Gabi Cohen

TLS 303

Shinn

1 May 2018

Written Benchmark-Preschool Case Study

Since I switched placements this semester from Tucson Community School to Second

Street Children’s School, my case study child changed as well. My new case study child is 3

years old and turns 4 on June 24th. He will be returning to preschool next year because of his

young age. Hudson currently attends Second Street Children’s School in a ¾ year old classroom

called the Rainbow class. Hudson has a mom named Sara and a dad named Erik. Hudson does

not have any siblings, although his mom is currently pregnant with their second child and is due

in September. Hudson enjoys playing with his cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Sarah’s

mom who Hudson calls Nana, lives in an assisted living home and has been paraplegic for about

35 years. He enjoys going to pick her up and bring her over. Dad says that the care takers and

the other residents at the living home “Swoon over him.” Hudson also enjoys playing with

mom’s nephew, Chase, who is 2 years old. Hudson usually sees family on holidays and some

weekends.

When I went into my first home visit, Hudson’s parents shared with me that they are

heavily involved in their community. Although they are not religious and do not often go to

church, they are involved in other ways. They had just gone to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade the

week prior to my first home visit and they were telling me how much Hudson enjoyed it. Since
Second Street Children’s School is right across from Himmel Park, they told me they love taking

Hudson there on the weekends and after school. Before Hudson attended preschool at Second

Street, they would take him to Mr. Nature for a jam session once a week to get him accustomed

to a new setting besides his home. They also love taking him to Home Depot because

sometimes they offer children’s activities there. Hudson goes to soccer practice every Sunday,

has started swim lessons, has been to the Tucson Orchestra as well as many other places with

his parents. Sara shared with me that Hudson is a good kicker and also that he has been a great

swimmer since he was a baby. Hudson enjoys going to Costco with his parents after school and

going to the library to pick out a few books. Hudson’s parents love him and gives him a ton of

attention and are interested to see how Hudson does with a new baby in the house. When his

parents sat him down and told him the big news, he later came to school and told my mentor

teacher and I that his mom was, “Growing a blueberry inside of her belly.” I am not sure if this

is something he came up with on his own or the way they told him, but it was so sweet to hear

and I think he will benefit from having a sibling at home to play with because in absence of that,

he seeks attention daily. They also do not own any cats or dogs because mom and dad like the

opposite animal, so Hudson likely gets lonely when it comes to playing at home. You can tell

this is a hard transition for him when he comes to school because the fact that he is an only

child, I assume his parents spoil him. Then when he comes to school, it is hard for him to

understand the concept of sharing toys.

Hudson cries most days at school because he either does not want to share a toy or

when it comes to clean up time, someone else puts his toy away and he throws a fit. Despite

the fact that Hudson is an only child and has a hard time learning to share, he is so friendly and
is always inclusive with his friends. He can listen and follow directions and is not behind in any

development as far as I have learned. I think Hudson learning to share at school is great practice

for when the baby comes in September. Hudson shows excitement about the new baby but I

think it also has also put a lot of stress on him. He has developed a new tic where he opens his

eyes wide, and I think this is his way of coping with the stress. I think the new baby will be good

for him, to understand that he is special and deserves attention, but that it is also okay to share

that with someone else.

Hudson’s physical development is average for his age of 3 years old. Hudson’s mom had

no complications at birth and he was born on time as a healthy baby. Hudson’s fine and gross

motor skills are where they should be and he is able to control his body, use his muscles

properly, and has good coordination. I have not noticed any physical developmental delays in

Hudson nor have I been told of any so it is safe to assume that Hudson’s physical development

is where it should be. Hudson on most days chooses to play with blocks and trains inside and

dump trucks outside. He loves to move around the classroom with his friends driving the cars or

pretending to be “bad guys.” Often when I am reading a book to a group of children, Hudson

will come over to listen to part of the book. He also always loves story time and is always

engaged in the books we read during group gatherings. During outside play, Hudson always

goes for the dump trucks and pretends to put out fires with his friends. Hudson has a great

imagination and has many friends in our Rainbow class. Hudson’s parents support his physical

development at home by allowing him to play and explore. Since we are a Reggio-Emelia

school, Hudson has 90% of the day to play and explore as well.
 When I think of cognitive development, I think of thought process, remembering,

problem solving, and decision making. My case study child, Hudson is someone who will always

remember exactly which dump truck for example he was using when he comes back from the

bathroom. One time he was using one of the big dump trucks and asked me to watch it to make

sure no one else took it and I told him that I would do it. While I was standing by his dump truck

while Hudson was in the bathroom, there was a conflict between two of my other students that

I had to go deal with and I figured going straight to deal with that issue was more important

than finding someone else to watch his dump truck. While I resolved the issue that was going

on, Hudson came back and saw that someone had taken his dump truck and his was in distress.

Hudson being an only child at home and not having to deal with sharing toys, has made it a

hard concept for him to understand in a school setting. I explained to Hudson why I had to walk

away and why the other child might have gotten confused when he saw a dump truck with no

one using it. We both went over and talked to the other child about how Hudson was using that

toy and it was resolved when we found another truck for the child to play with.

Hudson can problem solve independently with the help of my scaffolding, and I think

Hudson is cognitively aware and able to verbalize his feelings which as a future teacher, is

something that I am impressed to see in a young child. Home based activities that can support

Hudson’s cognitive development is reading with mom or dad, art projects, and minimal

electronic use. School based are all the opportunities he has to express himself and use his

imagination.

Before I even sat down with Hudson’s parents, I have observed in the past few months

with him that he is very verbal and emotional. He can describe why he is upset when he is, or
what he wants to Tamara, Gretchen and I’s assistance. Hudson is outgoing and loves playing

with his friends and describing things in detail. He has a vast vocabulary and like another child

in my class, Hudson a lot of the times repeats big words I say to him, and usually uses them

properly. Hudson picks up on a lot and often expresses his emotions. Hudson loves to role play

in school, usually being a firefighter or a bad guy, and something I noticed during my first home

visit is that he is extremely outgoing both at home and at school. My last case study child was

very outgoing at school but when I came to his home, he acted shy around his parents, which is

typical for many children because they are still finding their identity. This was not the case for

Hudson and I was pleasantly surprised at how open and creative he was at home. Hudson also

has a great imagination and is always coming up with these detailed stories.

During the first home visit, Hudson took me to his bedroom, showed me his toys, and

was making up stories. I was impressed with how creative he was and how curious he is about

the world. He is also very good at memorizing books which is something his parents shared with

me. Hudson’s language development is average for his young age of 3. Throughout the day at

school and at home Hudson has the opportunity to explore books which can be a great way to

enhance his language development. We also use name/picture cards to save structures that the

children build, and Hudson in the beginning of the semester would grab his picture card, but as

the semester unfolded he has been able to recognize his name card which has been great for

him.

Hudson is a very emotional child which can positively and negatively affect him. It

impacts him positively because he is so caring and loving to each person he meets and he has a

great relationship with his parents. He is super excited and eager for the new baby and tells me
and my co-teachers how great of a big brother he is going to be. He is always inclusive, is good

about expressing his feelings or telling a teacher when something is upsetting him, and

confronting a peer if they have done something wrong in his eyes. On the contrary, Hudson has

a hard time dealing with frustration or dealing with a conflict. Of course, it is normal for a 3-

year-old to struggle with sharing toys, Hudson struggles a lot with this since he is an only child

and does not have to deal with it at home. I think being in school and learning to share will be

great practice for him for when the baby comes. Hudson on most days has an episode where he

has a big cry over a small situation and we re-direct him to a different activity until he can pull

himself together. I think Hudson is a very emotional young boy and will continue to grow in this

area of development throughout the rest of this year and a lot when the baby is born. Hudson’s

parents and teachers can continue to help him express his emotions and deal with his

frustration by telling him to take a deep breath and then have a talk once he has calmed down.

Hudson is a very social and outgoing young boy who has many friends in our class.

Hudson loves to play firefighter outside with his friends, and inside, enjoys playing either in the

kitchen or building with Magna Tiles and blocks. Although Hudson is very social and is most

often playing with other children, he sometimes has trouble with sharing toys. This is

something we are working on with Hudson, especially if he walks away and finds another friend

using the toy, we have to explain to Hudson that maybe the other child was confused since the

item was left unattended. Hudson also struggles with cleaning up. If both him and another child

reach for the same toy, Hudson has trouble verbalizing that he wants to be the one to put it

away, and often gets upset or throws a fit. This shows me that Hudson has a hard time dealing

with frustration, and we are trying to teach him ways to use emotional vocabulary to explain
what he is feeling. Overall, Hudson is very social and knows who his friends are and can share

his feelings in some situations, but needs to work on dealing with frustration and using his

words instead of crying. Hudson can continue to play with all the children in his class, and this

combined with emotional development, will help him grow by learning to share and by being a

good friend.