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Newborn
The world has welcomed Aniston Skye! As a newborn, her physical development comes as she builds up her neck muscles by spending time on her stomach. She sleeps often, and she has facial expressions when she hears voices. Playing soft music and reading are important to her cognitive development. Dog barks and car horns scare her, but I am there for comfort (Trust v. Mistrust).
Weight: 6 pounds, 10 ounces
Height: 18 inches, 7 centimeters -
Helping Newborn Development
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4 Months Old
As Aniston explores the sensorimotor stage, she has established a household rule: everything belongs in the mouth. Her back and neck muscles are strong enough for her to sit with the support of pillows, and she tries to hold her bottle with her hands. Aniston uses squeals and sounds to communicate. She takes an interest in the baby in the mirror, but new faces and voices disrupt her routine.
Weight: 13 pounds, 1 ounce
Height: 22 inches, 7 centimeters -
9 Months Old
Aniston travels in a speedy and thunderous crawl, and she loves to pull up to furniture and bounce on any seat or lap. She strings together sounds and labels every person as “Ma-ma” or “me.” Aniston also waves to say “bye bye” to strangers and friends. We play Peek-a-Boo and instruments when she is not obsessing over her baby doll or the orange ball.
Weight: 18 pounds, 7 ounces
Height: 28 inches, 1 centimeter -
Interactive Reading
At the tactile / sensorimotor stage, Aniston pays close attention to books that feature bright and touchable elements. Books that encourage the development of fine motor skills and teach babies their features (eyes, nose, mouth) are great for learning word association!
14 Interactive Books for Babies -
1 Year Old
Aniston is officially a toddler! She walks on her own, but she occasionally gets too fast for her feet and resorts to crawling. We struggle through meals with a spoon as she builds muscles in her wrists and fingers. Her vocabulary expanded to words like “ball” and “cup,” and she mimics the sounds of names. Although she argues, we can put toys away together and complete simple tasks. She has favorites among people and fear with others.
Weight: 20 pounds, 2 ounces
Height: 29 inches, 3 centimeters -
Period: to
Educational Toys for Toddlers
When picking toys for Aniston, I considered what she would find entertaining and what would help her better understand the world around her. The list shows toys that help her to develop cognitively, like puzzles and blocks, and to develop creatively as her imagination begins to run wild.
Best Educational Toys for Toddlers 2018 -
2 Years Old
As Aniston develops her Id, her concerns are all about her. She is capable of scribbling chalk on the sidewalk, and I encourage her Picasso-esque designs. Her fingers can work to undo buttons and fix shoes (Autonomy v. Shame and Doubt). Aniston can say that her letter is “A” and recite several letters though she has no idea what they mean. She has developed a liking for children that are not her reflection.
Weight: 25 pounds, 7 ounces
Height: 31 inches, 5 centimeters -
4 Years Old
Before Pre-K, we have worked on how to pour things (semi-successfully) from one container to another, and Aniston chalks up some hopscotch games, which help her gross motor skills. She pretends to read even though I know that she has just memorized the simple books, and with help, she can say which numbers the clock shows. She has even managed to write her name backward many times. Pre-K encourages her to play with other children, and she will learn to achieve goals (Initiative v. Guilt). -
4 Years Old
Aniston's decisions are centered around reward and punishment, which I attribute to the behavior management system in her Pre-K classroom (Preconventional Stage). Her teachers must work around her stage in Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development, Preoperational, as Aniston starts to understand symbolic examples.
Weight: 38 pounds, 14 ounces
Height: 37 inches, 7 centimeters -
Period: to
Elementary Years
By establishing the importance of education in the home, Aniston and I used executive strategies for her success in elementary school.
10 Ways to Help Your Child Succeed in Elementary School
However with her dyslexia, I considered the importance of using techniques that played to her strengths.
A Dyslexic Child in the Classroom -
7 Years Old
Aniston is halfway through 2nd Grade! She began losing her baby teeth in Kindergarten, and now she looks “snaggle-toothed.” She goes to swimming lessons, which help her heart and lungs, twice a week. Last week, Aniston had a When I Grow Up project and drew herself as a professional swimmer. She experiences life through a vivid imagination, and trips to Walmart are often perceived as treks through the wilderness. When Aniston started elementary school, she was tested for dyslexia.
(Next Event...) -
7 Years Old
The Preoperational Stage and her dyslexia allow her to learn best through repetitive examples and experiences. We work through reading assignments together and create useful methods, and with extra time, she keeps up with her peers (Industry v. Inferiority). Aniston has developed Self-Concept and knows that her worth is not measured by a grade. She has not lost the fun of helping me cook and wipe off the table but also has friendships at school.
Weight: 47 pounds, 9 ounces
Height: 45 inches -
11 Years Old
In her middle school career, Aniston competes on a swim team. I buy larger swimsuits every few months because of her growth spurts and enforce the use of deodorant. Team structure and organization help with how she handles school. Her multiple teachers use different teaching methods, and she has learned to listen and take notes (Concrete Operational), which plays to her strengths as an auditory learner. Audiobooks became her best friend and helped build her vocabulary.
(Next Event...) -
11 Years Old
Socially, Aniston has taken a liking for her Science teacher, and most of her admiration comes from her success in the class. Her teacher often gives project grades and conducts many in-class experiments. She and a girl from her swim team have transferred their friendship to school. Lately, Aniston prefers for her friend to defend her dyslexia rather than myself, so I have encouraged the healthy friendship.
Weight: 79 pounds
Height: 54 inches, 7 centimeters -
14 Years Old
I finally convinced her acne is normal and that the pool washes away makeup. She practices self-concept when considering areas for swimming improvement. Out of her more intensive classes, Aniston struggles through English class because of her dyslexia. Her dyslexia interferes with word recollection and detail memory, so she spends afternoon time in a special service classroom. Aniston has had an incident with cheating on a terms test because she claimed she could not “see” the words in her head. -
14 Years Old
Aniston decided that her dyslexia could hinder her from academic competition, and now, she translates her competitive nature into swimming. I believe her commitment to swimming will help her as she enters the Identity v. Role-Confusion stage in Erikson’s developmental theory, and more importantly, she may avoid the “Emo” phase because she has close ties to her friend from the swim team. Puberty took a toll on her confidence as she struggled with asynchronous growth and an imaginary audience. -
17 Years Old
As Aniston approaches her final year of high school, she must reflect on her academic decisions and determine her future options. Her physical growth only progressed during high school as she gained muscle mass from swim exercises, and her swimming abilities should provide opportunities after senior year. During our talks about college, she shows metacognition when reflecting on poor performances on assignments. "If only I had studied more," she says on several occasions.
(Next Event...) -
17 Years Old
Aniston operates entirely within the Formal Operational stage as she can analyze others arguments and defend her own -- as long as she does not write her responses. As for her studying, she overcame her urge to cheat and entered Kohlberg's Postconventional Morality by owning her actions. I limit her multitasking between swim and school responsibilities, and she avoids the personal fable of Olympic swimmer by focusing on her attempts at the ACT.
Weight: 117 pounds, 4 ounces
Height: 65 inches
