1. How well is your child adapting to social situations in the home and outside the home? Does your child have any behavior or emotional problems at this point? Why do you think these problems are occurring and what are you doing about them?
Sam has been making steady strides towards his school and home socialization. He is falling into line with the emergence of Gender Identity (214). He has been modeling his father's behavior by mimicking sayings, mannerisms and actions. Just the other day he was right along side his Dad working on a plumbing project and repeating many of the actions and words his father said. We've noticed Sam's favoritism in male gender so Dad has tried to reduce the stereotyping by doing more feminine or androgynous tasks with Sam, like cooking. We have also worked on explaining that both boys and girls can do lots of if not most of the same jobs.
Another aspect of socialization that he has been doing well in is going out to restaurants we have no challenges with Sam at all. He is very well mannered and behaved. Now we just have to work on his sister.
As for school, Sam has a group of close "boy" friends who he plays with exclusively during recess time. He almost goes out of his way to avoid girls. I do realize this is normal behavior, however, I encourage him to play with both boys and girls.
Sam is still not as independent as other children. We are trying to work on this. He is taking swim lessons at the recreation center we are hoping this will help him develop more self confidence.
Sam does not appear to have any behavioral or emotional problems, other than he is nervous around new situations. We have been trying to combat this ever since we realized his temperament was over controlled. We take him out to parks, museums and zoo's, and have play dates. Most recently we've signed him up for soccer and baseball hoping to foster self esteem.
2. Do you notice any improvements in cognitive and language skills since age 4? Give specific examples. Does your child have any special needs with regard to cognitive or language development at this point and what do you plan to do?
We have noticed in the last few months Sam's ability to communicate with adults has advanced.He uses surprisingly complex words in both his written and spoken language. I truly believe all the reading that we have done with Sam has helped to enhance his language and reading abilities. Sam reads on a first and second grade level. We try to keep challenging him with more advanced books. He digests them quickly.
Sam's cognitive abilities have been advancing rapidly as well, he can now beat me in most memory games which is a big change from just a few years ago when I would have to throw a game or two to keep him interested. Sam does very well in math however, his favorite subject is science. Sam loves to go to museums and the zoo. We usually buy a book at the gift shop that is of interest to Sam to help foster his interests in nature and science. He has taken to playing an electric keyboard and has pretty much taught him self using a little self help guide. We are trying to get him interested in singing since he can carry a tune and memorises the words to song quickly. He only seems partly interested.
3. Which aspects of your child’s behavior and personality reflect continuities from earlier behavior (e.g., at ages 3-4 years) and which seem to be novel for this age level?
Since around 3 we noticed Sam's interest in books, language and reading. This interested has not faltered as he is reading on a 2nd grade level. I would still classify his temperament as over controlled. He is still nervous in new situations and is not as independent as other kids. I wonder if this is more of a hereditary trait that has been kept in check because of our awareness and concern for our son. Perhaps he would be extremely introverted if we had not acknowledged his "overcontrolledness" and tried to a just.
I think his gender identification and stereotyping are novel for this age. All of the children in his first grade class appear to be going through the same stage at the same time. I am sure when he is 14 we as his parents will wish he still thought girls had cooties! And some of them still do!
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