Case Study

Module 03 Content

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Read the following short case study:

Portia is a three year old child. When she was born, she was four weeks early and had to stay in the hospital for a few extra days. She lives with her mother, aunt and grandmother in an apartment in downtown Chicago. Her mother works two jobs, her aunt goes to high school and her grandmother takes care of her when she is not in preschool. Portia attends the Head Start preschool program down the street from her apartment and she is there only three days per week for three hours each time. Portia does not know her father as he left the family when she was just a baby. Her mother talks about him sometimes, but not often. Sometimes Portia does not see her mother except for when her mother gives her a kiss when she comes home from her job in the middle of the night. Some of her favorite activities are reading books, coloring with crayons and watching television. She loves to watch the soap operas with her grandmother in the afternoon. Portia spends little time outdoors except when she is at preschool. There is no yard at her apartment and the playground is not always a safe place to play, so grandmother will not take her there. There are often a lot of teenagers hanging out there smoking. Someday, Portia hopes to be a princess or a teacher. She likes her teacher at her preschool.

Answer the following questions to assess the environmental and biological factors influencing the child’s cognitive development. You will need to use one resource from the course to support your assessment. Your assessment should be between 2-3 pages, including an introduction and conclusion. A title page and reference list in APA format are in addition to the required page length.

1. • What are some of the influences/factors which affect Portia’s cognitive development?
   • Biological factors? What is the effect? Use your course resources for support.
   • Environmental factors? What is the effect? Use your course resources for support.
   • Which factors will have the most profound affects? Why is that so? Use your resources to support your answers.
   • With only the information you have in the case study, describe some possible supports which may help Portia and follow developmentally appropriate practices. What could her preschool teacher do to support Portia and her family?

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