Running head: P.E.P.S.I.

Screening: Subject Judah Ortiz 1

P.E.P.S.I. Screening: Subject Judah Ortiz

Caitlin Orozco

CSN Education Department, College of Southern Nevada

EDU 220 Online: Principles of Educational Psychology

Rochelle Hooks

April 2, 2021
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Biography

Judah Ortiz was born October 29, 2014, in Las Vegas Nevada. He is half white and half

Hispanic and their family is a solid middle class. His parents Michaela and Jean Pierre Ortiz.

They have been married for 5 years and counting. He has an older brother (8 years old), a

younger sister (3 years old), a younger brother (1years old). His older brother doesn’t live with

him due to having a different mother. He does get to see him when he sleeps over on weekends.

In 2019, his mother had a baby that was stillborn and hit a low point for the whole family.

He did preschool in 2020 and is currently in preschool. Starting the school year online

was a new adjustment for him and his family. He just recently went back to school two times a

week. He has two other instruction days during the week online. The parents are trying to keep

him in class physically as much as possible.

Judah is raised in a Christian household, with his mother being a pastor. His father is a

manager for a plumbing company. They spend lots of time with his mother’s side of the family

because they live in Las Vegas. As for Jean, his family resides in Peru and sees them very rarely.

His parents have yet to see their grandchildren in person. He is growing up in a very close-knit

and loving family. He is very close with his grandparents on his mother’s side. They see them

about 2-4 times a week.

Physical Development

After watching Judah over the past seven months, I got to see him grow mentally and

physically. According to Disabled World (2020), the average height and weight for a six-year-

old male are 45.5lbs and 45.5”. In contrast to that, Judah weighs 50lbs and 44.5”. Which is

within the bracket as other males his age. When he plays with the kids in the neighborhood, he is

a little bit bigger in weight size.

Judah is a very active child. When he was three, he was in gymnastics and did it two

times a week. He now is currently doing BMX biking at a recreation center. He loves to ride his

bike and try to push his limits on how fast he can go. When he races his friends, he is the fastest

by 1.5 seconds. He is always wanting to go play outside. Whether it’s jumping on the trampoline

to get his flips down or to just be outside playing, He is always looking for something to keep

him busy.

I did have a chance to observe him in Physical Education class. He is not as willing to

participate as I thought he would be, considering how active he likes to be. When I would run his

class lesson with him, he was more than happy to do his very best. I realized he doesn’t like

doing it by himself on a computer screen. He likes to see other people having fun with the

exercise with him. He also loves a good competition to finish anything. According to Kidcentraln

(2018), he is excelling in the physical activity scale. He is working on his hand-eye coordination.

He also can dance to music when playing Just Dance 2021. He is also wanting to play football

when he gets older, which Rasinchildren (2006-2021) says that’s normal for his age group.
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Emotional Development

Through observation and conversation, it has been revealed to me that Judah is an

emotional little boy. During the end of summer and the first half of school, Judah seemed like a

very happy boy. He would behave and listen to authorities. He isn’t one to talk out his feeling

before he gets a sudden burst of anger and sadness. Rasinchildren (2006-2021) says they should

be able to talk through their emotions.

Once the school year had their winter break, he did a 180 on his emotions. He had more

sudden outbursts. As well as telling anyone who wasn’t his parent that they can’t tell him what to

do. He also seeks more family attention. Great School (2018) states that it common for children

to want and seek attention from family. One example I’ve noticed is that when his grandmother

drops him off, he starts to cry that he wants to go with her to run to the store. He is even willing

to miss out on a fun activity to stay with his grandmother.

Judah also cares what his peers think of him. He will make sure he is dressed to his liking

before going to play outside with his friends. The CDC says that kids 6-8 “Want to be liked and

accepted by friends”. If he doesn’t like his outfit, he will start throwing a tantrum to get his way.

He is always trying to impress his friends by showing off. When Judah talks about growing up he

still says that he is not a grown-up and needs his parents. However, when you tell him any kind

of criticism he doesn’t take it very well. Rasinchildren (2006-2021) states that it’s normal for it

to happen.
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Philosophical/ Moral Development

To gauge Judah’s philosophical development, I dived into his moral barometer and his

thoughts about certain topics. According to Theschoolrun (2021), he should be having questions

with several answers. He does understand how lying is wrong and how it could get him into

trouble. With my time with him, he doesn’t seem to resort to lying for his first line of defense.

According to Greatschools (2018), he doesn’t have the “wants it all” thinking

development. He understands he has to make a choice and to share. I think this is mainly because

he has younger siblings that don’t understand it quite yet. He still struggles with knowing when

it’s not his choice to choose what he does. Over the time I’ve known him, he has been getting

more entitled feeling because his parents felt so bad that he was doing online school that they

gave in to anything he wanted which messed up his moral development.

According to Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development (2-2b) states that he might not be

able to mentally reverse actions. Judah has proven many of times that he can’t mentally reverse

actions. Especially when it comes to conversations with him when he keeps thinking he smarter

than his parents but doesn’t realize what he could’ve done to not talk back to his parents. This

stage is called preoperational.

When it comes to moral development Judah knows what he should do but looks past that

for immediate gratification. He rather says sorry after than asking for permission later. Yet he

still won’t lie to get his way. I do think his family’s religion plays a part in that moral thinking

because he thinks he can go to hell if he lies too much.

Social Development

While I watch Judah I noticed he’s an extrovert. He’s not shy, he’s always introducing

himself to kids when we are at the park. According to Great schools (2018), it shows 3 out of the

development it talks about. The first one he has friendships and can sometimes be unkind to his

peers if they do something he does not like. When I asked him, what happened he says that they

were unkind to him and wouldn’t listen to him.

The second one is he feels the need to win it will change the rules to suit himself. I saw

this firsthand on a few things. One was a game of checkers; he has only played once before and

when we played, I took it easy on him. However, when I won, he got upset and told me I

couldn’t do that that we had to restart the game because I didn’t fall the rules. When we played

again, he changed the movement of the checkers when I left the room. I thought on after the third

time when I confronted him, he said he was sorry but threw a tantrum and said it was unfair

because I know how to play, and he didn’t. (According to Great schools 2018)

According to Ask Dr. Sears (2021), it’s normal for him to internalize family values.

When his brother was younger, he knew when his brother had to eat and would help his mom

with whatever she needed because he knew that it was important for them to keep his brother on

a cycle. So, when he knew it was time to have his brother take a nap, he would try to get his

brother to start sleeping before he was in his crib. He also does it with the church. He knows how

much church means to his mom and grandparents. So in return, he loves church and talks to you

about how much it means to him to be a child of God.

Intellectual Development

According to the text (3-1d) states that “kindergarten children do not accurately assess

their competence for particular tasks. There are times Judah thinks he can take care of his brother

by moving him. Unfortunately, his brother is half of his size and cannot hold his brother’s

weight. He also thinks he can play fortnight them anyone because the game sets people up based

on skill level. He sometimes thinks he’s smarter than Bill Gates. When you say something, he

doesn’t know he will change it to “you do not know it either”.

After spending so much time with him, I’ve noticed he is a very smart kid. Based on his

test scores he should skip a grade. He finishes his independent work in half the time than most

kids. After the first week, he understood what he needed to do and could complete it on his own

with very little assistance. He would also finish some assignments before the class session was

even over. According to Mott Children (2020), he should be able to count to ten. He can count to

100 with only skipping 9s.

Mott Children (2020) also states that they can read simple words. Judah can read basic

sentences as well as text messages his mother receives. He sounds out words or will ask sir how

to pronounce them so he can learn. He is a very bright kid and doesn’t realize how smart he is.

He can tell you his family drama once you walk into the door. He also can tell when he’s playing

too rough with his little brother. He also likes to tell you fun facts that he learned while he was in

school.
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Graph

Graph

12

10

0
Physical Emotional Philosophical
Graph Social Intellectual

10= meets
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Recommendations for Teachers/ Parents

I recommend to the parents they should keep doing what they are doing. He is doing

great for his age with everything going on changing the “typical” 6-8-year-old development.

When it comes to physical development, I recommend that they keep him busy with extra

physical activities. Making sure he stays active will keep his energy level low when doing

school. It will also help him to look forward to something after school.

As for emotional development, I recommend that they keep positive energy when

addressing something. He feeds off the energy people are putting out. Due to him being sensitive

in certain areas you need to be careful in your approach. Keep encouraging him to do better and

he can always do better.

When it comes to Philosophical Development there’s nothing, I can think of except keep

reassuring him that he can do it. He is still able to learn more just with some help. I recommend

keeping him socially active in the neighborhood. There are kids his age that he can relate to.

When he goes to weekday church events, he is stuck with little kids that do not help him socially

because sometimes he will pick up some habits that he has outgrown.

Lastly, I would recommend more ways to help his education. The work he does seems to

be way too easy for him and it’s not challenging him. He is very smart and should be challenged.

He should do the full 20-25 mins. on his math practice app to help him move up to harder topics

on it instead of him just biting him time to play after. Keep encouraging him that he is smarter

than he thinks.
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References

5-6 years: Child development. (2021, March 19). Retrieved April 24, 2021, from

https://raisingchildren.net.au/school-age/development/development-tracker/5-6-years

Amy Morin, L. (n.d.). How to help your preschooler develop a healthy moral compass. Retrieved

April 24, 2021, from https://www.verywellfamily.com/a-guide-to-the-moral-development-

of-preschoolers-4144880

By: GreatSchools Staff | July 23, 2. (n.d.). Developmental milestones: YOUR 6-year-old child.

Retrieved April 24, 2021, from https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/developmental-

milestones-your-6-year-old-child/

Disabled World. (2020, October 07). Average height to Weight Chart: Babies to teenagers.

Retrieved April 24, 2021, from https://www.disabled-world.com/calculators-charts/height-

weight-teens.php

Middle childhood (6-8 years old). (2021, February 22). Retrieved April 24, 2021, from

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/middle.html

Milestones for 6-Year-Olds. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24, 2021, from

https://www.mottchildren.org/health-library/ue5723

Philosophy in primary school: How thinking skills will benefit your child. (n.d.). Retrieved April

24, 2021, from https://www.theschoolrun.com/philosophy-in-primary-school

Physical development: Ages 6-7. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24, 2021, from

https://www.kidcentraltn.com/development/6-7-years/physical-development-ages-6-7.html

Sears, D. (2021, January 05). 5 stages of moral growth of children. Retrieved April 24, 2021,

from https://www.askdrsears.com/topics/parenting/discipline-behavior/morals-manners/5-

stages-moral-growth-children

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

Wadsworth.