Child Development: Analyzing Virtual Child's Growth and Behavior

This assignment involves a comprehensive analysis of child development across preschool and school-age stages using a virtual child simulation. The student evaluates the child's physical, social/emotional, and intellectual development, comparing it to developmental milestones and identifying typical or atypical patterns. The assignment requires the use of the APE (Answer, Prove, Example) strategy to support the analysis with original thoughts, textbook quotes, and examples from the virtual child reports. Additionally, the assignment addresses health, nutrition, and safety practices, prompting the student to create a list of effective parenting strategies and select specific practices to implement for the virtual child. Finally, the assignment culminates in the creation of a collage that celebrates the virtual child as a whole, integrating all aspects of their development.

Virtual Child Assignment
Preschool & School Age – Part 2
Student Name:
_________________________________________
Student Number:
_______________________________________
Section Number:
_______________________________________
Teacher’s Name:
_______________________________________

Assignment Due Date:
___________________________________
Section 1 – Child Development
THE PRESCHOOL YEARS (3-5 Years old)
Think about your child’s development compared to the developmental milestones. Is
your child’s development typical or atypical and discuss its importance? (Use your APE
strategy)
Developmental
Domain
ANSWER
(Use Original thought – Own words)
PROVE IT
(Add a Quote from your
textbook or class notes)
Avoid Plagiarism
EXAMPLE
(Add an example from your Virtual
Child reports)
Avoid Plagiarism
PHYSICAL
My child development is
typical
In this age band the
child should try to
participate in gross
motor activity such as
kicking the ball,
throwing ball, hopping,
climbing stairs and
other
As per the physical behavior of
my virtual child I have found
that, she has shown affection
towards climbing on chairs,
playing and throwing the ball
and kicking cardboards.
SOCIAL /
EMOTIONAL
My child development is
typical
In this age band the
child should be able
utter Mom and Dad,
have independent
thoughts on selection
while showing
affection towards sing,
dance and act.
As per the social behavior of
my virtual child I have found
that, she loves to play with
other children, while having
affection towards singing. she
also has independent choice
on his clothing and toys.
INTELLECTUAL In this age band the
child should count ten
or more objects, name
at least four color,
As per the cognitive and
intellectual behavior of my
virtual child I have found that,
she is not able to name

My child development is not
typical
follow the commands. multiple colors at ones, she
cannot count more than 5 and
she usually forget the details
of the commands
THE SCHOOL AGE YEARS (6-8 Years old)
Think about your child’s development compared to the developmental milestones. Is
your child’s development typical or atypical and discuss its importance? (Use your APE
strategy)
Developmental
Domain
ANSWER
(Use Original thought – Own words)
PROVE IT
(Add a Quote from your
textbook or class notes)
Avoid Plagiarism
EXAMPLE
(Add an example from your Virtual
Child reports)
Avoid Plagiarism
PHYSICAL
My child development is
typical
In this age band the
child should develop
balance in balanced
bicycle, capable to
hand eye coordination
and have good control
on figures
As per the physical behavior
of my virtual child I have
found that, she has shown
ability in cycling, she is also
able to catch a ball perfectly
and she can also tries to play
piano.
SOCIAL /
EMOTIONAL
My child development not
typical
In this age band the
child should able to
develop friend circle,
enjoy group activity and
should contain strong
emotional changes
As per the social and
emotional behavior of my
virtual child I have found that,
she has less interest in group
based activity, she cannot
express his emotions
properly.
INTELLECTUAL In this age band the
child should logically
think and argue, enjoy
As per the cognitive and
intellectual behavior of my
virtual child I have found that,

My child development typical reading stories,
understand opposite
words and
consequences, able to
execute basic
summation and
subtraction
she is able to compute math
problems, enjoy reading
comics and understand
opposite words as funny fact
THE SCHOOL AGE YEARS (9-11 Years old)
Think about your child’s development compared to the developmental milestones. Is
your child’s development typical or atypical and discuss its importance? (Use your APE
strategy)
Developmental
Domain
ANSWER
(Use Original thought – Own words)
PROVE IT
(Add a Quote from your
textbook or class notes)
Avoid Plagiarism
EXAMPLE
(Add an example from your Virtual
Child reports)
Avoid Plagiarism
PHYSICAL
My child development is
typical
In this age band the
child should able to
follow particular dance
stapes with proper
physical coordination,
always show high
physical energy level
and restlessness.
As per the physical growth
and behavior of my virtual
child I have found that, she
learned to dance well and she
is also a restless child who
wants to be engage in physical
activity always.
SOCIAL /
EMOTIONAL
My child development is not
typical
In this age band the
child should be loyal to
the friend circle, should
prefer cooperative and
group based activities,
and should prefer
collaborative cultural
activities.
As per the social and
emotional behavior of my
virtual child I have found that,
she is not comfortable in
group of children, she usually
feels alone in school, and she
wants to pursue her dancing
skill alone
INTELLECTUAL
My child development is
typical
In this age band the
child should have
higher attention in
learning, able to
calculate numeric
simple linear
equations, remember
As per the cognitive and
intellectual behavior of my
virtual child I have found that,
she is very attentive in reading
and she can moderately solve
linear numeric equations and
she always sings the whole

entire poems and lyrics songs without forgetting the
lyrics.
THE SCHOOL AGE YEARS (12 Years old and up)
Think about your child’s development compared to the developmental milestones. Is
your child’s development typical or atypical and discuss its importance? (Use your APE
strategy)
Developmental
Domain
ANSWER
(Use Original thought – Own words)
PROVE IT
(Add a Quote from your
textbook or class notes)
Avoid Plagiarism
EXAMPLE
(Add an example from your Virtual
Child reports)
Avoid Plagiarism
PHYSICAL
My child development is
typical
In this age band the
child should have
increased level of skin
oils and pimples,
female child should
have widen hips, more
developed breasts and
menstrual cycle begin
As per the physical growth and
behavior of my virtual child I
have found that she had all
apparent physical mature
growth as female and she also
started to have menstrual
cycle.
SOCIAL /
EMOTIONAL
My child development is
typical
In this age band the
child should be
concern about the
outward appearance,
should have special
feeling towards
opposite gender
peers, should have
more caring attitude
towards family.
As per the social and
emotional behavior of my
virtual child I have found that,
she has special feeling towards
one of her male classmate, she
also express more concern
about her dress-up and pears.
INTELLECTUAL
My child development is not
typical
In this age band the
child should begin to
think about their
future educational
career and
occupation, should
have interest in
complex issues such as
poverty and war and
As per the cognitive and
intellectual behavior of my
virtual child I have found that,
she does not have any clear
focus about her career and
future occupation. However,
she always focused on writing
poem and stories and
sketching.

should have the ability
to create poems and
write stories.
Section 2 – Health, Nutrition & Safety Practices
Create a list of all of the Health and Safety practices that you would use as an effective parent and future Early
Childhood Educator. (Brainstorm using your class notes)
 Developing safety do and don’ts for home
 Developing safety do and don’ts for Outside
 Safety measures and practice for burns
 Practicing cleanliness and hygienic lifestyle
 Taking safety measures from unknown people
 Having safety measures from hazardous areas such as stairs and balcony
 Having safety instruction and practice for using sharp tools such as knife and blades.
 Safety measures and monitoring for water safety
 Teaching safety practice while in car
 Teaching safety measures in emergency such as fire and earthquake
 Safety measures and practice for road traffic

Select 8 different Health and Safety Practices from your list that you would need to
Implement for your Virtual Child using the APE strategy!
Health & Safety Practice ANSWER
(Using Original Thought – Own
Words)
PROVE IT
(Add a quote using your textbook or
class notes) Avoid Plagiarism
EXAMPLE
(Add a specific example from your Virtual Child
Report) Avoid Plagiarism
Safety measures
and practice for
burns
It needs to be
implemented for the
virtual child while she is
near inflammable
material and flames
Safety measures and
practice for burns
requires to protect the
child from burns from
fires and acids
In early childhood I need to keep
close eye on my child when she is
playing and after 10 years I should
keep eye on her when she is using
lighters, candles and ovens. I
should also teach her how to keep
her safe from any burning hazard
Practicing
cleanliness and
hygienic lifestyle
It needs to be
implemented for
hygienic food practice,
water consumption and
cleanliness
Safety measures and
practice for cleanliness
and hygiene required
proper training and
development of the child
For my virtual child I would teach
her about regular bathing, brushing
teeth and other hygienic practice. I
should also train her about
consuming clean and healthy food
and water.
Having safety
measures from
hazardous areas
such as stairs
and balcony
It needs to be
implemented to keep
the child safe from
physical hazards
Safety measures and
practice for physical
hazards includes taking
care of falls and stuck by
hazards during playing
In early childhood I need to keep
close eye on my child when she is
playing and I have to develop
boundaries in balcony and stares to
prevent any hazards.
Having safety
instruction and
practice for
using sharp
tools such as
knife and blades
It needs to be
implemented to keep
the child safe from
sharp and heavy object
Safety measures and
practice for sharp and
heavy object includes
monitoring and training
the child regarding the
use of heavy and sharp
tools
In early childhood I need to keep
close eye on my child when she is
playing, so that she could not cut
her figure by sharp object. After 3
years of age I should train her
about how to handle sharp and
heavy object and how to avoid
using them.
Safety measures
and monitoring
for water safety
It needs to be
implemented to keep
the child safe from
drowning
Safety measures and
practice for water safety
includes monitoring child
while plying near water
In her early childhood I need to
keep close eye on my child when
she is playing near pools and
bathtubs. I will also teach hear
swimming so that she can survive
in water without downing. During
swimming lesson I should also keep
close monitoring on her.
Teaching safety
practice while in
car
It needs to be
implemented to keep
the child safe car
Safety measures and
practice for car includes
using belts and not using
In her early childhood I should
drive car after attaching the safety
belt. I should also make her aware

accidents and hazards inferable material in car of the practice of using safety belts
wile in car or avoiding playing with
any inflammable material in car
Teaching safety
measures in
emergency such
as fire and
earthquake
It needs to be
implemented to keep
child safe in an
emergency situation
Safety measures and
practice for emergency
situation includes fire
hazards response and
emergency activities
After her 3 years of age I will teach
her how to escape from any fire
hazard situation and informing
others about the incident. I should
also teach her how to take shelter
during earthquake.
Safety measures
and practice for
road traffic
It needs to be
implemented to keep
child safe from road
accident
Safety measures and
practice for road traffic
includes teaching traffic
rules and developing
awareness about
complying the rules
After her 3 years of age I will teach
her how to obey the pelican signal
for crossing streets and how to use
zebra crossing. I should also make
her aware of the fact that this rules
should be followed mandatorily for
her safety as well as the road safety
of others

Sarah at age 1 plying
with her toys
Sarah at age 8 moths
laughing after seeing a bird
Sarah at age 2
years dancing
with music
Sarah at age 2 reciting a
poem
Sarah at age 8 telling
her written Story
Sarah at age 12, after
scoring good in school
Section 3 – The Whole Child
Using the content from your Virtual Child reports, create a collage using pictures and words that celebrates
your Virtual Child’s as a Whole Child. Make sure to link to all areas of the Whole Child!

References
American Academy of Pediatrics. (2019). Caring for Our Children, National Health and Safety Performance
Standards. American Academy of Pediatrics.
Bellman, M., Byrne, O., & Sege, R. (2013). Developmental assessment of children. Bmj, 346, e8687.
Crittenden, P. M. (2013). Raising parents: Attachment, parenting and child safety. Routledge.
Flensborg-Madsen, T., & Mortensen, E. L. (2015). Infant developmental milestones and adult intelligence: A
34-year follow-up. Early human development, 91(7), 393-400.
Kendrick, D., Mulvaney, C. A., Ye, L., Stevens, T., Mytton, J. A., & Stewart Brown, S. (2013). Parenting‐
interventions for the prevention of unintentional injuries in childhood. Cochrane Database of
Systematic Reviews, (3).
Mueller, V., Sepulveda, A., & Rodriguez, S. (2014). The effects of baby sign training on child
development. Early Child Development and Care, 184(8), 1178-1191.
Perrin, E. C., Leslie, L. K., & Boat, T. (2016). Parenting as primary prevention. JAMA pediatrics, 170(7), 637-638.
Press, R. (2015). Developmental milestones of young children. Redleaf Press.
Scharf, R. J., Scharf, G. J., & Stroustrup, A. (2016). Developmental Milestones. Pediatrics in review, 37(1), 25-
37.

Self-Evaluation
How did you use the feedback from your Infant / Toddler Virtual Child Assignment?
Ans:
I tried to implement the suggestions provided in the feedbacks of previous assignment to develop this
assignment. During developing this assignment, I opened the feedback file of the previous assignment with
this assignment side by side to address all issues.
Did you change your work habits in this assignment compared to Part 1? Why or why not?
Ans:
For this assignment I used the marking rubrics as the guideline. The purpose of the using this is to make me
competent enough in assignment development as per the criteria of marking rubrics. For this assignment
instead of focusing on the particular section I am doing, I read the entire question paper at first. It allowed me
to understand the purpose of the assignment and the flow of information required for the assignment.

How will you continue to learn more about child development and health / safety practices moving forward?
Ans:
I would like to learn more about the psychological development required to ensure the child will be going to
comply with the health and safety practices in his/her entire life. I want to know more about the health and
safety training procedures and strategies to make the child at teenage aware of the significance of these
factors.
What surprised you most about this Assignment?
Ans:
The thing that surprised me most is the development of the child in different phases in more details and their
implications on sociological perspectives. I found that despite of being text based application, this simulation
virtual child simulation is very realistic and very effective to learn about child psychological, sociological and
physiological development.
What does this assignment reveal about you as a learner?
From this assignment I have learned two major things about myself. First thing is that I have great interest in
learning the developmental psychological factors and their sociological implications. The second thing is that I
would be happy to spend time with children in future as a parent or child educator to understand their growth
and implement my knowledge in practical situation.