case study on kindergartener

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A Case Study of a Kindergartener
Autumn Paige Booton
April 27, 2015
EDF 218

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The student observed will be referred to as Winnie. Winnie is a kindergartener
attending a public elementary school in the city where she lives. She is six years old; her
age falls in the middle of that of her classmates because of her December birthday. She
lives with both of her parents, a younger, four year old sister, and an older, 23 year old half-
sister. Both of Winnie’s parents as well as her older sister are employed. Her mother is a
reporter for a local newspaper, her father is a coordinator for a local theatre group, and her
oldest sister has two, part-time, clerical jobs and also attends a local college. It can be
assumed that Winnie is part of a middle class family. By accounts by her teacher and
observations, she has a stable home life and a loving family who is involved in her
education and all other aspects of her life.
Physical Development
Winnie is one of the smaller girls in her class, but by no means appears
underweight. Female kindergarten students are between 42 and 45.25 inches tall and
weigh between 40 and 45 pounds (Morrison). Winnie definitely falls on the lower side of
both of those averages, but she looks healthy. She often packs a full of nutritious foods like
fruit, raw vegetables, a cheese stick, and her self proclaimed favorite food—a peanut butter
and banana sandwich. Sometimes, she also has a treat like a Little Debbie cake or a candy
bar; however, it is obvious someone at home takes care in packing her lunch with food that
is good for her and limits the not-so-good snacks she eats. Therefore, one can conclude that
she is well fed at home. Winnie is well taken care of in other ways too. Everyday, she
comes to school with her sandy-blonde hair in a neat ponytail. She is always clean, and she
wears clothes that are clean and comfortable to play in and appropriate to the weather—
more signs that Winnie is well cared for in a stable home with a good support system.

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Winnie’s fine motor skills have made great improvements as she gains more control
of her hands and fingers (Cratty 309). She neatly cuts out her work to paste in her math
journal and legibly writes numbers and letters (although she sometimes writes numbers
like “3” and “5” backwards. She holds writing utensils correctly without help and can
usually open the packaging her food is in without assistance. Her gross motor skills are
rapidly developing as well. Since she has grown throughout the past year, she is now able
to integrate more dynamic systems of movement because: she has gotten stronger; gained
more coordination in her shoulders, torso, trunk, and legs; and has a more developed
central nervous system (Cratty 308). Like most of the students her age, Winnie is a ball of
energy, especially at recess. On the playground, she runs, skips and gallops with a gaggle of
girls, and climbs on the playground equipment—all typical physical milestones for a typical
kindergartener.
Social and Moral Development
Outside, Winnie plays mainly with other girls. Her best friends are both girls from
her class. One friend she met when she started kindergarten. Winnie is often seen playing
at school with this friend. When choosing centers during their end-of-the-day-playtime,
one of the girls will ask to go to the station where the other girl is playing. Her other best
friend is her neighbor. Winnie has no problem getting along with this friend at school, but
they are rarely seen playing together. Winnie said that that student often come to her
house to play. Winnie’s younger sister also plays an important social role in Winnie’s life.
Due to their close age and the fact that the two are sisters, they are together often and have
a positive relationship. Although this behavior was not observed, it can be surmised as

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Winnie consistently mentions doing things with her sister when she is asked what she likes
to do at home.
Winnie is a loving child. She is warm and friendly to all the boys and girls in her
class. Once, when one child was visibly upset because no one was playing in her station
during centers, Winnie abandoned what she was doing and asked the other girl what was
wrong. Winnie then played with that girl for the remainder of centers because she “didn’t
want her friend to be sad.” Not only does Winnie get along well with her peers, but she also
has a positive relationship with her teacher. It can be observed the Winnie loves her
teacher. She often hugs her teacher and wants to tell her stories about her day.
Winnie is rarely reprimanded in class because she is very well behaved. She sits
quietly when students are working or participating in carpet time, raises her hand, does
not interrupt others when they are talking, tries to follow directions, attempts to adhere to
classroom procedures, and never has to be reminded to use an “inside voice.” Part of this
could be attributed to her quiet personality. Winnie is a child that one has to really listen to
hear in a conversation. She is somewhat shy and wants to avoid being in trouble. However,
she is not afraid to speak up when called on. Winnie can also be caught laughing and
playing with other students when it is appropriate.
When comparing Winnie’s behavior with Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial
development, she falls to the end of his “Locomotor” stage and the beginning of his
“Latency” stage. During the “Locomotor” stage, children age three to six struggle with the
conflicts “Initiative versus Guilt.” Children in this stage continue to be more assertive and
take more initiative. However, when children are too forceful they feel guilty (Berk 16).
Winnie exhibits this behavior when she takes pride in days that she is the “leader” in the

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class. Although her shy turn is a personality trait, this stage could also account for her
leeriness to be vocal during class for fear of being too forceful.
The “Latency Stage” occurs when a child is between ages 6 and twelve. The primary
conflict for children in this stage is “Industry versus Role Confusion” in which the child
struggles with the demands of learning new skills at the risk of feelings of inferiority,
failure, and incompetence (Berk 16). Children in this stage, like Winnie, are starting
elementary school, and family members are the most important people in a child’s life.
Although Winnie is friends with her peers, has a positive relationship with her teachers and
others outside of school, her primary relationships are with her immediate family members
at home. At school, Winnie is learning to work cooperatively with others, another
characteristic of Erikson’s stage. Doing things independently makes Winnie feel successful,
but getting in trouble and other negative experiences lead to feeling of inferiority—all
traits of Erikson’s “Latency Stage.”
Winnie has reached most typical social-emotional milestones of kindergarteners.
One of these is an improved ability to interpret, predict, and influence another’s emotions
(Berk 367). Winnie demonstrated this ability when she comforted the girl who was upset
because no one was playing in her center. Gender-stereotype ideas are a common
development, and can be witnessed as kindergarteners begin to prefer same-sex playmates
(Berk 394). Winnie, typical to her age has two best friends who are girls and is usually
seen playing with mostly girls at school.
Kindergarteners also begin to develop moral based rules and behaviors (Berk 378).
Children age five to six are developing a stronger sense of right and wrong. Although most
adults determine right and wrong in accordance with their situation and in a way to

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accommodate others, children view justice as a matter that has no shades of gray. Winnie’s
moral development is consistent with this statement. Winnie was presented with the
Kohlberg’s Heinz Dilemma. When asked if Heinz should go to jail, she emphatically replied,
“Go to jail, he stole!” This indicates that Winnie is the Kohlberg’s earliest stage of moral
development: “Obedience and Punishment”. This is the first tier of Preconventional
Morality, the first level of morality. During this stage, rules are fixed and absolute, and
these rules should be obeyed to avoid punishment (Cherry).
Cognitive and Language Development
Winnie’s teacher says that Winnie is right on track for being promoted from
kindergarten to first grade. She knows all of her letters and their sounds. A lot of times,
she can put these sounds together to make words. She recognizes blends and diagraphs,
but sometimes forgets rules like “silent e” and “two vowels go walking.” She proudly
boasts that she can count to one hundred, and she can add and subtract if she is using
pictures or counters. It is evident that Winnie loves to draw and color. Most times when
asked to choose a center to play at she will choose the coloring or painting center. She
often paints or draws simple pictures of things like flowers or rainbows using lots of blue,
pink, purple, green and yellow colors; her pictures often include stick people and are
always neatly colored. Winnie is very meticulous about doing her work. During math or
journaling assignments where drawing a picture is necessary, she is the last student to
finish. It is not because she is struggling with the activity, but because she is extremely
particular with the details of her drawings.
Winnie also had a part in the kindergarten program. She was able to memorize a short line
and sing a small solo. Other activities she enjoys during centers are playing house or office

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and helping class mates build with play planks (a center that has large wooden planks that
easily stack together that the children use to build).
Winnie appears to be in Piaget’s Pre-operational stage. Children in this stage
demonstrate intelligence using symbols (Berk 318). Their language is rapidly maturing
and they have a more developed memory and imagination. On the other hand, their
thinking can be non-logical and non-reversible, and these children are very egocentric.
Piaget’s theory accounts that children in the preoperational stage use make-believe and
imaginative play as a way to practice and strengthen their newly developed
representational schemes. Piaget also says that although children in this stage have
developed more advanced reasoning, but can struggle to overcome perceptual appearances
(Berk 327).
Winnie can write and understand letters and numbers, and she draws somewhat
realistic pictures. This supports her standing in the Preoperational Stage; she can
demonstrate her intelligence using symbols and pictures. When she plays house or office
during centers, Winnie is practicing her already developed schemes. Engaging in
sociodramatic play is a way Winnie exercises an understanding some of other people’s
roles and thoughts (Kavanaugh 319). This reflects development of both Winnie’s cognitive
and social skills. Winnie demonstrates advanced reasoning skills as she plans out what
kind of “house” she plans to build with the play planks, but also struggles with some
perceptional reasoning. For example, when estimating how many cubic units (each cube
has 1 square inch sides and weighs about the same as a penny) it would take to equal the
weight of common classroom objects, Winnie had difficulty guessing a logical number and
was very surprised when her guesses were extremely off.

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Although accurate, Piaget’s theories are seen as incomplete because it disregards the
importance of language in development. Vygotsky’s theories claim that in early childhood,
children participate in in conversation and linguistic interactions with others who are more
advanced than they are in order to master culturally important tasks (Berk 329). Children
improve the complexity of their thinking and begin to control their own behavior better as
they begin to communicate with themselves the same way they converse with others.
An element of Vygotsky’s theory is the use of private speech—utterances directed to
one’s self (Berk 330). Winnie could be caught using self-utterance when working out math
problems when she would count to herself out loud or when building as she asked herself
out loud, which play plank she would need next. Intersubjectivity is another element of
Vygotsky’s theory that Winnie exhibited. Intersubjectivity when two participants engage in
the same activity with a different understanding of the task at hand, but end with a shared
understanding (Berk 331). Children in early childhood have conversational skills that are ever
increasing, so they are constantly asking for assistance as they strive for affirmation. Winnie,
too, exhibited this behavior. She often raised her hand while working on written work to ask if
she was doing her task correctly.
Conclusion and Reflection
Winnie appears to be a typical kindergartner. From her appearance at school, her life at
home can be assumed to be safe, stable, and loving. Although small, she is healthy and
continues to refine both her gross and fine motor skills. At school Winnie plays with her
youngest sister, and at school she plays primarily with other girls her age. She is kind to others
and well behaved. She believes in doing the right thing, so she will not get in trouble. Winnie is

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academically on track, and has developed good communication skills. She is physically, socially,
moralistically, cognitively, and linguistically on target for her age.
Personally, I enjoyed getting to know Winnie as I observed her kindergarten class over a two
month time period. At first I though she was bashful, but as I got to know her and as she got
used to me, I learned this sweet girl had plenty to say. She recognized that I was close to the age
of her oldest sister and asked me questions like if I had a car or a boyfriend because her big sister
has a car and a boyfriend. She also liked to talk about her theatre experiences. Since her father
is so involved in a local theatre group and because Winnie often wanted to talk about shows that
she has been in, I can tell that the arts are important in her house. She is a very artistically
minded child. Her music teacher even mentioned that she gave Winnie the most difficult part in
the kindergarten program because she recognized this talent. What I liked best about Winnie is
her affectionate and caring demeanor. After she got to know me, she would always want to
squeeze in a hug or high five. She regarded her teacher, the class aid, and her peers in the same
way, often putting an arm around a friend. It warmed my heart up when she comforted the girl
who did not have someone to play with in her center. Winnie tries to be a friend to all-- a quality
that I hope continues grows with her.

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Works Cited
Berk, L. (2012). Infants, Children, and Adolescents (7th ed., p. 16, 318, 321,
327,329, 367, 378, 394). Boston, MA: Pearson.
Cherry, K. (2015). Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development. Retrieved April 26,
2015, from
http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/kohlberg.htm
Cratty, B. (1986). Perceptual and Motor Development in Infants and Children. In
Infants, Children, and Adolescents (7th ed., p. 308, 309). Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Kavanaugh, R. (2006). Pretend Play: Handbook on the education of Young
Children. In Infants, Children, and Adolescents (2nd ed., Vol. 7th, p. 319).
Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Morrison, G. (2010, July 20). What are Kindergarten Children Like? Retrieved
April 26, 2015, from http://www.education.com/reference/article/what-
kindergarten-children-are-like/