Child Observation

I will be observing a seven-year-old child for my project. What I have learned from being a parent and watching my kids as they grow up the social emotional, physical and intellectual changes that occur in children between birth and the end of adolescence are that they all progress at individual intervals from dependency to increasing individualism. Because these developmental changes may be strongly influenced by genetic factors and events during prenatal life, genetics and prenatal development are usually included as part of the built in parenting skills we all possess. When children are born they have no sense of fear but quickly develop a fear of what

My observation began in the outside play, first with the animal pin and then played with the outside toys. When going into the animal pin Emily had a smile on her face and walked around and looking at each and every animal, she bent her knees down, reached using both hands she grabbed a chicken and when the chicken would move she would say, “silly chicken”. During the outside play Emily kneeled down, petted the pig with her right hand and said “Aww, it’s so cute!” Later on in the animal pin Emily reached put with both hand and pushed another classmate for trying to hold the same chicken. In addition, Emily would repeatedly tell other classmates “pet him softly, don’t hurt him” when they would try and pet the animals. When transitioning into

On May 2, 2018, I went to the Williams College Children’s Center to observe a group of children and see how signs of development show up in everyday life. According to the website, the Center serves a wide age range of children, going from six weeks to preschool, while also caring for elementary-aged children with after-school care. However, the group I observed when going to the Center were the preschool children that were roughly 3 to 4 years old. Arriving at 10 AM, the group started the session with show and tell, before moving on to play outside. Within the hour, there were many examples of physical/motor, perceptual, cognitive, language, and emotional/social development from the children that was very appropriate to see within their particular age range.

All children are different in their unique way. The goal of this assignment was to observe different children in an uninterrupted environment. Although all the children observed were the same age, they all acted differently during their observation. The differences in the way we react to different situations are what make us human. These differences can be explained through the theories that different psychologist have developed over the years. Some children react better to things like praise from a teacher or being able to be creative in the activities that they are participating in.

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.

On April 4, 2017, I observed two preschool students playing with magnet tiles in Ms. Carrilo’s Pre-K class at Pre-K 4 SA North Education Center. The two students that I observed are the following: Eda and Zander. Zander was a four year old little boy and Eda was a four year old little girl. Eda and Zander were playing with the magnet tiles in the toy area because the block area was being used. The materials that were available to Eda and Zander were trinkets (like buttons), toys (like mini plastic figures), and magnet tiles. The activity that Eda and Zander were doing in the toy area was the following: creating a “party” out of magnet tiles.

Overall, my movement stations were successful and helped me identify the motor skills of the children I worked with. My first movement station dealt with simple movement tasks such as hopping, balancing, marching, and leaping. My goal was to assess the children to identify their basic ability level. By doing this, I was able to accommodate their needs in my other movement stations. This movement station made me realize that I should have completed it with fewer children because it was slightly chaotic. The children lost focus and were all trying to get my attention. Therefore, I completed my second movement station by working with groups of four to six children. I also incorporated a carnival theme into my second movement stations so the children

Aliza has maintained progress on the goals she had previously met. She continues to make friends at school and have meaningful conversations with them about their similar interests. Additionally, at school, she has been integrated with a general education science class and states that she has initiated conversations with her peers in that class.

Briefly describe what you observed. Include the number and types of adults, ages and gender of children, time of day and type of environment.

I was able to observe the oldest preschool classroom we have at the center I currently work at for one hour. The classroom has about 20 children, ranging from four to five-year-old’s. They are the classroom that gets the children Kindergarten ready. There are three teachers that work in the classroom: Teacher P., Teacher A., and Teacher J. The large group time started after the children went to the bathroom, about mid-morning. Teacher P. leads the group time and teachers A. and J. did room prep.

The second interaction I observed was a child went over and grabbed the ring stacker toy. She started to shake the pieces which contained beads that made noise. The teacher walked over and allowed the child to really explore all the pieces of the toy before she intervened. She was laughing along with the child when she got excited that the beads were moving. I would give this interaction a seven on the QQCIIT scale for supporting object exploration. This is because the teacher allowed the child to explore multiple toys and pick one to really explore. She helped her maintain interest in the toy and she helped her explore the object by also shaking a bigger, different colored ring. Once the child noticed the middle piece that the other rings

Sophia is a four-year old child who is currently in kindergarten at P.S. Manhattan Beach School. She indicated that she likes her teachers and has many friends school. Sophia stated that she her father drives her to school each day and her mother is home after school with her.

I went to the Gracepoint Church’s Fall Fest on Halloween eve. Many interactive booths were prepared for the children, such as ring toss, dance floor, fishing for rubber dolphins, bean bag toss, beading station, and face painting. I hid behind my roommate who was working at the face painting booth that night. The location was perfect because of the high chairs at the booth gave me an easy view of the families in line and the children at the face painting station. I focused this observation on one pair of siblings, whom I will refer to as Jane (5 years old) and John (6 years old). Most children were impatiently waiting in line with their parents, including Jane and John. The two children discussed profusely what painting they wanted on their

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”.

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.