Early Childhood Observation Paper

Our Life-span Development class observed a child in class for his social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development on October 2nd, 2017. The child observed for this report was almost seven months old at the time of the observation. His name is Maddox and he seems to be a very happy baby and developing at a normal rate. He was observed in classroom 1143 on Dordt College’s campus. His mother gave consent for this observation and both his mother and grandmother were present for the observation and answered questions about his behavior and development outside of what was observed in the classroom.

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,

Based on her reaction it appears she has developed deferred imitation. According to Piaget, deferred imitation is defined as ¨a sequence in which and infant first perceives something that someone else does and then performs the same action a few hours or even days later¨ (Piaget 166). According to table 6.1, stage six intellectual accomplishment, involving both thinking and memory appears at around 18-24 months. Based on this information, Isabella, at 20 months of age, would be within the age range for development and therefore within the norm for her age (Piaget 162).

During my observation at the preschool here at Harper, I looked around and realized a lot of similarities and differences it has; compared to other daycare and preschool centers. The age of children in the room I observed was ages 3-5 with one lead teacher, and depending on the ratio of how many kids showed up on that day, about three or four helping teachers. The program was set up to a very open, happy and overwhelming setting. Every furniture and object in the room had a sign saying what it was, and then underneath the typed out word was the children’s way of writing what the object was. For example, a book shelf was in the corner of the room; on the book shelf was the word printed out “Book

Erikson believed that people develop in psychosocial stages. He emphasized developmental change throughout the human life span. In Erikson's theory, eight stages of development result as we go through the life span. Each stage consists of a crisis that must be faced. According to Erikson, this crisis is not a catastrophe but a turning point. The more an individual resolves the crises successfully, the healthier development will be.

An individual can always learn new aspects of life when they are observing an infant. This observation took place in the home of the participant. The participant is familiar with the house. During the observation the child played with her toys in the living room. The participant was a 12-month-old girl who is cared for by both her mother and father. Other participant included the child's mother and the child's aunt. The mother is a teacher, so during this observation and in the summer, they both stay at home. The participant is the only child in the household. After an afternoon nap and snack, the child sat in her mother's lap on the couch in the living room. While she was with her mother, she stayed close to her mother and made eye contact with everyone in the room. The child then got down and played with her toys in the floor of the living room. She began with the toy closest to her and began pushing the buttons while singing along with the different rhythms. The next toy she found was a child's magazine and she quickly flipped through the pages and found pictures of other infants similar to her. After a quick look around the room, she proceeded to crawl over to the nearest shelf in the living room. She began to pull her self up to a standing position and began pulling items off of the shelf and putting them on the floor. The mother quickly diverted her attention by

The date of my observation was April 27th, 2010. It was about 9:30 in the morning when I began my study. I went to Grossmont College’s Child Development Center. The first thing I began looking for was if the child-teacher ratio was correct. The child ratio was 2 teachers to about every 8 children. The ratio was good. As I entered there was one large room that almost looked as if it could be two rooms they way it was set up. One half consisted of a large bookshelf with numerous books on it with a couch in the front of it. The other half of the room was almost like a little kitchen. It had a table with chairs around it with a sink and cabinets behind it. There were “age appropriate” toys as well as books all over the

In addition, during my observation, Sydney was able to demonstrate the following gross motor skills. Sydney was placed in a sitting position on the table as well on the floor and was able to sit up unassisted for brief periods of time. Although Sydney appeared to be unstable at times, her mother closely spotted her to ensure her safety. Most babies are able to sit up by themselves unassisted for short periods of time (Oswalt, n.d.). By being able to sit upright and support the weight of her head in the proper position, shows Sydney has developed her core body strength and has met this developmental milestone. In addition, while lying on a blanket on her stomach, Sydney was able to lift her chest and head. According to American Pregnancy Association, most infants at 6 months old can lift their chest and part of their stomach while lying face down (First,

Jackson appeared withdrawn, and was somewhat embarrassed before stating that he did not do well in school. Jackson knows that he can perform better in school. When the other children began to tease Jackson, he was ready to fight some of them. This is typical behavior for Jackson, and is also a pattern of disorganized attachment. Children with a disorganized pattern in infancy tend to show disturbed patterns of relationships, subsequently, their relationships with peers can often be characterized by a “fight or flight” pattern of alternate aggression and withdrawal. Jackson’s coping skills when upset, threatened, or embarrassed is fight, unless the person is physically bigger than him. If this is the case, Jackson uses flight to cope, and seeks his grandmother for protection and comfort.

Within my ten hours of observation, I witnessed an Early Childhood, Childhood, and Middle Childhood classroom. Through the duration of these hours, I visited School 17 and School 30. My seven hours at School 17 consisted of experiences within an Early Childhood and a Childhood setting. The Early Childhood hours occurred in a Pre-Kindergarten classroom setting with Ms. Mitrakos. The Childhood observations occurred in a first-grade classroom with Ms. Hordan. My three hours at School 30 involved experiences within a Middle Childhood setting. These observation hours occurred in a 6th-grade math class. My observations within both schools inspired me to continue my passion for Early Childhood Education.

For each shelf, center, table, chair and anything that can hold a label, I would like to have it label with a little clip art picture on it. For the chairs around the eating tables, which are rectangular, I would like to have the children's name printed on them. That way the children know what is there chair and they see their name each time they want to sit on it. I believe that it is very important for children to associate the letters in the word with the actual object. Such as associating the letters S.I.N.K with the actual sink.

Observer visited a play place of a restaurant in New Jersey, Hackensack. Why I have chosen the place is easy to observe every part of child development such as cognitive, social emotional, language as well as physical at the same time. Observer performed the observation on April 28 from 1 pm to 3pm. The child was an Asian boy. He has strait short black hair with dark brown eyes and thin black eye brows. His height looked around 37 inches that he may be a little smaller than other early childhood children. He looks thin and has a full set of teeth inside his mouth, full cheeks, and a small button nose.

Psychologist Erik Erikson developed his eight stages of development to clarify the developmental challenges faced at various times in people’s lives. Stage-based theories of development were extremely popular during Erikson’s era. However, Erikson’s theory differs from other popular theories in that a person does not have to successfully complete one stage of development to move on to the next stage of development. Erikson’s stages of development are widely taught in psychology courses in the United States.

Erikson developed eight stages of human development. Briefly I would describe all eight my I will concentrate on stages five and six which are adolescence and young adulthood. Myer describes the stages in the following manner. Stage one occurs during the first year This stage is called infancy (trust vs. mistrust) during this stage if needs are dependably met, infants develop a sense of basic trust. The second stage is called the toddler stage (autonomy vs. shame and doubt). This stage occurs while the baby is two years old, in this stage toddlers learn to exercise will do things for themselves, or they doubt their abilities. The third stage is called the preschooler between the ages of three and five (initiative vs. guilt). During this stage preschoolers learn to initiate

Erik Erikson is known for his psychoanalytic theory of psychosocial development comprising eight stages from infancy to adulthood. Psychologist Erik Erikson, is a major contributor to developmental psychology, who proposed a comprehensive theory of the ways that individuals develop their identity, a sense of who they are, and society's influence on that development. Erikson stated that people go through crisis at each stage of their lives. The stages each had a developmental task to be mastered. As an individual resolved these various crises an individual would have a better harmony with their social environment that they live in. If an individual could not successfully resolve a crisis, they would be” out of step”, and the individual would have a greater difficulty in their dealing with a crisis in the future. Erikson did however recognize that an individual can develop through a stage negatively and still go on with their life. Erikson stated that each of the psychological stages have a basic conflict and important event leading to growth. The theory was developed from his hundreds of clinical observations in children.