Assignment 2

1. At 3 months of age we tried the Object Permanence test and the results were okay, but not the greatest. At 9 months we tried it again. Ryann loved it and she did really well, she was able to find the toy each time without even going back to the original hiding spot. According to Piaget's cognitive theory, she is realizing that things are still in existance even if they can not be seen. At 15 months I noticed that Ryann liked to study her environment and perform experiments. For example, she builds mounds of dirt and pours water on them to see what happens. The only thing that worries me about her problem solving skills is that she tries problems that are too hard for her age level. She gets very frustrated when she can't solve them and gets angry with me. I'm introducing her to problems that are a little more her age group and hopefully she will do fine with those. Ryann also loves to play with building blocks.

2. Ryann is an extremely active 18 month old. She's always on the go from morning to night and only takes a short nap during the day. She's frequently awake late inot the evening or early morning. My partner and I decided to introduce her to "quiet time" where she will play puzzels and low energy games. Ryann's favorite places include the park and the store because she gets to interact with lots of new people. At the park she can play and interact with the environment.
Ryann is definately an extrovert, just like her mom. She's extremely social and she even wants to be left alone while at the park so she can interact with other children on her own. It's tough to get used to the fact that she's not as attached to me as she used to be. Except the preschool evaluater told us she thought Ryann was "securely attached" so maybe I'm just being too worried.
Ryann used to be very emotional. She has calmed down quite a bit, but still gets fussy when tired, wet, hungry, or overstimulated. She still cries a little after being dropped off at daycare but like always she's quick to get over it. The examiner at the preschool noted that she was very cheerful during the play sessions and she only became irritable when another child became aggressive toward her. So I'd say she is definately starting to calm down.
Ryann is not very aggressive with other kids. She plays well with others and even enjoys being in new social situation. She was coperative with the examiner at the preschool and also with the other children. Of course she does have a little negativity at home, but that's normal. We are currently working on giving her timeouts but also praising her and encouraging her more often than we used to.
Ryann also has good self control. She stops when she is told no and she understands why she gets punished and that she shouldn't do it again.
Our child is very interactive with new people and situations and is very energetic so we try to adapt to her behavior. I have to watch Ryann very carefully because she has tremendous motor skills and will try and run off from me or even run into the street. Ryann loves to be out and about so we go to the park as often as we can, and I'm even teaching her how to care for plants we are growing on our balcony. Instead of thrusting Ryann into a strangers arms, I want her to slowly be introduced to the new person; so instead of letting them pick her up, I pick her up first, and then after I feel she is settled down, I hand her over. Ryann began showing interest in singing and dancing so I taught her some simple preschool songs to keep her happy and entertained.

3. Ryann's development hasn't suprised me that much. The only thing that has shocked me has been her speech and language skills. She only knows and understands a limited amount of words. The examiner scored her at about the 12-15 month range for language. That suprised me the most because at home we read to her, I make her use her words if she wants something before I give it to her, and I encourage her a lot. Other than that I was not suprised. We will be working on improving her vocabulary.