Cephalocaudal Principle Of Child Observation

Sara Smilansky is a Developmental Theorist who has identified four types of play: Functional play, Constructive play, Dramatic play, and games with rules. Smilansky says that Dramatic play is the most mature type of play because this is the time where children start to understand their surroundings and imitate what they see others doing. The research on play focused on sociodramatic play and the impact it has on children’s learning. In Smilansky’s book ‘The Effects of Sociodramatic play on Disadvantaged Preschool Children’, she says that “…a form of voluntary social play activity in which preschool children participate”.

Throughout this case study there will be a discussion revolving around one focus child, C.W, and the topic of her negative experiences involving physical group play. A specific research question has been developed from this topic to support a specific study: “How is C.W’s lack of gross motor skills contributing to negative physical group play experiences?” In the following section I will present the collected data from multiple sources, including observations, to reflect on why she is disadvantaged during physical group play, and how this is harming her interactions with others in the group play. The third section will incorporate this data in order to outline strategies for C.W’s parents, educators, and C.W herself which can be implemented to assist with gross motor development and therefore lead to increased physical group play and stronger peer relationships.

In this case study I will describe the observation of a child while applying psychodynamic thinking and theory. The whole observation took place in a secondary school within a 9 week period, one hour every week. However, I was able to observe this particular child 6 times as at the beginning I was given a different child. Due to the fact that the first child was not attending the lessons they had to change him and find me a different one. For confidentiality reasons all the names that will be referred in this case study are going to be pseudonymous. The second child will be referred as Marissa, the Learning Support Assistant (LSA) as Anna, the Inclusion Manager as Alison and the school as Roots. In this observation the main purpose was to attempt to understand the unconscious inner world of the child, the verbal and non-verbal

Youngblade, L. M.. & Dunn, J. (1995). Individual differences in young children's pretend play with mother and sibling: Links to relationships and understanding of other people's feelings and beliefs. Child Devel- opment, 66, 1472-1492.

It seemed like she liked playing with others more than just playing by herself. When the little boy came over to knock the blocks over she started laughing, because she thought it was so funny. Also, when she was in her crib after she got in trouble, and the child approached her again to play she quickly stopped crying and began to play with him. Even when she was walking with the walker she wanted someone to play with her and when she started “chasing” the other child with the walker she laughed again. This shows me that she is very social and plays well with

This paper contains observations of a preschool classroom in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. The observation was conducted in a Pre-K classroom with approximately ten students present. Observations are presented with regard to dramatic play, the presence of gender roles, and themes that emerge during preschool play. Peer relationships and levels of friendship between students will also be discussed. Relationships with adults in the classroom with in terms of attachment styles and general interactions involving teachers and parents will be reviewed. Observations are also described in relation to self-control, self-regulation, aggression,

In the toddler classroom, the children interacted with each other, however many of them were more interested in playing and exploring on their own. The children enjoyed free play at learning centers, story time, and outside play during my observation. The toddlers preferred parallel play in which the children used similar toys in similar ways, but did not interact with each other. For example, when one child began playing with the kitchen toys in the dramatic play center, soon all of the children began playing with the available plastic food items. However, the children were more interested in showing the teachers what they were doing and

Age: I would look at the 3-4/PreK class rooms because the text describes how in early development children are just learning how to have friends and by the age of 3-4 or in preschool, they are starting to develop more gender bias and wanting to be with peers that are “like them”

Subject “Chris” is a 7 year old middle class Caucasian male. Observation is taking place in the child’s home over the course of two separate afternoons. Chris is a friendly and well spoken child who is small for his age. Chris is the youngest child in his family and both observations take place while his siblings are home. In each case one or both parents are absent.

The cognitive development of children is very important, and even from a very young age, their development is key to how they will do in school and the world for the rest of their lives. At these young ages, it is important for children to learn dialogue, creativity, and improvisation. All of these ideas come into play when children have to pretend play on their own, or even with one other person. Children who do this more often seem to have better cognitive development, and as they become older will have a better understanding of school and the world around them. (Bergen 2002) There are many ideas as to how pretend play advances cognitive development, and these ideas all have great aspects to them.

Through play, children are also able to form relationships with their peers, therefore developing socially. They are able to “learn how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts, and to learn self-advocacy skills” all of which are important skills in a child’s world as well as the adult world (Ginsberg 183). This is especially prevalent in young school age children, who have had relatively few social encounters without the presence of their parents before entering school. These young children will often make life time friends by sharing a popular treat at snack time or borrowing a color crayon to another child who has broken theirs.

For this child observation, I decided to observe my younger brother Jacob. Jacob is 5 years old, but he insisted that I write that he is almost 6. He is also in kindergarten this year and loving every second of being a loud, rowdy boy. I suppose I am at an advantage in this observation since I have seen the numerous developments in Jacob’s life thus far.

| * May quarrel with other children about who gets to play with a particular toy * Uses pretend play as a way of initiating friendship * May still use transitional objects to overcome fears * Enjoys cooperative play * Learns to share with others * Makes other meaningful relationships as their social world expands

At the snack table “L” was sitting and eating cereal. And “A” was playing with the stuffed animal. “L” got up from the chair and grabbed the toy from “A” and threw the toy across the classroom. “A” started to cry. The teacher saw what happened and went over to them. And she said to ”L” is throwing a good thing. And she made “L” go pick the toy up and bring it to “A”.

When I arrived to Kidwatch Plus, I was assigned to a class where the children’s age range from 4 to 4.5 years old. When I walking the class the children were finishing up with lunch. After lunch they have 30 minute of free play. The teacher asked me to pick an area where I wanted to observe the children and I picked the dramatic play area. In dramatic play children pretend to be someone or something different than themselves. Dramatic play can be a great developmental learning tool because it allows children to develop skills in areas such as abstract thinking, literacy, math, natural and social studies, specially helps them to socialize with other children. The dramatic play area was located in the right corner of the class. The dramatic play area consisted of a small kitchen and pretend food, a cash register with cash and coins, multicultural dolls and strollers, and a closet with dress up clothes, hats, scarves, feathers, purses, and shoppings bags. At the time of my observation, I was able to witness free play of two girls and two boys, a third girl was on and off of the dramatic play area.