ren as my case study

8/8/2019 Ren as My Case Study

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EDTEG201: FOUNDATIONS IN TEACHING IN THE EARLY GRADES

A Case Study

By Edel Ramilo

Submitted to Prof. Leonor Ercillo-Diaz

9/28/2010


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A Case Study (EDTEG201) Submitted to Prof. Leonor Ercillo-Diaz

By Maria Ediliza Margarita Edel C. Ramilo

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This case study is made in partial fulfillment of the requirements in the subject EDTEG201:

Foundations in Teaching in the Early Grades, a course in the College of Education, University of the

Philippines, Diliman. The author of the case study aims to present valuable information related to

the physical and motor, psycho-social, and cognitive development of a child aged 7 years old.

Another aim for the case study is to provide thoughtful analysis and useful recommendations

related to the childs development.

BACKGROUNDThe subject of the case study is Ren Louis Alayon, a grade one student enrolled in a

homeschooling program called Catholic Filipino Academy. Ren was born in Tokyo, Japan where his

parents used to work and live. As young as 6 months old, Ren was brought to the Philippines to be

taken cared by his grandparents in Calamba City. After eight years of togetherness, his parents are

now separated but are free to visit him anytime. He has an older sister aged 16 years old who is

also living with him.

Ren was previously enrolled in a Montessori school during his preschool years. However,

due to health related problems, particularly asthma attacks, his grandparents decided to enroll

him under a homeschooling program.

METHODOLOGY

The following methodologies were used to gather information related to the childs

development: observation, interview, and replication of famous experiments on the areas of

physical and motor, psycho-social, and cognitive development.


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PHYSICAL and MOTOR DEVELOPMENT

There are seven phases of motor development in a persons lifetime. The entire set of

phases include the following: Reflexive (before birth to about six months), Rudimentary(birth to

about age two), Fundamental movement(age two to six or seven), Sport Skill(age six or seven to

about twelve), Growth and Refinement (age twelve to about eighteen), Peak Performance (age

eighteen or younger, depending on the sport, to about thirty), and Regression (middle and older

adulthood) (Krogh, 1994).

At the age of 7 years old, Ren should be on the Fundamental Movement Phase moving on

the Sports Skill Phase. The fundamental or basic skills include running, jumping, throwing, and

catching. These basic skills form the basis for advanced, often sports-related skills (Krogh, 1994).

One Saturday afternoon, the author had a chance of observing Ren at his Karatedo club

where he trains for two to three hours every Saturdays and Sundays. The following are the

observations on his developing sports skills:

Childrens time in the Karatedo club contained plenty of movement experiences. They were

challenging, exciting, and focused on large motor development, as well as aerobic capacity.

At the Karetedo club, Rens needs and desires for movement were fulfilled.

Running. During their warm-up sessions, he enjoyed running around with his classmates and is

able to manage his movements without any difficulty. He seemed to enjoy the running activity as

shown in his grinning face and his proud stance when he finished the required laps. According to

Rens grandmother, Ren had plenty of opportunities to run since he was still a lot younger. His

family has a yard, around 700 square meters wide, where he gets to run around with his neighbors

and relatives for two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. He plays patintero

and taya-tayaan. These games required Ren to learn how to run fast and stop at his will to winthe game.

The availability of friends to play with and the space to run around were contributing

factors in Rens advanced running skills. If compared to other children of the same age who

have not been given more opportunities to run due to lack of space, there is greater


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possibility that Rens running abilities would turn out to be more advanced. Also, the

freedom to play for two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon gave him the

liberty to explore his running abilities with other children. Exploring and experimenting

with movement helps children express pleasure in being players and movers (Krogh,

1994). By giving him the time to play and train, physical fitness is encouraged.

Jumping. Jumping was one of the major highlights of the warm-up sessions. Ren was asked to

jump over his classmates many times. He would jump on his classmates legs, arms, and whole

body. He showed some hesitance at first, fearing to step on his classmates body parts. His

movements were more careful, considering the safety of his classmates but when he started to do

a series of jumps, he was successful at each attempt. He has learned to crouch more emphatically

and sway his arms in opposition to his body, as a more mature jumper would do. Hisgrandmother, however, shared that during his first Karatedo class, people would actually laugh at

how Ren would jump. Initially, he had a problem lifting his feet together that there were several

instances that he had accidentally stepped on his classmates body part. Ren was said to be

practicing everyday to avoid committing these mistakes. After a month of practice, he became

more confident and surer of his jumping skill, but he was still very careful not to hurt or annoy

anyone. At this point, his family would constantly commend him for a job well done and encourage

him to do even better next time.

Upon joining the Karatedo club, Ren was faced with a need to improve on his jumping

skills. The safety of his classmates must have been enough motivation for him to take his

jumping skills a little more seriously. His initiative in practicing his jumps showed how

much he wanted to be at par with his classmates and how much he wanted to prevent

himself from hurting others. Good motor development is essential not only for every childs

physical well-being, but for emotional, social, and cognitive growth as well. Children feel

good about themselves when they can do what others can do; they can learn more easilythe social skills that are attached to play when their motor capacities are not in question

(Krogh, 1994). The support given by his family was also crucial. Their appreciation of his

mini-successes makes Ren even more motivated to improve on his moves.


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Throwing and Catching. The author had to ask Ren to do a simple exercise to observe his

throwing and catching skills. The author had to make him throw a ball in the air and catch it for 20

times, without stopping. He made several attempts on the activity. On his third attempt, he finally

got to complete the 20 rounds. The ball used in the activity was as big as a volleyball but it was

soft to touch and bouncy.

Ren could have had advanced throwing and catching abilities since his father bought him a

basketball and put-up a mini-basketball court for him. However, he was overwhelmed by the big-

hard-ball that one day when he was accidentally hit on the head by the ball, he started to develop a

certain fear for the ball and became more cautious and less experimental with it. Also, Ren did not

get to play with a lot of friends at the mini-basketball court because their neighbors were not

allowed to enter into their inner yard where the mini-basketball court was at. The only kids thatRen gets to play with at the mini-court were two of his female cousins who are equally unaware of

how the game should be played. None of Rens caregivers were also avid fans of the sport. Ren did

not have anyone to consistently teach him essential basketball skills. He has not even watched or

enjoyed a basketball game on tv.

Rens throwing and catching skills remain normal despite the availability of space and

equipment. For one, the equipment provided to him was not age appropriate. This resulted

to creating a negative experience for Ren in playing with a ball. According to Estolas &

Nunez (1974), selection of play materials should consider several factors such as age level,

maturity level, use of raw materials, flexibility of play materials, and the challenge that will

promote thinking characteristics of the materials. Second, basketball is a group game. The

presence of the two female friends was not enough to make the game exciting, especially

because they were all unaware of how the game should be played. Third, the absence of a

role model who loves playing basketball on a regular basis makes learning specific

basketball skills all the more impossible. The rules have to be explained. The skills have tobe practiced. However, without the knowledgeable adults supervision, the 7 year old Ren

cannot be expected to learn all these things by himself. Estolas and Nunez (1974) says that

children love to imitate adults or peers in their play activities and that adult intervention

strengthens imitation. To help him improve his throwing and catching skills, Ren can be

given a ball that is appropriate to his age. He can also be introduced to kids or even adults


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who love playing any game that use balls, not only basketball. He can also be enrolled in a

basketball training camp on a summer, to give him the chance to formally learn how to play

the game. That is if, Ren would be really interested in basketball.

Manipulation. To observe Rens manipulation movement, the author had him write his whole

name, the numbers one to ten, and all the letters of the alphabet in a two sheets of paper. Ren was

able to use the mature skill of writing, although he seemed to exert too much pressure on the

pencil and the paper, especially when he tried to write straight lines. He was able to write his

name legibly, with proper spacing, and capitalization. When it comes to writing the individual

letters of the alphabet though, it was observed that he wrote an inverted capital letter D. The

rest of the letters were written legibly with proper spacing. Rens left hand was observed to hold

the paper while his right hand (which is his dominant hand) was busy producing the letters. As hewrote the letters, he maintained good posture, occasionally leaning forward on the paper/table

when something needs to be erased or corrected.

To further observe his manipulation skills, Ren was asked to use scissors to cut the following

shapes: circle, triangle, square, heart, and flower. Ren seemed to enjoy the activity a lot that he

requested to be given more shapes to cut. He uses his right hand to hold and move the scissors,

and his left hand to rotate the paper clockwise. Generally, his cutting skill was good but the edges

of the shapes were not as smooth as it should have been. Ren was also made to copy certain

shapes and rewrite them. The shapes include circle, square, triangle and star. He did not seem to

mind if the shapes he wrote were not congruent in size with the original shape. He did the activity

as fast as he could and this resulted to a relatively smaller circle, square, triangle, and a distorted

star. Finally, he was asked to write curved lines and zigzag lines following a pattern, without

touching the edges of the pattern. He did it well, occasionally pausing to adjust the angle of the

paper and the pencil. He tried his best not to lift the pencil until he finished the whole curved line

and zigzag line but he was not successful. He eventually lifted his pencil and continued to write thelines from left to right.

Manipulation is important in regard to childrens ability to do most schoolwork.

Manipulation has to do with the use of the hands and a mature, refined level may not be

achieved until age eight (Krogh, 1994). This explains why Ren may be advanced in writing


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letters and numbers but not in writing shapes and other lines. He must have been focused

on practicing how to write letters and numbers but not shapes and other longer lines that

require greater focus and control. This suggests the need for more opportunities to write

figures or symbols other than letters and numbers. The same goes with Rens cutting skills.

Rens grandmother mentioned that Ren was discouraged to use scissors until age six, for

fear of injuring himself. It can then be suggested that he be given regular cutting activities,

even outside his arts class, to help him catch up with the years that he was not able to

practice.

Drawing. To observe Rens drawing skills, he was asked to draw a man and a woman. The parts of

the head seen in his drawing were the following: eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and hair. The eyelashes

and eyebrows were absent. When it comes to the upper limbs, the man had elbows while thewoman had none. The woman had five fingers (drawn like paws) while the man had his hands in

his pocket. The lower limbs of both the man and woman showed the feet (drawn like paws again)

with five little toes of different arrangements/sequence. He was also asked to paint a picture of his

house where he showed the ground (colored brown), one house on top of the ground, one tree at

the right and one tree at the left of the house, blue skies, and a sun.

Ren is in the drawing stage called preschematic drawing which is where children of aged

five to seven are usually at. The preschematic stage is defined by baselines, like the ground

(colored brown) in Rens painting. Also, it is the stage when figures with all their body parts

stand on them, like the almost complete parts of the head of the man and woman in Rens

drawing. Ren would soon move to the final schematic stage which is characterized by

thicker baselines, and representations that are based on realism (Krogh, 1994). It can then

be suggested that Ren be given art materials to experiment with and positive feedback on

his artworks so he may be encouraged to try drawing again and again until he develops a

more mature drawing skill.

Physical Growth. Ren is currently 125 cm tall and weighs 30 kilograms. A computation of his

body mass index or bmi suggests that he falls in the normal range. His regular diet includes two to

three bottles of milk a day and a combination of meat, rice, and fruits each meal. He is not very

fond of eating vegetables yet but is constantly encouraged to try. He has lost his two front teeth, a


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week after his 7th birthday. It was his first time to lose teeth and his first two permanent teeth are

starting to erupt. With regards to body awareness, he can identify the major and minor parts of

the body such as the hands, palms, fingers and the leg, knees, ankle, and toes.

By the age of seven, children have increased their weight to seven times their birth weight.

From the beginning of this phase and on through puberty they grow about 2 inches per

year (Krogh, 1994). Rens height is normal for his age although some parents comment that

Ren is bigger than his contemporaries in his previous school. Balanced nutrition is very

important in this stage as the rapid increase in height and weight cannot be expected if the

child is malnourished. Rens dislike for vegetables is normally found in children of his age

and he cannot be forced to eat them at once. Constant encouragement and modeling could

help in making him try to eat vegetables. Children learn to choose and appreciate foodsbased primarily on what is placed in front of them. Thus, it is the responsibility of adults in

their environment to induce foods that are healthy and beneficial (Krogh, 1994).

At the age of 7, it is also normal to start losing ones temporary teeth, as the permanent

teeth starts to grow. The child may experience stress at this stage when he/she receives

negative feedback about the lost teeth. Unaware adults may even blame the child for not

taking care of his/her baby teeth and this would cause even more worries for the child. At

this point, it is the responsibility of the parents/guardians to explain to the child why and

how it all happens and that another set of teeth are going to replace the lost ones. It is also

the responsibility of the parents/guardians to teach the child on how to properly care for

ones teeth and provide the necessary materials to be used such as age-appropriate

toothbrush and toothpaste.

With regards to identifying the different parts of the body, some children are able to do it

with focused teaching. It is, however, normal to find children of Rens age to just be starting

to know the different parts of their body as they are formally introduced to them in school.


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SOCIAL AND AFFECTIVE DEVELOPMENT

Theorists and philosophers have speculated about the ways in which children like Ren

come to be the way they are. Three major schools of thought provide models of development that

which I will also be using to describe Rens social and affective development.

Erik Erickson, The Psychoanalytic View. Ren is primarily involved in studying at home as he is

being homeschooled for 4 to 5 hours a day. It is his first year in elementary and he is now

presented with a lot of new information in many different subjects. His family is constantly

watching over his productivity as evidenced by their regular checking of his academic

performance. His mother and father may be physically away but they constantly remind their

child to study hard and be a good boy to his guardians and sibling. Ren then offers help to all

members of the family whenever he can, like opening the gate when there is a guest, answering

the phone, buying food from the store, preparing coffee, carrying grocery bags/items, and fixing

the table before a meal. Rens evidences of academic success are also hang on the walls of the

house or posted in Facebook and YouTube. Ren is made to watch, evaluate, and appreciate his

performances every now and then.

At the age of 7 years old, Ren is at Stage 4: Industry versus Inferiority. This stage is

primarily characterized by the childs desire to focus on being a worker and a producer

than being a conqueror (as in Stage 3: Initiative versus Guilt). Children at this stage want to

be industrious and adults are able to support children by giving them learning activities

that provide challenge appropriate to their capacities (Krogh, 1994). If efforts are

successful in eliminating the negative and negotiating the positive, Ren will eventually

move on to the next stages with his ego strengthened. In this light, the positive feedback

that he gets from his family and friends are helping him develop a sense of confidence in his

capabilities. He then continues to exhibit the desire to prove his worth by gradually taking

more challenging roles at home and in his club.

Albert Bandura, The Social Learning View. Rens grandparents, who serve as his guardians,

love watching tv. They regularly watch Eat Bulaga and many other soap operas in the afternoon

and in the evening. In effect, Ren loves to watch tv too, especially Eat Bulaga and the soap opera


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Trudis Liit and the reality show Yaman ni Lola. He watches these programs with his

grandmother. However, when he started his homeschooling program, he was discouraged to

watch Eat Bulaga and instead study his lessons. He obediently abides with this but whenever he

is given free time, he would still choose to watch it with this grandmother. Rens family also loves

travelling to different places. They love taking pictures of themselves whenever they visit a

beautiful place. Because of this, early on, Ren learned how to pose and use the camera at the age of

five. He is sometimes asked to take pictures of the family too. He also loves going out to travel to

beautiful places that on his 7th birthday, he requested his father to bring him to the Pagsanjan Falls

as a birthday gift.

According to Albert Bandura (Krogh, 1994), there are two ways that children acquire their

values, attitudes, and social behavior. The first is through direct training by parents,teachers, and others in the childs environment. This, he says, is the least influential way

that children learn. More important is the childs active imitation of parental attitudes and

behavior, most of which the parents have never directly attempted to teach. In this regard,

Rens grandmother may not actually desire to influence Ren to love watching tv but due

to active imitation, as Ren regularly sees his grandmother enjoying the tv programs

mentioned above, he eventually developed an affinity to tv-watching. In the same light, as

Ren experiences and appreciates the fun brought by the travels that he had with his family,

he also eventually developed an affinity to travelling to beautiful places.

Robert Selman, Theory on Friendship. When asked who his friends are, Ren would mention the

following names: Brigitte (his 11 year old cousin), Jason and Tony (his familys adult helpers), and

Justin, Jasmin, Micahel, Eugene (his Karatedo teammates). He also mentioned names of his other

friends whom he doesnt see as much as before, like Allen, Trixie, and Jepoy. He considers them

as friends because they are said to be kind to him, greeting him each time they see each other and

playing with him when they have free time. Ren is hardly involved in disputes or disagreements.He actively participates in both large and small group activities in his neighborhood and his club.

The older children who serve as group leaders gladly welcome him to play with them.

Friendship skills are important from the earliest years. Even babies reject other babies who

are surly or unresponsive and show preference for those who demonstrate more positive


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social behaviors (Krogh, 1994). Robert Selman suggests that there are stages that children

pass through as they grow in their understanding of friendship (Krogh, 1994). Based on

Rens responses, it can be concluded that Ren is in Level 2 which is characterized by the

expectation of children to be nice to each other. They believe that each person should

benefit from each other so they share food, toys, and other resources. Level 2 is called the

two-way or fair weather cooperation stage; children ages 7 to 12 are usually at this stage

(Krogh, 1994). Ren may be easily accepted by his friends as Ren is known to be the one

to have the resources such us toys and food. His willingness to submit also puts him in a

position of becoming an obedient member of a group.

Jean Piaget, Theory on Morality. Ren is known for negotiating rules with his guardians, like

when he is given a specific time to go out and play. He counts the number of hours he is allowed togo out and makes sure that he gets a maximum of two hours every afternoon. When he is given

instructions to take a bath by their house helper, he would always check on his grandmother if she

would really allow him to take a bath. He always makes sure his grandmother is consulted. When

eating a new type of food he has not tried before, he would again call on his grandmother to ask if

he could eat the food given to him.

According to Jean Piaget, children moved from early heteronomy (willing submission to

outside authority) to eventual autonomy with transitional stages along the way (Krogh,

1994). Based on the observations mentioned above, it can be concluded that Ren is at Stage

2: First Transitional Stage. This stage is characterized by children developing a primitive

understanding of rules, taking them very literally and ascribing them to a major authority

figure (Krogh, 1994). In Rens case, the authority figure is his grandmother, whose every

verdict should be obeyed. Disobeying rules or trying to change them can cause conflict.

Stage 2 begins during kindergarten and lasts throughout the primary years. However, there

was also a sign that Ren was moving into Stage 3: Second Transitional Stage, as he hasshown to try to contribute in the creation of rules. Stage 3 is characterized by children

learning to see the viewpoints of others and beginning to understand that rules can be

changed when advantageous (Krogh, 1994). Appreciating his contributions and listening to

him with respect can be very good ways of encouraging the development of a more mature

conception of morality in Ren.


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Stress. Rens parents are both living away from him. They meet him two to three times a year for a

relatively short period of time. He is seen to be very happy and energetic whenever his parents are

with him. However, when it is already time for them to leave, Ren shows signs of stress. Whenever

the thought of his parents leaving him enters his mind, he shows a worried face. When this is seen

and acknowledged by the other members of the family, Ren would then revert to humor. He also

tends to count the number of days that his parents would be spending with him which is a form of

anticipation.

From a very early age, some children are confronted with events in their lives that cause

unusual stress: the separation or divorce of their parents, the death of a family member or

pet, the absence of a parent, or the departure of a loved one for abroad (Krogh, 1994).

These unexpected experiences require some response from children. As for Ren, heexhibited two particular coping mechanisms: humor and anticipation. Humor is used when

a child jokes about a problem as a way to express pain (Krogh, 1994). On the other hand,

anticipation is used as a child foresees and plans for the next stressful episode, which

sometimes makes it easier to face (Krogh, 1994). Humor and anticipation was proven to be

helpful in Rens handling of a stressful situation. The use of new technology may help ease

the discomfort felt by the child as he may now talk and see his parents for free via the

internet. Constant communication, even via short messaging can also be helpful in making

Ren feel that he is very much loved and cared for by his parents despite the distance. In the

same light, his caregivers can also fill in the absence of Rens parents, as they stand as Rens

source of strength, guidance, and protection.

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Jean Piaget, The Child as a Self-Builder. There are four major stages of growth in Piagets

theory, beginning at birth and extending through adolescence. Ren, at the age of 7 should be at the

Concrete Operational Period. To verify this, Ren was asked to engage in several famous activities

used in testing childrens cognition as shown in the next paragraphs.


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Conservation. To test the principle of conservation with Ren, he was shown two different sized

glasses of water where a colored liquid was transferred from one glass to another. He was then

asked to identify which glass contained more water. Ren successfully answered the question by

saying that both glasses had the same amount of water. Ren was also shown two rows of pennies

with five coins each. One row was arranged with the coins having no space between each other,

while the other row was arranged with the coins having one inch space between each other. Ren

was then asked to identify which row had more pennies. He successfully answered the question by

saying that both rows had the same number of coins.

The principle of conservation requires an understanding that a set of objects remains

unchanged in its amount or quantity no matter how differently the individual parts may be

arranged (Krogh, 1994). Rens ability to conserve suggests that he is in the concreteoperational stage. According to Southwell (1998) from Georgia Southern University, a child

must understand three basic concepts in order to be able to understand conservation:

identity, compensation, and reversibility. Identity is the realization that material remains

the same when nothing is added or taken away. As in the experiment done with Ren, given

two cups of equal shape and size of liquid, when liquid is poured from one container to

another of a different shape, the amount of liquid does not change. Compensation is the

realization that changes in one dimension can be offset by changes in another dimension.

For example, the shape of the liquid in the container changed, which may have made it

appear that the amount changed, but in fact, the amount remained the same. Reversibility

is the realization that changes can be canceled out by mentally reversing the steps and

returning to the origin. Reversibility involves the ability to make logical inferences.

Children in the concrete operational stage are said to be able to remember that the

amounts of liquid in both containers were the same before one was transferred into

another container, and children can assume that liquids can change shapes in other similar

situations such as pouring it into another differently shaped container.

Classification and Seriation. To test Rens ability to classify, he was asked to classify the

individual pieces of his lego. First, Ren grouped the lego based on shapes. Second, at each group,

he grouped the lego according to their colors. Third, at each group again, he grouped them based

on orientation (some forming shapes like circle, square, and lines). To test Rens ability to do


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seriation, he was asked to order a number of lego according to size. Ren was able to put the

individual lego from smallest to biggest and vice versa.

Rens ability to classify and seriate is important as he enters primary school as it also

contributes in ones ability to form concepts and learn language. Southwell (1998) says that

classification involves classifying objects into groups. Words may represent a class of

objects, such as the idea that knives and forks are included in the class of silverware.

Seriation, or the Piagetian concept of greater than and less than, also needs to be

understood in order to read. Children need to understand that words go from left to right

on a page. In order for a child to recognize differences between letters, such as q and p,

spatial relationships are required. In addition, children should know the operation of order

in constructing sentences and manipulating language. The availability of materials things toclassify and seriate contributes in Rens cognitive development as he is given more

opportunities to experiment various object arrangement, according to his will.

Counting. To test Rens ability to count, he was asked to count his jolens. He successfully counted

each jolen, slowly moving from 1 to 250, occasionally pausing and thinking aloud. He is also able

to count by 5s and by 10s.

In general, Rens ability to count with one to one correspondence puts him in the concrete

operational stage. There are, however, five arithmetic principles that children like Ren

should learn through the years to develop mature counting abilities as stated by Stock,

Desoete, and Roeyers (2009), researchers from Ghent University in Belgium. The stable-

order principle implies that the order of number words must be invariant across counted

sets. The oneone-correspondence principle holds that every number word can only be

attributed to one counted object. Once the cardinality principle is acquired, children

know that the value of the last number word represents the quantity of the counted objects.

The abstraction principle holds that objects of every kind can be counted. The last

counting principle is the order-irrelevance principle. This holds that the objects in a set

can be counted in any sequence without influencing the counting result. This then makes it

necessary that Ren be given more hands-on activities with concrete materials where he

could learn the above mentioned principles.


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Causality. To test Rens ability to identify cause and effect, he was asked several questions. The

first and second questions were Why does it rain? and Why do people get hungry? For both

questions, Ren said, I dont know why. Only God knows why. The third question was, Why are

some dogs fat while some are thin? He answered, Because some dogs eat a lot and some dogs

dont. The fourth question was, Why does your uncle never get fat? He answered, Its because

of his lahi. The fifth question was, Why do grasses grow in the yard? He answered, Because

when you pull the grass out, some are still left behind, and when it rains, they grow big again.

Preoperational children lack the ability to understand cause and effect in a logical way.

They may believe that objects in nature act in certain ways because they choose to. There is

much that is magical to the young child, and magic is frequently given as an explanation for

cause and effect relationships (Krogh, 1994). Such is what happened to how Ren answeredthe first two questions. He associated the explanations to the ultimate being who is God, the

only one whom he thinks is capable of answering questions such as those mentioned

above. For concrete operational children, more logical explanations are usually plausible.

Such was evident in Rens attempt to answer the third, fourth, and fifth questions. This then

suggests that in the area of causality, Rens ability is still developing from the pre-

operational stage to the concrete operational stage.

Time Concepts. To test Rens ability to read analog time, he was shown different time settings

using a broken clock. He was successful at all attempts except when he tried reading 7:55. He

instead read it as 8:55. He was also asked to share about his daily schedule. He said that he wakes

up at 7o clock in the morning, eats lunch at 12o clock in the afternoon, and goes home from play

at 6o clock in the evening. Ren was said to be first introduced to reading the time at the age of six.

Children are said to be around five years old before they begin to develop the adult sense of

time. At the age of seven, Ren shows basic understanding of time as it relates to his

schedule. It is usually at about age eight when children can look at the future apart from

their everyday lives (Krogh, 1994). According Myburgh, as cited by Dr. Rina Grobler

(2009) from the University of Johannesburg, a future-oriented time concept seems to be

intimately linked with a persons capacity to delay gratification and to work for future goals

by setting and assuming responsibility. Further, Dr. Gobler says that in fact, learners with a


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high average scholastic achievement are more future-oriented, more conscientious in their

time management, experience less anxiety regarding the future and are less focused on the

present than learners with a low average in scholastic achievement. This then necessitates

that Ren be introduced to a deeper understanding of time, beyond simply identifying or

reading time from a clock. As a form of practice, Rens educators and family can give him

opportunities to consciously plan for the future at a level that is appropriate to his age.

Speaking and Listening Skills. Ren uses both English and Filipino. He learns English through his

Reading and Language subjects. He learns more Filipino at home than in Filipino books as he

prefers to read English books. He prefers speaking in Filipino when he is at home, as most of the

members of his family speak in Filipino. However, when Ren goes out to other places like malls

and exhibits with his aunts and uncles, he seems to prefer using English, although his English issometimes broken and have one grammatical error or two. Rens native tongue is Filipino but due

to his familys insistence that he learns English, he started learning English informally at the age of

four. Also when Ren was enrolled in a Montessori school during preschool, he had no Filipino

subject. Until now, his family, specifically his grandfather, encourages him to speak English most of

the time, when only one member of the family talks to him in English. Notably, Rens intonation is

relative to a native Americans accent.

Ren seems to have better listening skills than speaking skills, specifically in English, as he

understands statements such as If youre hungry, why dont you go ahead and eat your meal

alone? Your mama wont join you until 12 oclock. She already had brunch.

Rens bias for English must have been influenced by the value that his caregivers attached

to the English language. Ren is a witness of how most of the adults in the family are awed

when he gets to use English more fluently. When he was younger, he would also be

watching cartoons that are mostly in English. The fact that Ren was previously enrolled in a

class where there was no Filipino subject reflects the caregivers bias for learning English.

Ren may not be able to speak English fluently yet but the wealth of his English vocabulary

is increasing fast, as he has entered the primary years where he formally reads stories from

books. His ability to listen and understand English, on the other hand, proves how much

English vocabulary and syntax he has already learned from the past. It is, however,


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saddening that Rens native tongue, Filipino, is taken for granted. Appreciation of ones

native language is important in the development of the love of ones country and ones

identity. This then necessitates Ren to be properly introduced to the appreciation of the

countrys language and culture, as he takes Filipino subjects in grade one like Sibika.

SUMMARY

The author feels that the methods (observing the subject and interviewing the caregivers)

she used may not be sufficient to professionally present/describe an in depth or comprehensive

view of the developmental profile of the subject, as compared to when a standardized test would

be given to the child. However, the information gathered by the author strongly suggests that the

subject is developing normally at all aspects, based on/as compared to the theories and principles

learned by the author in the course EDTEG201.

REFERENCES

Estolas, Josefina V. and Nunez, Domingo B. (1974). Pre-school Education in the Philippines. Manila:

National Book Store.

Grobler, Rina (2009). Learning motivation and time concept of learners from low socio-economicenvironments.Acta Academica, 41 (4), 92- 112.

Krogh, Suzanne Lowell (1994). Educating Young Children: Infancy to Grade Three. USA: McGraw-

Hill College.

Southwell, Lisa (2007). Piagetian techniques in school psychological assessment. GSU Educational

Forum, 4 (1).

Stock, P., Desoete, A., and Roeyers, H. (2009). Mastery of the counting principles in toddlers: a

crucial step in the development of budding arithmetic abilities. Learning and Individual

Differences, 19, 419-422.

ren as my case study

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