SUBJECT: Early Childhood Interview
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DISCLAIMER: All the photos, videos, or any recording taken for documentation during the interview are for EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. Consent was properly delivered before conducting the whole interview.
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Tzarina, 43, a mother of five, shared her experiences as a hands-on single mother, actively raising her youngest daughter, "Ting" who is currently five years old.
According to the Periods of Development, children aged 3 to 5 are expected to become more self-sufficient and develop foundational academic skills such as writing, reading, and verbal recognition of basic concepts like colors, letters, and numbers.
"Ting", not her real name, is a very energetic and obedient child. Since Tzarina is busy working as a private lottery agent near their house, she often relies on Ting's ability to follow instructions while she jumps from working to taking care of the household. However, due to their recent transfer or move from Davao City to Panabo City, Ting, unfortunately, was unable to continue her studies and had only finished nursery.
During the interview, Tzarina expressed her adoration for Ting's ability to identify colors, letters, and numbers, verbally. However, she also admitted that Ting has difficulties in terms of writing. According to her, "Naa siyay letters na mahibaw-an pero others, dili na."
Translation: She knows some letters, but others, not so much.
Tzarina also voiced her concern about Ting's education. While talking, she emphasized how strongly attached Ting is to her. She said, "Sa school, pirme na siya maghilak basta dili ko niya makit-an kay naanad na man gud na siya na pirme ko naa sa iyahang tapad." She also expanded that Ting cooperates better at school when she is present than when she is not around.
Translation: In school, she always cries when I am not around because she is used to seeing me beside her.
But despite this, it does not hinder her to make friends at school. When asked about her friends, she nodded "yes" to her mother but was unable to remember their names.
With her mother's consent, my partner and I conducted a simple assessment to test Ting's capabilities for basic identification of colors, numbers, and letters. During the assessment, we have found positive skills and difficulties in some areas.
For the first assessment, we asked Ting to identify different colors. When selected at random, Ting showed outstanding abilities in recognizing them. We have also observed that Ting is better at recognizing colors with her mother's assistance. By pointing to objects such as a Red Shirt to relate it to a color shown on the laptop, Ting was able to identify that the color was indeed Red.
When it comes to letters, we have noticed how Ting struggles to identify each letter when pointed at random. However, when we asked her to recite each letter in alphabetical order, she seemed to recognize each of them but stopped at letter D.
Lastly, Ting also showed her difficulties in identifying numbers selected at random, like the second assessment. But when asked if she could count from numbers 1 to 10, she did it accurately with no skips.
The interview ended with the interviewer from Davao Doctors College, Inc. of the BS Psychology Program thanked Tzarina and gave Ting a token of appreciation as compensation for the disturbance the interview had caused. This token also served as a gift of gratitude for Ting's outstanding participation and her mother's cooperation as well.
"May you continue to learn things and reach new heights, Ting!✨" - MisoCares.
Caption: Sophia Ericka P. Sienes | BSPSYCH 2-82A
Documentation: Miguel Augustine V. Sulamin | BSPSYCH 2-82A
October 7, 2024