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Case Study of Ella 1

Running Format: Case Study of Ella

Case Study of Ella

in APA Style

Kirsten Schneider

Manchester College


Abstract

Ella is 27 months old. She lives in a house in the city. She lives with one sister,

her parents and two cats. Even though, she has three brothers and three sisters. Her

parents have full time jobs. Her mother, Karen is a receptionist and her father, Ron is a

truck driver and a mechanic. Ella loves to play with children her age and likes to play

with baby dolls. Ella loves to visit her Grandparent’s house because she gets all the

attention. Ella likes to eat Jelly- O and cheese but she does not like to eat meat. This case

study is for a college course at Manchester College to observe a child grow and develop

physically, cognitively, and socially.


Introduction

Ella Rose a 2-year-old little girl. Ella is full of life and loves to do things

independently. Ella will be observed at her grandparent’s house inside but when it gets

warmer, she will be observed at the park. Ella does not have any social interactions with

children at her grandparent’s so she will be observed at her babysitters too. She is the

youngest grandchild of 14. Ella has six brothers and sisters: Tricia, Jessica, Austin,

Brock, Stephen, and Ciera. Ella’s parents are Karen and Ron who both came from

previous marriages and each had three children. They have two cats named Angelica and

Gracey. She loves Dora the Explore television show. Ella loves to sing the “ABC’s”

“Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and “Jesus Loves Me” songs. Ella loves to put stickers on to

notebook pages and loves to play hide- and- seek. Ella is a very bright little girl with lots

of energy to explore life and all that it has to offer her.

Physical Development

Ella is almost 26 months old. She was born on December 19, 2006. When Karen

was pregnant with Ella, she gained 40 lbs and ate lots of Italian food. Karen had to have a

c-section to have Ella because she had a large tumor that was growing with Ella. If Karen

would had gone to full term in the pregnancy and had a natural birth, she and Ella

probably would not be here today. In the spring of 1999, Karen had a Mild

Myomectomy, which is a surgery to remove uterine fibroids. Uterine fibroids are tumors

growing inside of the uterus. According to The Cleveland Clinic Women’s Health Center

(2006), they do not know what causes the uterine fibroids but they show up more in

women during the reproductive age than in women that have not begun to menstruate or

women that are in menopause. The surgery made the strength of her uterus decline, so to


make sure Karen did not go into labor they took Ella at 35 weeks. According to Feldman

(2007), a normal birth is 40 weeks, which means that Ella was born prematurely even

though the doctors wanted to take her early (p. 100). Ella did not have any health

problems after birth she was a very healthy baby.

Ella was breastfed up to 1 year and then she took formula for 2 to 3 months.

According to Feldman (2007), children should be breastfed or take formula for the first

year of their life, which would put Ella in the norm (p. 135). She started baby food at 10

months. She now loves to eat peanut butter and bananas those are her favorites. She also

likes to eat green beans, turkey, ham, and fruit. Ella started to crawl at 7 months old and

started walking at 14 months old. Ella has light colored skin, blonde hair and blue eyes.

She weights 32 pounds and 36 inches tall, that puts her in the 95% percentile. Ella is

starting to show interest in potty training. Her parents are hoping to start really working

with her this summer. She loves to do her “homework” meaning that she loves to color

and scribble on paper. She was observed climbing up and down the stairs holding on to

the rail. Ella was observed turning the pages in the book while she reads them. Ella can

feed herself with a spoon and fork. She can kick, push, roll, and throw a ball. She can

stand on one foot and jump up with both feet. Ella is learning how to jump on one foot

right now. Ella is able to put her shoes and jacket on all by herself.

Cognitive Development

Ella Rose was born on December 19, 2006. Ella was observed to see how far a

long her cognitive development is for her age. Karen, her mother, was interviewed to

provide feedback about Ella’s cognitive development.


According to Feldman (2007), by the time an infant is two yeas old he or she

should start the beginning process of thought. Children’s brains have the capacity for

mental representational and symbolic thought. Ella, for at least 6 months has developed

mental representation, especially for her blankets that she sleeps with and her baby dolls

that she carries every where. Ella was observed being asked to go get her Sippy cup from

the living room. She was able to go from the kitchen to the living room and get her Sippy

cup for her Grandmother. Ella was observed coloring in a coloring book and when asked

about what a certain bug was on the paper she did not know what it was. When told that

the bug was a Ladybug she responded with “Gross.” That is what Feldman (2007) would

consider symbolic thought. Ella follows directions very well. If her Grandmother tells her

not to do something, she dose not do it. Ella is very good about listening.

According to Feldman (2007), During the Piaget’s Pre- Operational Stage

children from the ages three to six have limitations of processing things in their heads, for

example, they have a limitation of centration meaning that there is a physical thing that is

in the way of their thoughts. Ella is still experiencing limitations to centration. She was

observed not liking someone with a hat or helmet on his or her head or over their face.

The helmet or hat is the physical thing that is in her way of knowing that it is still the

same person under the hat.

Ella loves to sing the “ABC’s,” “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” and “Jesus Loves

Me.” Ella was observed counting to ten. Ella can finish the sentences in the books that are

her favorites. Ella was observed using the word “again” in the right context of a sentence.

Ella can name at least 17 different body parts. Ella was observed saying her whole name.

Ella uses her manners very well. She says “please” and “thank you” almost all the time,


except for when she is a bad mood. Ella was observed many times saying “I need help.”

Ella is not afraid to ask for help but at the same time, she likes to do many things on her

own. She has started the stage of curiosity and asks the question “Why?” many times.

Ella has been observed using complete sentences to express her wants and needs and to

answer yes and no questions. Ella enjoys books and likes to read them to her

Grandparents. She can recognize the differences between her friends and her at the

babysitters. If asked Ella can tell her Grandmother what she is doing if they happen to be

in different rooms. According to Oesterreich (1995), Children at the age of two should be

able to use 2 to 3 word sentences. Ella can use complete sentences with 5 to 6 works.

Ella loves to play make believe with her baby dolls. She will feed them, change

their diaper, lay them down for their nap and give them their pacifier. She is a great at

pretending that she is talking to her daddy or mommy on her play cell phone.

Ella is physically and cognitively average and advance for her age. Next, Ella will

be observed to see how socially and emotionally she is developed.

Social and Emotional Development

Ella is now 28 months old. She is growing physically, cognitively, and socially so

quickly that it is hard to keep up with her. Karen was asked how Ella interacted with

other children.

Karen said that Ella loves to be around kids her age that will play with her. Ella

was observed at a family get together playing with the younger cousins and not really

wanting to be around the older cousins. She loves when the older cousins give attention

and will talk to her. When playing by herself Ella can be hard on herself if she makes a

mistake and cannot do what she wants to do. Last time Ella was observed there was


notice of the “Two’s” or “Terrible Two’s” coming out. She was being really independent

and did not want any help. The temper tantrums have started to show when she wants to

do something on her own and if some one tries to help her. Ella was observed being

grumpy with her grandmother and grandfather. According to Ianneli (2005), “Children a

this age are just trying to express their growing independence and do not have the

language skills to easily express their needs.” Ella has been observed telling how she

feels if she is happy, sad or mad. Ella definitely knows what she likes and dislikes. She

likes to read with her grandmother and likes to play with her baby dolls. She does not like

to eat meat but rather eat chips and dip. Ella really likes to eat Jelly-o, peaches and pears.

Emotionally, Ella will show fear and shyness when she does not know someone

or if some one has a hat or mask over their face. Ella was observed getting her feelings

hurt when her grandmother told her she was not allowed to take her Sippy cup into the

living room. She cried and cried and finally settled down after her grandmother explained

that she could not take the Sippy cup in the living room because it might spill. Ella loves

to give hugs and kisses and when someone asks her for one, she usually will give them a

hug and kiss. When Ella was first observed she was not extremely demanding and

persistent but now that the “Terrible Two’s” have started to come out, she is a little more

demanding and persistent when she wants something. Ella loves to go to her

grandmother’s house because there she is the center of attention.

Karen said that Ella has a great sense of humor. When her daddy comes home

from work, she runs and gives him a big hug and kiss. Ella will say to her mom “I kissing

on your husband,” and Karen will reply “Don’t kiss on him, he is my husband.” They

play this game many times. Karen said that Ella just laughs and giggles the whole time


she is kissing on her daddy. Ella loves to play the “Bubble Bee” tickle game with her

grandfather. He will say, “Bubble bubble from the farm coming to get Ella under the

arm” and then he will tickle her under her arm and on her tummy. Ella was observed

playing the game right back to her grandfather. She likes to be silly and giggle with her

family.

Socially, Ella likes to play with the other children at the daycare. Ella was

observed going down in the basement to play with the older children. Ella normally is not

allowed to go down stairs because she is not old enough, so she was very excited to play

with the older children. According to Feldman (2007), onlooker play is when a child is

watching the other children play but does not participate with them. He/ she might make

comments or give advice but does not actually participate. This usually happens during

the preschool ages. Ella was obverse engaging in onlooker play but she was the onlooker,

because this was her first time down stairs with the older children Ella looked around to

see what the other children were doing and what they were playing with. She eventually

joined in playing video games with the older boy and playing on the jungle gym with the

older girl. Ella was also observed engaging in associative play. Ella and the other girl

played with the Barbie dolls for a while. Ella would take off their clothes and pick an

outfit for them to wear and then the other girl would dress them and put the dolls in the

dollhouse. The little boy played with the Legos trying to build a gun but Ella liked to see

how high she could build the Legos. Ella was observed engaging in functional play, she

would move her baby doll from the couch, to the table, where she changed her diaper,

and then to the floor for her to take her nap. She would continuously do this.


Ella usually interacts with the other children fairly well. She usually likes to be

with children her own age. There were a couple of times the children at the daycare did

something that she did not like, so she pushed them out of the way. She is starting to

show signs of aggressive behavior but not very often. She has a very good imaginary

mind she loves to imagine she is talking to her mommy or daddy on the phone. She even

likes to pretend she is feeding her baby and giving its pacifier. She loves to help her

grandmother do laundry by putting the clothes from the washer into the dryer. Sometimes

she can be more in the way than a helper but her grandmother does not mind.

Ella is growing socially and emotionally growing like every two year old. She is

starting to show her emotions and loves to be around children her age.

Reflection

I enjoyed observing and playing with Ella a lot. I really enjoyed going to my

grandparent’s house to do my observation. I observed Ella all over the house in the

computer room, kitchen, living room, family room, and even the laundry room. We had

so much fun together. I think the highlight of the observation was that I had the chance to

see Ella grow physically, cognitively and socially just in the three months I spent with

her.

Physically she grew from thinking about potty training to be almost being potty

trained. In the last couple of weeks that I have observed Ella has shown so much interest

in be “dry” and going to the bathroom on the big girl potty. She grew from sitting in a

highchair to now sitting in a chair at the table with the rest of us. Ella really loves to be at

the table with us she now is a “big girl” she says.


Ella is still growing cognitively, too. She is showing more interest in how to draw

different things, like shapes and people. The only shape she can draw right now is a

circle. Ella still loves to sing her songs and I just recently heard her sing “London Bridges

Falling Down.” There is a bird nest in the window at my grandparent’s house and Ella

has had the chance to watch them grow from an egg to little birds. I hope that she is old

enough to remember this experience. Ella loves to go see the birds and when we get close

she always say, “We can’t touch them and we have to be quiet, they are sleeping.” She

still is asking the “What” question all the time. Ella still loves to color and play with her

dolls.

Socially, Ella has started the “Terrible Two” stage. She gets very frustrated and

upset if something does not go her own why. She is also showing signs of not wanting to

share your toys with the other children. Ella likes to be around children her age and prefer

to be with them than the older children. She loves the one on one attention that she

receives from her grandparents, as every child does.

Some of my struggles during this observation were remembering to write

everything down, so I could type it into my paper. It was also hard to start observing so

early and not having to write anything right away. I did not feel like at the beginning I

knew what I was suppose to be observing. Then later in the semester, I noticed what I

was to observe and felt like I did a good job at observing Ella. I limited myself, I feel to

the most important things that I observed Ella do, say, and play. There was so much

information given to me I did not know where to put it all.

I definitely feel as if I know where children are coming from and have a good

grasp on the early life of children. I wish that we could have observed an older child, like


the age we want to teach. I definitely understand and have a good grasp why it is

important for all children to hit different developmental stages at a certain time in their

lives so that they can continue to go physical, cognitively, and socially.

All in all, I had a wonderful time observing Ella and watching her grow

physically, cognitively, and socially. I liked playing with her and watching her do her

“homework.” I think my favorite thing out of this whole experience was spending my

time with my cousin and reading with her. Ella is a very bright and beautiful girl.

Supplementary MaterialsPhysical Artifact

Growth chart- shows that Ella is in the 90 percent for height and shows that she is in the 95 percent for her weight

Cognitive ArtifactDrawing- shows that Ella can draw circles. There are some big and small circles.

There are some that she did not close. She is still in the scribbling stage of drawing.

Social ArtifactPicture of her family- we talked about her family and who was all was a part of it.

She has a very big family. As we were talking about her brothers and sisters she wanted me to draw them.


References

The Cleveland Clinic Women’s Health Center. (2006). Sexual health: your

guide to uterine fibroids. Retrieved April 6, 2009, from

http://women.webmd.com/uterine-fibroids

Feldman R. S. (2007). Child development, 4th edition. New Jersey: Pearson.

Iannelli, Vincet. (2005). Terrible twos and your toddler. Health’s disease and condition.

Retrieved April 27, 2009, from http://pediatrics.about.com/od/toddlers/a/05_

terrible_twos.htm

(K. Murphy, personal communication, February 17, 2009).

Oesterreich, L. (1995). Ages & stages – two- year olds. National network for child care.

Retrieved March 26, 2009, from http://www.nncc.org/Child.Dev/ages.stages.2y.

html

http://www.nncc.org/Child.Dev/ages.stages.2y

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/toddlers/a/05_

http://women.webmd.com/uterine-fibroids

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