1.

General Information:

Name: Luke

Age: 9 years, 7 months

Grade: 4

Date of Birth: 8/5/2005

Resides with: Joe (Father, Male) and Johna (Mother, Female), both 37

Siblings: Ian (brother, male, 12) and Owen (twin brother, male, 9)

Physical description: Average height, small frame, blonde hair, blue eyes, wears

glasses

2. Background: Interviewed his mother on March 10 around 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm, at

their house.

Birth weight: 4 lbs 12 oz

Pregnancy and labor: Twin birth, Baby "A"; no complications

Age of Developmental Milestones

Crawling: 8 months

Sitting: 6 months

Walking: 12 months
Language development: Started talking around one, quickly developed a vocabulary

Temperament: Happy, very inquisitive, always asked "why"

General Health: Good

From the information I received from Luke's mother it seems as though he developed at

all the right times. He started crawling at 8 months and normal can be anywhere from 8

to 12 months. At the age of 6 months Luke was able to sit up without the help of anyone

and a normal age for this is anywhere for 4 to 7 months. Luke also starting walking

around the age of 1 and normal is around 1 or a little after. Around this time he also

starts talking when he began to walk. After beginning to talk his vocabulary developed

very rapidly. Which is very impressive considering they only start to say a few words by

18 months. According to his mother his temperament was happy and he was very

inquisitive, always asking "why". Luke's general health was also in good condition, never

really getting any type of sickness out of the ordinary.

3. Pre-school History: Interviewed Mrs. Terry at 1:40 until 2:00 in her classroom at

Mountain View Elementary/Middle School.

Reading skills: Always on target or above

Cognitive: Above average on everything

Social: A little shy

Emotional: Wasn't upset about being away from home, his mother/father, or his twin

brother

Motor: Excelled in all motor activities. He was a "very bright boy"

Luke's reading skills according to his preschool teacher were on target and above

average for a preschool student. She also said that his cognitive development was also

above average on everything they did inside the classroom. This is awesome to know

because he is also currently excelling in his classes now as a fourth grader.

Luke socially was a little shy but not too extreme this might have to do with the fact that

they separated he and his twin brother for the first time. He was probably comfortable

with being around his brother all the time and not having him around might have put him

back in his shell a little but of course he got better as the year went along.

Emotionally, she said Luke was very stable. He never cried because he missed his

mommy or anything like that. He was a very independent preschooler.

4. School History: Interviewed his mother on March 10 around 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm, at

their house.

Academics: Very strong in reading and math

Social Skills: Good, has no problems making friends

Peer Relationships: Good, has sleepovers with friends regularly

Relationships with teachers and other adults in school setting: Very good - he makes

sure that his teachers like him ;) He's a "pleaser"

Luke is a very advanced student for his fourth grade class. He seems to be excelling in

everything he is doing within his schoolwork and also outside of there. He is the top

student in his class. Just by sitting in with his class for about fifteen minutes you could

easily tell that yourself. During class when the teacher is orally asking them questions

about the lesson he is always actively participating and has his hand up ready to

answer. He is very strong in reading in math. Luke's teacher told me that he wins an

award every month for the most Accelerated Reader points, so she had to start

choosing two winners instead of just one because it's always him and nobody else was

winning anything. During their free time or reading intervention block you can easily find

him because he will be the first one with his Accelerated Reader book out and ready to

roll.

Luke's strong suit is not only reading but also math. He and his twin brother are far

beyond the other students on their times table and he's always the first one done with

his busy work or tests. I also noticed that for review before math class begins the
teacher will write about five long division problems on the board and let students

volunteer to do them and the last one is always the hardest and Luke is the only one to

volunteer for it. The other kids were struggling to even do it on their paper, but Luke was

ready to show off for everyone. Every time I was there he would successfully complete it

at about the same rate the other students are completing theirs.

Luke is an all around great student, not only does he perform well academically but also

socially and physically. According to Luke's mother he has no problems making friends,

he is very social and always at the appropriate time. When the teacher has to turn a

movie on in the classroom for recess most of his buddies flock to him and place their

chairs near his. Luke has also gained a lot of his friends through his basketball league

where he also excels.

I've learned through his mother and his current teacher that his relationship to adults is

also very strong because he is always a "people pleaser". He wants to make everyone

happy and do what is right. Teachers love him!

5. Observations of Child:

Mainly from what I can tell and from what you read in the previous section Luke is an all

around great student. From watching Luke inside of the classroom I have every reason

in the book to back up the fact that he is the ideal fourth grader. I also observed Luke
momentarily in a home setting when interviewing his mother he was off playing Legos

with his twin brother.

Through my observations I found nothing out of the ordinary. He has respect for his

teachers and his parents. He doesn't get into any trouble in class.

6. Summary:

Applying Luke to all of the development theories was hard for me because he really

didn't have developmental, physical, social, or cognitive challenges. Although, in regards

to Erik Erikson's theory that personality develops in a series of stages does apply to

Luke. Luke developed a personality within his family and with his twin brother, but once

they went to preschool they were separated so I'm sure this changed his personality, say

for instance Luke was the more quiet one and his twin brother did all their talking, but

once they're without each other they almost had to develop another personality. Even

though Luke had his mother as a nurturing caregiver he never developed an intense

attachment problem to her either. Within Erikson's psychological stage he suggests that

children as students once they're about eight start to gain a sense of confidence in their

school work through encouragement from their parents and teachers. Luke definitely

had a great support system to get him academically where he is today. His teachers

know that he goes above and beyond what is asked for him, yet they are still able to set
up challenges for him inside the classroom. I think another reason why he excels the

way he does is from the friendly competition he has going with his twin brother, who is

also one of the top students in his class.

I believe that Bandura's social learning theory also applies to Luke's development

because this is where children learn from observing others. I feel as if growing up with a

twin brother you would learn a lot from their mistakes and grow with each other as a

whole. Bandura's social cognitive theory also applied to Luke because he learns things

by experiencing them, vicariously, but also through observing other people.

Also, according to Piaget's theory in relation to each developmental stage beginning

with sensorimotor, preoperational, and then onto concrete operational stage, and formal

operations stage, Luke was on target in each and every one of those.

Luke has always developed physically and cognitively in a way that theorists would say

is normal.

This whole experience has taught me a lot about what is normal for a developing child

and what an ideal fourth grader is truly like. It would be nothing for me to say that I will

be leaving this class with a great sum of knowledge on the physical, cognitive, and

emotional development of a child. I can only hope that one day I'll have a class full of

Lukes.