Child Psychology The child I observed, Brenden, was one of the four year olds that go to the daycare I work at. He was your average height and weight, African American, has short hair, and had two teeth missing. Brenden always has the biggest smile on his face; for the most part he is a happy kid. The major focus of this age is initiative vs guilt, which is Erik Erikson’s third stage of psychosocial development. This stage is when children assert their power and control through directing play and other social interactions. The child begins to make their own decisions, explore interpersonal skills, and act independently. Brenden is always trying to be independent. For example, he was having trouble playing a computer game. No matter how frustrated he got he still refused to have me help him. He wanted to figure this out on his own, which is good. He’s exploring his mind and figuring out what he can and can’t do. He was all excited to tell me that he dressed himself that morning, and you could certainly tell he did. At this age children are excited about their all accomplishments, no matter how small we seem to think they are. During play time I noticed that Brenden seems to play by himself. He has a huge imagination and seems perfectly content on his own. His favorite toys were the dinosaurs, track, and cars. He was having a blast playing his own little game. Another boy, Zachary, began to play with him. I was surprised to see that Brenden didn’t yell or push Zachary when he came over and took his toys. Instead, Zachary started yelling at Brenden, I was curious to see what he was going to do in this situation. But, he just walked away and found a new place to play, which I thought was very mature of him. He started playing with his twin brother, and all of a sudden he has tears streaming down his face. I asked him what was wrong and was comforting him. He said that Jaden won’t give him a batman car. At this age they are getting a sense
Child Psychology The child I observed, Brenden, was one of the four year olds that go to the daycare I work at. He was your average height and weight, African American, has short hair, and had two teeth missing. Brenden always has the biggest smile on his face; for the most part he is a happy kid. The major focus of this age is initiative vs guilt, which is Erik Erikson’s third stage of psychosocial development. This stage is when children assert their power and control through directing play and other social interactions. The child begins to make their own decisions, explore interpersonal skills, and act independently. Brenden is always trying to be independent. For example, he was having trouble playing a computer game. No matter how frustrated he got he still refused to have me help him. He wanted to figure this out on his own, which is good. He’s exploring his mind and figuring out what he can and can’t do. He was all excited to tell me that he dressed himself that morning, and you could certainly tell he did. At this age children are excited about their all accomplishments, no matter how small we seem to think they are. During play time I noticed that Brenden seems to play by himself. He has a huge imagination and seems perfectly content on his own. His favorite toys were the dinosaurs, track, and cars. He was having a blast playing his own little game. Another boy, Zachary, began to play with him. I was surprised to see that Brenden didn’t yell or push Zachary when he came over and took his toys. Instead, Zachary started yelling at Brenden, I was curious to see what he was going to do in this situation. But, he just walked away and found a new place to play, which I thought was very mature of him. He started playing with his twin brother, and all of a sudden he has tears streaming down his face. I asked him what was wrong and was comforting him. He said that Jaden won’t give him a batman car. At this age they are getting a sense