Sam’s strengths and individual traits in Cognitive development
Cognitive skills are the necessary skills needed by an individual for thinking, recalling, reading, reasoning, and paying attention. Sam exhibits a wide range of individual cognitive development traits and strengths. This includes the ability to count to twenty by rate, recalling words to a singing chant, and showing a basic understanding of time where he knows the daily schedule in a sequential manner (Developmental Age Level, 2006). Sam is also able to count ten or more objects evident with his ability to count objects to twenty, can locate objects besides or behind an obstacle, and can build an enclosure among other traits (Developmental Age Level, 2006). Sam exhibits a number of cognitive development traits that are similar to children of his age. He is able to distinguish elementary geometric figures and differences in size, especially the sizes of cars.
Sam also exhibits complex cognitive development traits that are beyond his age range. He is able to name colors correctly and evident with his ability to tell the colors of clothes, sorting objects by appearance, which he exhibits by playing table games (Developmental Age Level, 2006). All these traits were seen during the cognitive assessment. Unfortunately, I was not able to observe Sam recognize changes in melodic tones, reproduce melodic tones with vocal sound, arrange activities in a sequential manner, arranging items in a system conferring to a statute and recollecting and acting on instructions of a choral game. These traits would have better informed my assessment of his individual strengths in cognitive development.
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Sam is evidently in the sensorimotor stage of cognitive development. This is exhibited by the qualities of problem-solving activities the child engages in, such as being able to locate objects behind obstacles and being able to realize basic geometric shapes and differences in size. His attention to tasks is evident as he can look at objects and sort them out based on their appearance. He is also aware about things used every day in his environment evident with his ability to know the daily schedule (Developmental Age Level, 2006). He is also able to build block enclosures and can differentiate the sizes of cars by paying attention to them.
Sam is also able to follow directions where he can count to twenty by rate. Sam also manipulates objects in a manner that is similar to children between the ages of four and ten to depict that he is in the sensorimotor stage but has acquired advanced skills such as the ability to sort objects through observing their patterns. I have witnessed him engage in logical thinking when he tells me of his daily schedule and his ability to recall the words to a song and chant. Sam relies on recalling and observing as his main approaches to learning which are similar approaches to the ones used by other students in his class. Sam first observes what is being done, then replicates it and works well with others.
Sam’s strengths and individual traits in communication
Communication is the ability of an individual to provide and exchange information with other people. There are four main aspects of communication that can be exhibited by human beings, which include expressive language, pragmatic language, receptive language, and articulation. Data collected from Sam shows that he speaks confidently and clearly enough in the classroom for grownups to comprehend. He also speaks in lengthened sentences and participates in conversing with other kids (Developmental Age Level, 2006). He makes queries with appropriate word order, creates “no” replies with proper word order, and uses the past tense verbs properly. Sam also mimics writing by jotting horizontally, mimics the writing of alphabets, writes words with inverted spelling, and includes features of real letter scribbling, although he does not use writing tools in all three instances. Sam recites stories from storybooks with greater accuracy.
Sam makes his needs known in bold statements. He speaks up in a manner that everyone can understand, and is language is good. He seems to understand his morphological rules of the English language, as evident in how he speaks in expanded sentences that have correct word order. The child engages in logical thinking, which is evident in how he retells stories from books with increasing accuracy and the conversations that he holds with other children (Developmental Age Level, 2006). Sam responds to others in a clear manner making it easy for everyone to know what he says. He also initiates conversations with others, including his teachers, when asking questions in class as such, his language ability is in the articulation stage where it is developmentally appropriate because he speaks confidently in the classroom.
Sam initiates conversation among peers and talks to people in both large and small groups. Sam speaks mostly in small groups, and there are no discernible differences in his communication style while talking in this group. When talking to these small groups, he tells them to play a certain game and points out to the playground, thus using gestures to enhance what he says. Sam has excellent receptive and expressive language skills for his age, which are evident as he converses with his peers and the adults in the school. Sam is also able to showcase some pragmatic rules of a culture where he is seen to follow the unspoken rules of communication, such as turn-taking in conversation and use of gestures and facial expressions when retelling a story. Sam has well-developed traits in communication that are well developed for his age.
Reference
Developmental Age Level. (2006). Developmental checklist birth to five.
