a school

harvest festival, Jennifer was overwhelmed by the amount of people at the event and she asked to

leave. Jennifer quit gymnastics after she advanced to another class that had more than three

students. She cried and fought and pled to not be forced to go to the class once she found out that

she was no long in the old class.

At this age children should see adults as authority and follow rules out of respect for

authority (Stewart, 2013). This is generally true of Jennifer. In the home she tends to question

authority, however she respects adults outside of the home. She shows complete respect for

teachers, her therapist, and other adults outside of the home. The difficulty comes when it is time

to respect and follow rules in the house. She shows the most respect to her sister, but does not

respect other adults as willingly.

“Quarrels are still frequent. Words are used more often than physical aggression,”

(Snowman, McCowan, 2015). When Jennifer fights with her siblings, she uses her words. Once

in a while she will hit someone, but verbal arguments are most common. She most often fights

with her brother about needing personal space. I am not sure of whether this is true with friends

at school, however there has not been any complaints coming from her teachers.

Intellectual

In terms of IQ, Jennifer is above average. Academically though, she is only average. This

is most likely due to her ADD. She does not qualify for an IEP. Her mother is now looking into a
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504 plan to help Jennifer’s grades reflect what she is truly capable of. The only area that Jennifer

falls behind in is mathematics. In comparison with her other siblings, she falls behind them. All

three of her siblings were in gifted and talented education programs and in honors/accelerated

classes. She may be also capable of succeeding in those classes if she is offered extra help from

those at home and teachers in the classroom. In regards to Gardern’s theory of multiple

intelligences, Jennifer most prominently displays spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, and musical

intelligences.

“On tasks that call for simple memory skills, elementary grade children often perform

about as well as adolescents or adults,” (Snowman, McCowan, 2015). In terms of memory,

Jennifer is far beyond the norm. She has incredible memorization capabilities. Specifically she is

able to remember events that the rest of us barely remember. She can recall facts from things that

happened years ago. The goal now is to take that skill and apply it to her education. She is

capable of applying this skill, but just requires more time and patience.

Skills that a nine year old should have according to Ellsworth include knowledge about

conservation of matter, numbers should make sense, knowledge about successions and functions

of time, and awareness that they are not the center of the universe (1999). Jennifer does have all

of these skills. She is very aware of time and her surroundings. She understands the needs of

others. While she may not always act on this knowledge, she has displayed that she understands

the concepts.

Recommendations

Overall, Jennifer is a child who is developing in time or faster than her peers. However

the two categories she lacks in are social and emotional development. As stated earlier, these

downfalls are due to underlying conditions. Even if she does well intellectually, her lack of
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social abilities will make her future difficult. Her emotional instability will also make her future

difficult. There are a few suggestions to help Jennifer develop these areas.

The most simple suggestion to to have her attend counselling. She went to therapy for a

few months, and it seemed to help her develop emotionally. She has since stopped going and I

can see that her progress has now regressed. Therapy is a good option to have one-on-one time

that helps Jennifer realize her shortcomings and learn how to work through those. There is also

an option for group therapy where she can learn from and relate to other children who have the

same struggles that she has.

Inside the classroom, Jennifer needs a teacher that is willing to take the extra time to help.

With ADD, students are likely ignored. Because they don’t disrupt the class, the teacher does not

often see a need to intervene. The teacher should watch Jennifer and make sure that she is indeed

paying attention and not focusing elsewhere. This can be done with simple, discrete redirections.

A point to make with Jennifer is that she does not like to be the center of attention, so calling her

out in front of the class will cause her anxiety.

The same is true at home. When asking Jennifer to do something, it is best to do so

privately. It is also important to explain why she is being asked to do something. She likes to

help around the house, so pose a chore as something that an adult needs help with. At home, the

adults should suggest the Jennifer try to find time to play with her friends outside of school.

Slowly start to facilitate playdates at home or at the park.

Jennifer enjoys being active, so attempting a team sport may help develop her social

skills. A few years ago she spent a few weeks on a soccer team, but did not play for long because

her brother did not enjoy it. According to her, one of her friends plays soccer, which would be a

good way to get Jennifer introduced to the idea of playing a team sport. It is also important that
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she continue to develop her artistic skills in her weekly art class. That is something she

thoroughly enjoys doing, so it should always be a prominent part of her week.

Adults in her life should also begin to help Jennifer develop her philosophical views. She

likes to discuss current events. Make time each day to discuss things that have happened. Begin

to ask her about her future and what she thinks she would like to do in the future. Take those

events that interest her and tie those into future career goals, allowing her to get an idea of what

could be down the road for her. These few examples are only some of many that can help

Jennifer develop those areas that she lacks in.

PEPSI Graph

Average
for age

Physica Emotiona Philosophica Social Intellectual

References

Ellsworth, J. (1999). Ninth Year. Retrieved October 22, 2017, from

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jde7/ese504/class/pepsi/PEPSIObserv/year9.html

Lee, K. (2017, February 14). What to Expect of the Physical Development of a 9-Year-Old.

Retrieved October 22, 2017, from

https://www.verywell.com/your-9-year-old-child-physical-development-620709

Mersch, J. (2015, June 29). Tween Child Development: Get the Facts. Retrieved October 22,

2017, from

https://www.medicinenet.com/tween_child_development/article.htm#what_are_mileston

es_in_psychological_and_emotional_development_for_tweens

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

Wadsworth.

Stewart, J. (2013, January 7). 9- to 11-year-olds: Ages and stages of youth development.

Retrieved October 22, 2017, from

http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/9_to_11_year_olds_ages_and_stages_of_youth_developm

ent