THIS IS MY VIRTUAL CHILD. I RAISE A CHILD AS PRACTICE IN OUR ECE PROGRAM

1. 0 month
Harold was in a hurry to be born! You are still amusing people you know with the dramatic
story of his birth. Your partner's water broke at home one week before the due date, and you
rushed to the hospital as quickly as possible. Your partner went into full contractions on the
way, and was nearly fully dilated by the time the nurses wheeled her into the delivery area.
You couldn't even use the natural childbirth breathing and relaxation techniques you had
been practicing for the past three months before it was time to push! When you got to hold
Harold in the delivery room, you were amazed that he was finally here to share your lives.
3 months
Harold is awake about half of the time, sleeping about 6 hours at night and in three 2-hour
blocks during the day. When awake, he is sometimes moving about restlessly, and
sometimes quiet or calm.
At 3 months of age, Harold is showing more intense interest in his surroundings. Harold
smiles at familiar people and toys, is able to laugh at surprising or funny things (such as a
little dog), and is developing lots of cute little habits.
Harold is able to focus his eyes on you. Your partner is particularly taken with this. She
spends a lot of time in face-to-face interaction with Harold and frequently you are compelled
to come look at some amazing reaction Harold exhibits, such as moving his mouth in
seeming imitation of your own mouth movements. You are becoming more and more curious
about how much of his environment Harold can perceive and understand.
You notice that Harold can learn a thing or two so you start working on his baby IQ!
Harold is fussy on rare occasions after meals, but most of the time is relaxed and content.
8 months
Harold is taking a two hour nap every day, and sleeping six or more hours at a time at night.
In other words, you have a new attachment to your pillow! Occasionally Harold is fully awake
in the middle of the night and wants to hang out and play with you.
Harold is making some different sounds now, and you encourage language and
communication by responding to them.
Harold is sometimes a little reluctant to part from you at daycare and starts crying. He usually
gets over it quickly after you leave.
Recently Harold has been in very good health, and generally tolerates baby foods well.
Harold is beginning to be interested in trying new solid foods, even pizza crusts!
Harold is comfortable in new situations, and seems to enjoy meeting new people even after
an initial hesitation.
As Harold turns 9 months, the pediatrician has the following to say after a routine
physical exam, a few items administered from the Bayley Scales of Infant
Intelligence, and some observations of Harold in the playroom:
When Harold becomes upset, it is difficult to soothe him down. He sometimes
accepts your embraces and sometimes pushes you away.
Based on your report, Harold is able to digest new foods well, so the doctor
recommends that Harold eat a variety of foods from the family dinner (ground up).

2. Harold readily adapted to the new people and situations in the pediatrician's office.
He made eye contact, smiled at them, and vocalized to them quite a bit.
Harold has typical emotional reactions for his age, such as fear of total strangers,
separation anxiety and a quick, loud cry when upset or in pain.
Harold is advanced in his gross and fine motor skills and enjoys crawling, pulling up
to stand and manipulating objects.
1 year old
My Virtual Child uses five dimensions of temperament to describe the child's
behavior in the first 30 months. These dimensions are influenced by your
questionnaire responses, and change gradually over time in response to events and
parenting decisions.
SOCIABILITY (similar to the Big Five trait of Extraversion/Introversion) refers to the
child's friendliness and desire for social interaction (ranging from low to high).
EMOTIONALITY (similar to Neuroticism) refers to the intensity of emotion
experienced by the child. More emotional children show stronger emotions and more
fluctuation in moods than less emotional children. Sometimes emotionality is broken
into two dimensions, Positive Emotionality and Negative Emotionality.
AGGRESSIVENESS VS. COOPERATIVENESS (similar to Agreeableness) refers to
the tendency of the child to be aggressive in social situations. Highly aggressive
children may be quite resistant to adult demands and throw tantrums or even lash
out at adults or children. Less aggressive children tend to be more cooperative, or to
whine and fuss rather than actively resist adults.
SELF-CONTROL (similar to the Big Five trait of Conscientiousness) refers to the
child's ability to control his or her behavior, delay gratification, plan out a course of
action, or inhibit undesirable actions. Effortful control is a specific aspect of Self
Control that involves inhibition of inappropriate responses such as whining for a
cookie, and replacement with a more adaptive action.
ACTIVITY refers to the physical and mental energy level of the child. Highly active
children may sleep less, be more restless, and engage in more physical activity than
less active children.
GOODNESS OF FIT is NOT an aspect of temperament. It refers to the tendency of
the adult to adjust his/her behavior to the child's temperament in a way that promotes
adaptive functioning of the child. For example, suppose you have a very active child,
and you are trying to promote exploration and learning. Rather than "going against
the grain" and attempting to quiet the child down to look at a book about bugs, you
might appeal to the child's active nature and choose to go on a walk and talk about
the bugs you see as a means of promoting learning.
Harold enjoys throwing every toy out of his crib and watching what happens. Harold seems
to expect you to keep putting them back!
You notice in the past couple of months Harold exhibits the skill of joint attention. He points
at things to attract your attention, and keeps pointing until you turn your face toward the
object of interest. He also looks at things when you point to them or even just gaze at them.
When strangers come to visit, they think Harold is really cute so they want to hold Harold.
Usually, Harold smiles and shows immediate signs of wanting to get down and approach or
be held.

3. Lately you've been taking Harold to the neighborhood park, and he is typically very clingy
and refuses to play independently with the other children.
At nine months old, Harold began to understand a few words and point to something he
wanted. At twelve months old, Harold now clearly understands a couple of dozen words.
Your partner was present when Harold uttered his first clear word. She observed Harold
saying "dog" and pointing at a cute little dog whose owner stopped to let Harold touch the
dog's fur.