GUIDANCE COUNCELLING APPROACHES	SCRIPT	STRATEGY	LEARNINGS EXPECTED FROM THE STUDENTS
A.      Adlerian Therapy Approach	Teacher:  Hello Danny, what can I do for you? Danny:  Teacher, I do not really want to do activities with my classmates.  They are all destructor.  I prefer to do things by myself than to let them ruin everything just like what they did before... Teacher: How did you say that they are non-sense at all? Danny:  Because, they just keep on depending on me every time that we have our group activity. They do not give their ideas and just let me to do everything.  In fact, the last time they gave help, they ruined our work! I do not want it to happen again. Teacher:  Why do you think the reasons why they just let you to do the whole things? Danny:  Maybe because I am the leader in the group. Teacher:  Do you think that it is good that as a leader you will do everything? Danny: No, it is everybody's job.  But they will just destroy our product again if they will help. Teacher:  How did you say so? Danny:  Because they just did it already. Teacher: Have you tell them about this? Danny: No, I haven't.  Well, anyway, I prefer to do activities for the group alone. Teacher: Was there somebody who had ever asked you to help? Danny: Yes, Sara and Lino does.  But, I am afraid to let them help.  They will just ruin everything. Teacher:  Did you tell them those things? Danny:  Yes. And I won’t let them to do it again. Teacher:  If you were Sara and Lino, after hearing those, how would you feel? Danny:  Hmm...  I will feel offended.  I will not offer help anymore. Teacher:  Do you think they also felt the same when you did not let them to be part of the activity? Danny: Yes, I think so. I think I offended them. Maybe that is also the reason why they did not help me in the activities. Teacher:  Do you think your activities will be easier if all of you will work for it? Danny: Yes, I think it will teacher. Teacher:  So, what are you planning now? Danny:  I will approach my group mates and tell them that I am really sorry about what I did.  I will tell them that we should work together to do the activity well.	Play Therapy Adlerian Play Therapy is a component of the complete program of Adlerian Therapy. The Adlerian Therapy is a growth model that stresses a positive view of human nature and that we are in control of our own fate rather than a victim of it. Emphasis is placed on the individual’s strivings for success, connections to others, and contributions to society as being hallmarks of mental health. Adlerian Play Therapy focused on structured and acceptable form of play to aid in the other aspects of the therapy. This is especially important with children who are not generally receptive to opening up to strangers about their feelings.	Adlerian psychotherapy is both humanistic and goal oriented. It emphasizes the individual's strivings for success, connectedness with others, and contributions to society as being hallmarks of mental health. Birth order is considered important in understanding a person's current personality, yet the therapy is future-minded, rather than retrospective.  With this approach, the students will be able to understanding their own unique lifestyle and of each individual before working toward change.
B.  Psychoanalytic Therapy Approach	Teacher: A pleasant morning Lita, I've seen you very sad today.  Lita:  Teacher, I hate my Mom, she does not care to me at all. Teacher:  Would you mind to share how you said that.  Feel free to tell me okay.  I am your teacher and I will listen to you as long as you want me too. Lita:  I hate my mother; she does not care to me at all.  She does not even care about my schooling.  She plays cards for the whole day and seems to not mind if I and my siblings have eaten our dinner. Last night, I saw her drinking alcohol and she just let my little sister crying.  We got no money at all but then she still does her vices and I hate it! I really do.  I am planning not to go home now and leave them.  But, I am thinking about my siblings.  They were too young just like me.  I curse my mother...  she don't care. Teacher: As I can see it, you were too stressed about what you feels right now.  Why don't you try to imagine that I am your mother and you are talking to me right now?  Tell me about your feelings and your hatreds.  Feel that I am your mother and not your teacher anymore.  Go ahead child, I am willing to listen. Lita:  Mom, why are you like that? Don't you love us? You were not like that since father left us.  We love you mom! But you are making us feel that we are nothing to you... why mother? Why? Do you not really care about us? You know? I am starting to hate you! You and father... I hate you both!  I pray...I pray a lot just to erase this hatred.  Mom I love you but you are showing that you do not deserve it... Please Mom, please come back. We need you and we love you. Teacher: Was that all? Lita: Yes, teacher.  That is what I would like to tell to Mom.  And I think I have said everything that I want. Teacher: How do you feel right now? Lita: Better than a while ago.  I feel that I had explained everything to mom already. Thanks teacher.	Transference- denotes a shift onto another person—usually the psychoanalyst—of feelings, desires, and modes of relating formerly organized or experienced in connection with persons in the subject's past whom the subject was highly invested in. This may be used in the ECED classroom situation, just like with how it was used in the example, by where the teacher, as the therapist, will try to let their student-client to transfer their concentration of emotional energy on an object or idea from one person to the form, personality, or characteristics of another to mobilize its emotional energy associated with instinctual drives that leads him/her to a particular behavior	With the help of the effective psychotherapist, the student may learn to understand unconscious past forces which affect current emotions and behaviors.   It involves looking at early childhood experiences in order to discover how these events happened and shaped the child that leads him/her to current actions
C.  Person-centered Theory Approach (Rogerian psychotherapy)	Teacher:  You look not fine Tristan, is there anything wrong? Tristan:  Nobody from my classmates wants to play with me. Teacher: They are? Tristan: Yes teacher and I want to take revenge. Teacher:  Okay, first, I want you to calm down and breathe peaceably for 5 seconds… Teacher is willing to listen, just tell me what happened and tell me confidently how you feel. Teacher is someone you can rely and trust with. Tristan: Yes teacher… I am happy to know that. Lily and Troy do not want to play with me that is why I just played my toy alone in the school yard. Teacher:  Why do you think that they acted that way? Tristan:  Well, I don’t know?! Teacher:  How do you feel after that? Tristan:  I hate them both.  I will not treat them as my friend anymore. They were ugly and bad. Teacher:  What made you think to do that? Tristan:  Because they do not want to play with me. Teacher:  I know how it feels to be alone Tristan, but have you ask them why they treated you that way. Tristan: I think, I don’t need to ask.  Yesterday, I did not let them to play with my bike.  But you know Teacher it was given to me by my father from abroad and I am afraid that it will broke. Teacher:  What do you think the felt after that? Tristan:  I saw them disappointed.  Maybe that was the reason that they did not play with me anymore. Teacher:  Do you think so? Tristan: Yes teacher.  It was my entire fault. Teacher does not say anything like that but what made you think that? Tristan:  Because, I knew my friends just want to play with me and they felt very bad because I did not let them to play with my toy. Teacher: So, what are you going to do now? Tristan:  I will talk to them and say sorry.  Thank you teacher for helping me to realize these things.	Therapist Empathic understanding The therapist experiences an empathic understanding of the client's internal frame of reference. Accurate empathy on the part of the therapist helps the client believe the therapist's unconditional love for them.Therapist Unconditional Positive Regard (UPR): the therapist accepts the client unconditionally, without judgment, disapproval or approval. This facilitates increased self-regard in the client, as they can begin to become aware of experiences in which their view of self-worth was distorted by others.	The students may increase self-esteem and greater openness to experience, better self-understanding; lower levels of defensiveness, guilt, and insecurity; more positive and comfortable relationships with others; and an increased capacity to experience and express feelings at the moment they occur.  With success of the therapy the client-child will improved self-esteem; trust in one's inner feelings and experiences as valuable sources of information for making decisions; increased ability to learn from (rather than repeating) mistakes; decreased defensiveness, guilt, and insecurity; more positive and comfortable relationships with others; an increased capacity to experience and express feelings at the moment they occur; and openness to new experiences and new ways of thinking about life.
D.EXISTENTIALIST THERAPY APPROACH	Faye:  Teacher, I heard that my parents will have their divorce papers to be signed today.  I do not want this to happen! Teacher:  Okay, Faye, teacher is willing to listen but please calm down first and take a deep breath. Faye:  I don’t want to see my parents to have their divorcement.  I heard them talking about it this morning. Teacher: Faye, my child, you are too young to have discuss about it. Divorcement? How do you understand that word? You are not in your proper age to say and talk about this word. Let you parents talk about it okay?  So for now, just do what you to do in the class and make them to be more proud of you.	Existential psychotherapy is based on the philosophical belief that human beings are alone in the world, and that this aloneness can only be overcome by creating one's own meaning, and exercising one's freedom to choose. The existential therapist encourages clients to face life's anxieties head on and to start making his own decisions. The therapist will emphasize that along with having the freedom to carve out meaning comes the need to take full responsibility for the consequences of one's decisions. Therapy sessions focus on the client's present and future rather than his past.	Finding personal meaning: the client-student is encouraged to find her own meanings and truths. Taking responsibility for decisions. Living in the present: the goal is to get the person to believe to experience life and to live more fully in each moment. Increasing self awareness and authentic living.
E. Gestalt Therapy			The student client become more self aware, to live more in the present, and to assume more responsibility for taking care of herself.
F. Reality Therapy
G. Transactional-analysis Therapy			The student learns how toevaluate her past decisions and how those choices affect her present life, in the belief that greater awareness will lead to better decision-making and judgment calls in the future.
H. Behavior Therapy
I. Rational-Emotions Therapy			The students will beencouraged to change her actions to align with her new, rational beliefs to relieve her emotional problems. This active approach often includes homework assignments.
J.  Interpersonal Therapy

CASE STUDY

A.    PERSONAL DATA SUMMARY

Name of the Child:  Carmelo Anthony A. Villanueva

Nickname of the Child:  Ton-Ton

Gender:  Male

Birthday:  June 17 2005

Place of Birth:  Caloocan

Age:  5 years old

Address:  Brgy.178 Pechayan St. Camarin Caloocan City

Parent

Mother

                Name:                 Jazell A. Villanueva     

               

    Age:                     26         

               

   Citizenship:        Filipino

               

    Religion:             Roman Catholic

               

    Occupation:        Housewife

               

Father

    Name:                   Bernard D. Villanueva

    Age:                       27                              

               

    Citizenship:         Filipino

               

    Religion:               Roman Catholic

               

    Occupation:          Businessman

      Birth Order:  First (Only Child)

       

 School

   Name:                      Mandex Tutorial Learning Center

   School Address:      San Isidro Purok IV Camarin Caloocan City

   Grade Level:           Kinder II

B.  THE JOINING PROCESS

I have first met Ton-Ton, as he was being called by his family and his peers, when he was just on his two years of age.  He is a nephew of my friend whom he lives with in the same house.  I usually have bonding time with Ton-Ton as I come there, in their house, to visit my friend.  I do treat Ton-Ton as my little brother and I do know him just as how his family knows him too.  I found it easy to conduct the study because I know how to deal well with the child.  Despite of this closeness that I have with Ton-Ton, I made it sure that I will not be bias and be very objective about the result.  The family as well, whom the one who recommends the child was cleared about the objective and the purpose of the study and so they are into the accuracy of the study that I will be conducting.

The people involved in the study are Ton-Ton’s parents, his grandmother (Lilybeth D. Villanueva), his uncles (Sandy, and Francis Villanueva), his teacher in the school, and his peers (Sara and Popoy).  Although Ton-Ton is my first choice to be my client, my friend, which is his Uncle, is the one who really helped me out to made Ton- Ton’s parent let their child to be part of the study.

C.     PRESENTING THE PROBLEM

To present the problem, I prefer to ask Ton-Ton’s parents, his teacher, grandmother (Lilybeth), his uncle (Sandy) and his peers (Sara and Popoy) about him as the sources.

According to Ton-Ton’s mother, the child often observed to be so playful and sometimes inattentive especially when he is being asked to do something.  He is easily distracted and often may not seem to listen.  They were also being asked to go to his school by the teacher because of Ton-Ton’s misbehaving.   

His uncle said that every time that he is playing with Ton-Ton, he observed that the child cannot wait for his turn.  He always wants to be the first one to have the chance to play a toy or he always wants to make a try on the game even though he had his tries on it already.   Ton-Ton usually exclaims, “ako ulit… ako naman”, though somebody is using or playing it.

Based on his grandmother, if Ton-Ton is out (even inside the house), he used to run and shout that tend to disturb everybody even other children that plays.  If he is watching, he get easily bored from the show and what he will do is leave the living room and do something else.

When the father is being asked about his child, he said “ay yan? Hyper na bata!”.  Ton-Ton, aside from his nickname, he is also being called as “hyper”, short for the word Hyperactive.  According to the father, Ton-Ton usually leaves any activity that he is already engaged with, like doing his assignments or keeping his toys to run to the window or opening the cabinets without being aware of why he does it.   When he is angry, he shouts or strikes out before he can be offered an explanation.  Sometimes, he cannot notice that he is being called by his mother or by the others already because of being too busy in doing many things like running or climbing up chairs and furniture.
When I asked Ton-Ton’s teacher she said that she observed that Ton-Ton, aside from how his parents and relatives described the child, he has difficulty in concepts such as left and right.  He often performs repetitive behaviors like pencil tapping on his table while listening to the teacher, arms swinging while falling in the line and even finger tapping.  He finds it hard to make strokes with pencil longer than they meant to be and cannot use pencil well as well.

A.     PSYCHOLOGICAL HISTORY

D1.  Time line

June 17 2007: According to the mother, it was on Ton-Ton’s second birthday when they had a very big celebration.  They decided to have Spiderman theme since it was Ton-Ton’s favorite character.  Ton-Ton that day was very happy and enjoyed the gifts given by his visitors.  When Ton-Ton is being asked about his “Spiderman Party”, he immediately went to the center table where the albums are placed then he get the album of his birthday celebration and excitingly shared what he can remember about that day.  Although he cannot remember who those in the pictures are, he knows that it was his birthday that time.

December 25 2007: The whole family celebrated their second Christmas in Baguio City.  Since it was Ton-Ton’s first time to be at Baguio, he had fever for 2 days.

January 1 2008: It was Ton-Ton’s first time to celebrate at her grandmother’s house (mother’s side).  At first he was too shy to talk but then later on as he saw the gifts for him, he started too roomed around.

March 13 2008: Ton-Ton’s first time to go and see airplanes in the airport happened when his grandfather has to go abroad to work.  He was very happy that time and so naughty that he want to explore the place alone.

August 2008: the child got minor burns when, according to her mother, she forgot to off the candlelight in their sari-sari store.  Ton-Ton played it and accidentally burned its left shoulder.  Although it was a minor burn, they decided to bring Ton-Ton to the hospital.  It was also in the same month, right after Ton-Ton got home from the hospital, when Ton-Ton saw his parents fighting.  His mother stated that Ton-Ton screamed aloud when he saw his father threw the flower vase to the door.

June 8 2009:  Ton-Ton was enrolled as kinder at Mandex Tutorial Learning Center.  Weeks after, his parents were called by his teacher because of kicking his classmate.  His father taught Ton-Ton to say sorry for what he did in front of his classmate as his punishment and promise not to do it again, told by the mother.

March 28 2010: on their graduation day, Ton-Ton received ribbons: one for best in artworks and the other one are for best in music. He was awarded as best in counting. He also got tokens from his friends Sara and Popoy.

June 8 2010: Ton-Ton was enrolled in Kinder 2 at the same school.  He needs to be enrolled in kinder as what his parents requested and also the will of his grandmother.  On the first two weeks of the class, his parents were called because Ton-Ton does not participate in the class.  He does not listen to the teacher and wants to always explore around the room.

June 17 2010: he received a gift from his Lolo abroad (bicycle) for his birthday.  Ton-Ton was very eager to play with it and tend to ignore his visitors.

September 23 2010: according to his mother, they were called by the teacher because Ton-Ton had punched his two girl classmates during the play time.  Based on the teacher, when Ton-Ton was not able to play in the see-saw because the two girls were there, he punched them to their faces.

January 3 2011: as what his mother stated, Ton-Ton was admitted in the hospital because of the foods he ate.  Despite of telling Ton-Ton not to eat the spaghetti on the table, the child still eat it.  

     


    D2.  Geno gram

           



    D3.  Sociogram

       AT HOME

                        

On this diagram, it shows that Ton-Ton and his parents are cliques.  They all like each other.  Ton-Ton is liked by his Tito Sandy but then he was not one of Ton-Ton’s choices, it was a one way choice by his Tito Sandy. His mother and his Tito are mutual choice they both choose each other. Ton-Ton’s Lola, his father and he are also cliques.

This diagram was made with the family members by which Ton-Ton lives with.

       





                    



        
 

            

MOLE (Management of Learning Experiences)

As we have reflected with each and everyone's happy thoughts what I have realized and learned is that the best thing to do in order to get rid of everything that blocks our way to success and happiness is to LIVE WITH OUR FAITH.  Faith is to believe.  If we want to see the fruit of our faith to God, then we have to do also our part.  God is everywhere and in order to feel His presence, we must welcome Him in ours.  He always has reasons behind of everything: the challenges; success and failures; pains and happiness; and our ups and downs.  Everything that happens is purposeful that makes our lives so meaningful.  Find silence... help your self see the light...welcome God and fill your heart with your hope, faith, goodness and love.
I am starting to become interested and muse about hearing others experiences and insights.  Theirs that also teaches me and let me see how beautiful life is.  Others' experiences add puzzle pieces and blocks that strongly builds how I positively view life.

Christmas for Sale

Nowadays, as how I see it, children were bounded with a lot different thought and idea about Christmas compare to what my parents had taught to me and to my siblings about this very special day of the year.  There are some who are very much excited about Santa Claus; some are after with  the gifts that they will be receiving on that day; some are too excited, thinking of the parties, foods and even with whom they will celebrate the season.  Unlike with what my parents told us, that Christmas is special and important because it is Jesus Christ's day; it is his birth.  A day where, just like what we should do everyday, we will continually give love, kindness, care and share everything that we have to others.  A day to continually inwardly reminisce and cherish what had Jesus taught to and done for us. Well, children should not be blame with those different thought that they have about Christmas because it is actually due of how people around children who influence and let them so.  Will children be excited more about Santa Claus if we are to introduce or let them realize on their young age the real importance of Christmas?  Will they be more excited with the parties and number or kind of gifts that they will be receiving if we teach them what those gifts are for?

Christmas is not about whom you will celebrate with nor what you have on your table to eat; It is not about the quality nor the quantity of the gifts that you will give or you will received; Christmas is not about having decorations in your house nor a star on the Christmas tree; It is not about wearing red suits and red hats; Christmas is just about ding good things to others to make Santa Claus be proud and to give the presence that you want. Christmas is about Jesus and the people of love, understanding, peace, kindness and goodness; a day where we continually cherish, be thanked and value everything we receives from Him. So, If  I am to help children for them to have a bountiful Christmas, first in hand , I will let them realized what Christmas is really for.  I will be transmitting the value with how my parents positively molded me with the true means of Christmas. How? I will lead them to open the door and inwardly welcome Jesus Christ on their hearts and effulgence their faith to Him.  I will make them realized that best Christmas will be experience if they first best let Jesus' spirits be in their mind, heart and soul.

We have the quotation, "It is not the gift but thought that counts", similar with what Christmas is for.  It is not what we have or whom we are with on this day, but it is how we celebrate it.  Christmas is a day for everybody. Let us not just simply enjoy this day, we must outreach ourselves to everybody.  Let children be bounded with the true means and spirit of Christmas.  Let us, together with children, invite and welcome Jesus Christ in every parties and celebrations that we will have.  Let us help children to continually effulgence their faiths and beliefs.  Teach them to realize the beauty and sense of giving and receiving gifts.  On these Christmas, I'l be wearing the "hat" of goodness, kindness and love. Then, I will distribute and let children to wear this hat too. On this simple way, I am helping children to have a meaningful Christmas. Merry Christmas!

Happy Thoughts

"It is really hard to think of your happy moments when you are in pain and in the midst of agony.  So I really have to find a perfect place where I could inwardly think of it... and that place is "SILENCE"."

"The Door", this symbolizes the most happiest part of my life.  How I wish that this door will open once again together with the happy moments that  we have in our family in the past.  I consider the time when this door opens and welcomes each and every member of the family as the happiest moments that i had in my life.

See, I am with a broken family and as the youngest it is really hard to accept everything that easily.  Until now, although it is already 3 yecars ago when my parents got separated from each other, I still have the hope and faith that everything will be fixed sooner and we will have a very happy family once again; a complete and perfect family.
A family of love, understanding and respect.  I will not ever get tired of waiting to have my family be complete and happy once again and on that time I will make sure that this door will close and will surely not let anybody to be apart from the family again.

"MYSELF"---- Sometimes my own negative experiences that, somehow, affect how I positively view life are those what hindrance this happy thought of mine.  My failures, loose of faith, mistakes, regrets, anxieties, doubts, and fears that I have inside are those viruses that tries to block my happiness.   As long as I can, I do not want to be affected with what happens in my environment, but then, if it is already myself vs. myself...   I really find it very hard to maintain myself with my principle.


"SILENCE"---- Silence is life, as what I always say.  Whenever that I am in pain and in trouble this is where I go, this is what I look for.  In silence I could inwardly think of and reflect with everything that I have gone through.  This is the perfect place where I could help myself to be with a positive outlook in life.
In silence, I could able to console myself better than anybody does for me.  Yes, in some point, I best cope in silence.  I never found myself alone, lonely and afraid on this place because in silence I know that GOD is with me, helping for I to overcome everything.  I could feel His presence more and so powerful...with Him, I could able to reflect and see my self as clear as diamonds.

Common Problems of Chilren in Early Childhood

PHYSICAL PROBLEMS

 

From the time of a baby's birth, we eagerly wait for the day when our child will start to roll over, crawl and then walk. Unlike speech and language development, these milestones are at first glance easily determined. Yet, what many parents do not know is that within the field of physical development there are separate areas of development and within those areas the manner in which a child is able to accomplish a certain task, can make a big difference in his life.

The area of physical development can be divided into two main areas:

 

Gross Motor Development Fine Motor Development

There are also two areas, which can affect a child's ability to learn and may contribute to difficulty with physical tasks. These are:

Attention Skills
Sensory Integration

Here is an explanation of each of these basic terms:

• Gross Motor Development

This is the area of physical development that most parents think of first - the child's general ability to move around and use the various parts of his body. Activities like rolling over; crawling, walking, running and jumping are gross motor skills. These skills usually involve using the entire body or several parts of the body at one time.

Some of the areas that are considered when evaluating the area of gross motor development are:

Muscle Tone: How tightly or loosely a person's body is put together? If a child's body is too tight (high tone) then his movements might be jerky or disconnected. If a child's body is too loose (low tone) then her movements might be slow and lack strength. Some technical terms that are associated with these areas are Hypertonic (someone who has high tone) and Hypotonic (associated with low tone). These are professional terms and do not apply to every child whose tone happens to be either a bit tight or a bit loose. Only a professional can decide if a child's skills fit these criteria.

Muscle strength: How much strength does a child have? How much pressure can she apply with her hands and legs? How much pressure can her body withstand?

Quality of movements: Are a child's movement's smooth or does she seem to jerk her limbs? Does she seem to move either particularly slow or fast? Does it take effort for her to move around?

Range of movement: An important area in physical development is a child's ability to make movements that span the entire length of her body. A significant milestone is the ability to make movements that go from one side of the body to the other, referred to as "crossing the midline." This skill is necessary for a child to do tasks such throwing a ball or passing an object from one hand to another. This concept is also important for the area of fine motor development.

• Fine Motor Development

This term refers to skills that require smaller movements and more intricate capabilities. A generalization that is often made is that fine motor activities are skills that a child does with his hands. While this is not totally accurate, it is true that most fine motor activities involve a child's ability to use his hands properly. Overall, when we say that a child has appropriate fine motor skills, it means that he can use his hands appropriately for a child of his age.

Here are terms that are used to describe specific fine motor skills.

• Visual Motor Skills

These skills require coordination between the child's ability to see (visual skills) and his hands. In early childhood, this includes activities such as putting together puzzles and building with construction toys. (blocks, leggos)

• Grapho-Motor Skills

Any task that involves using a writing tool is considered a grapho-motor skill. These tasks include drawing, coloring, and using a pencil. (Grapho-Motor skills are also visual motor skills.)

An important term related to these areas and fine motor development in general, is eye-hand coordination. This refers to a person's ability to coordinate the information that she sees with her eyes in order to tell her hands what to do.

• Motor Planning

Professionals use the term motor planing to describe a child's ability to interact successfully with his physical environment; which means to plan, organize and carry out unfamiliar motor actions. When a child sees a new puzzle for the first time, it is not enough to have the physical ability to move the pieces around and fit them together. He also needs to know how to organize the activity so that he will be successful. (i.e. start with the ends, put the ones of the same color together, etc…). If a child has difficulty with a task, it is important to consider if he is unable to physically complete the task or if he is unable to figure out how to go about doing so.

While you can evaluate a child's fine motor skills from a very young age, until age two, the line between fine and gross motor skills is often very difficult to ascertain. The skills most closely associated with fine motor skills (drawing, puzzles, building, etc…) generally start to develop in children from ages two and up. Up until age two, a young child is not able to use her hands in a more intricate way. Among infants, babies and toddlers, therefore, physical development difficulties are not always clearly defined as gross motor or fine motor difficulties. By age three, however, the difference between these two areas is more obvious and the tasks that the child has difficulty with are defined as falling into either only one or both of these areas.

Contributing Factors:

When considering a child's motor skills the following factors need to be taken into consideration:

• Attention Skills

Another area that can contribute significantly to a child's ability to perform physical tasks is his attention span. In the last few years, a condition called Attention Deficit Disorder has become very well known and commonly diagnosed among both pre-school and school age children. While this condition can not be properly explained in a few lines, the main point is that a child's attention span can affect his ability to complete activities. It is important to point out that when a child is having difficulty learning to perform physical tasks, it is essential to consider if his abilities are affected by his ability to pay attention to what he is doing. Is he truly unable to build a tower of ten blocks -- Or is he simply too easily distracted by the child next to him who is coloring with markers?

• Sensory Integration

While many parents have heard of attention deficit disorder, few parents are aware of how their child's relationship to his senses, can affect his physical development. All children and adults, in one way or another have sensory sensitivities. There will always be certain smells that make one person feel sick and do not bother someone else, or a certain sound that makes a person's skin crawl while it does not affect someone else. But what many parents and professionals do not realize, is that there are children for whom this sensitivity keeps them from learning in a classroom or at home.

In fact, in addition to the five senses of touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight, there are two more senses that are also essential to a child's development: the movement sense (vestibular) and position in space (propriception).

All seven of these senses need to properly take in information from the environment and organize them in a way that our bodies can use. This is called sensory integration. Sometimes there are imbalances in this system that can lead to over or under sensitivity in one or several of these areas.

Being either over or under sensitive in one or several of these seven areas can affect a child's ability to perform physical tasks.

Here are some examples:

• Touch - A child might be sensitive to the feel of objects against his skin. He might hate activities such as dress up, pretend play with makeup, or arts and craft activities that involve working with playdough or clay. A child who is overly sensitive to touch may overeact when touched even lightly on the shoulder by a teach or a friend. A child who is underly sensitive may have no reaction if he falls or hurts himself.
  
• Smell - A child might react strongly to unusual or strong smells or not seem to notice even unusual smells such as food burning or gas leaking.
  
• Taste - Some children are particularly sensitive to the taste of different foods.
  
• Sight - Strong lights or certain types of colors may bother a child.
  
• Hearing - A child may be disturbed by sudden or loud noises.
  
• Position in Space - Some children have difficulty evaluating how much space is needed to reach a certain item. This would include putting a pegboard down on the table without tipping it over, judging if there is room for a child to crawl underneath a jungle gym and sitting down on the center of the chair. A child who seems to eternally "miss the chair" when sitting down may be having difficulty in this area.
  
• Movement - an overly sensitive child may fear climbing on a jungle gym, and have difficulty with gross motor activities. An underly sensitive child may be fidgety, jump on the couch all afternoon, and have difficulty sitting down to do table activities such as a puzzle.

These are but a few examples of how a child's ability to use the information he receives from his environment is critical to his ability to perform physical tasks.

When a child is having difficulty in the area of physical development, it is essential for parents and professionals that treat a child to consider how his sensory environment affects his development. In this way a parent can determine if a child really "can't" put together that puzzle or if the lights or other sounds in the room are just so disturbing to him that he is unable to do so.

It is also important for parents to understand that sensory integration is a real issue and not just a child being "picky" or "fussy." While to some children a strong smell or bright lights might be annoying, to others, the experience can be unbearable.

Evaluating Contributing Factors:

How can a parent or professional know if a child's problem is a purely physical one or if it is being affected by contributing factors such as sensory integration or attention skills? Often, making this discrimination is the hardest task of all. The first tip off that a contributing factor is affecting a child's development, is if a child can perform a task in some situations, but not in others. If a child can sit and put together 20 piece puzzles at home, but in pre-school he just moves around the pieces, then clearly the problem is not just physical. Instead, a parent and professional should consider if the child's difficulty in school is in the area of attention (too much is going on) or if he has trouble with the sensory stimuli in school (i.e. the lights are too bright, the noise of the children is too loud.)

While it is often easy to determine if a child can or cannot do a particular physical skill it can be difficult to decide if this is an exclusively physical problem or if there are other factors contributing to the child's difficulty. The key for a parent and a professional is to determine how a child's physical skills are developing. Then, if there are any difficulties, it is essential to determine if this is purely a physical difficulty or if other factors may be affecting the child's development.

Emotional Problem

Children are precious; As parents we worry about their health. When our children have issues and crises, these issues and crises affect us just as much, if not more, than it affects them. We fear that which might bring them fear; we hurt when we see them hurt; and sometimes, we cry just seeing them cry. Writer Elizabeth Stone once said "Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." So, when it seems like something is not quite right with your children - perhaps they seem more afraid than other kids, or they seem to get a lot angrier than their playmates do over certain things - this odd or "off" behavior can be experienced as terrifying. In fact, a child's difficulty can be just the starting point for your parental worry and concern. You might not know what to do to help your child, or where to go for help. Possibly, you may worry because you don't even know if your child's problem is something you should be concerned about in the first place.

We've created this survey of childhood mental and emotional disorders to help worried parents better understand the various ways that mental illness can effect children; what it looks like and how it can be helped. Children's mental and emotional disorders are problems that affect not only their behavior, emotions, moods, or thoughts, but can also affect the entire family as well. These problems are often similar to other types of health problems that your child might have, and can generally be treated with medications or psychotherapy (or a combination of both).

Many childhood disorders are often labeled as developmental disorders or learning disorders, so you may have heard those terms as well. Generally, when we speak about childhood disorders, we are referring to mental and emotional problems that most often occur and are diagnosed when children are school aged or younger. Usually, symptoms start during infancy or in early childhood, although some of the disorders may develop throughout adolescence.

The diagnostic criteria for the childhood disorders specifically require that symptoms first appear at some point during childhood. Adults may find themselves relating to some of the symptoms characteristic of one or more childhood disorders, but unless those adults first experienced their symptoms as children themselves, whatever it is that they may have will not be a childhood disorder, but instead, some other adult diagnosis.

Though by definition, no disorder discussed in this document may begin in adulthood, it is possible for a childhood disorder to begin at a young age but continue to be problematic on into adulthood. Conversely, some childhood disorders tend to resolve by the time children enter adulthood. Or, prior to adulthood, children may developed a set of coping skills that allow them to compensate for their disorder(s) so that they can go on to lead a happy and productive life. This latter outcome is especially likely when the right type of professional intervention has been obtained (and followed consistently) from an early age.

                 

INTELLECTUAL PROBLEMS

 

 

Bullying can take many forms; racial discrimination and sexual harassment are examples of abuse students can face. Childrearing influences, the characteristics of the child, and factors of the environment are cited as possible reasons why children bully. Most bullying occurs in the school environment so how schools respond to such interactions impacts the school climate.

Shyness is a common but little understood emotion. Everyone has felt ambivalent or self-conscious in new social situations. However, at times shyness may interfere with optimal social development and restrict children's learning. This digest (1) describes types and manifestations of shyness, (2) reviews research on genetic, temperamental, and environmental influences on shyness, (3) distinguishes between normal and problematic shyness, and (4) suggests ways to help the shy child. 

Aggression and cooperation represent two critical features in the child's social domain. What do they have in common? Both emerge from the child's strong developmental push to initiate and maintain relationships with other children, beginning at a very early age. Peer relationships provide critical opportunities for children to learn to manage conflict and work towards establishing intimacy. Aggression and cooperation are two possible strategies for dealing with the normal conflicts of early peer interactions. Both have important roots in early family interactions, both are responsive to adult expectations and values, and both can be responsive to environmental factors.

 

SOCIAL PROBLEMS

1. Perfectionism can lead to fear of failure, in turn causing a gifted child to avoid failure by refusing to even try something (including doing a homework assignment!)
   
2. Keen observation, imagination, and ability to see beyond the obvious can cause a gifted child to appear shy, holding back in new situations in order to consider all the implications.
   
3. A gifted child may require full details before answering questions or offering help, making him or her appear socially shy.
   
4. Intense sensitivity can cause gifted children to take criticism, or even general anger, very personally. Childhood slights do not roll off their backs.
   
5. Sensitivity and well-developed sense of right and wrong can lead to concern over wars, starving children, pollution and other injustice and violence. If they are overloaded with images and discussions of these issues, they can become introverted and withdrawn or even suffer from "existential depression.”