Infant/Early Childhood Naturalistic Observation Essay

My observation was during outdoor play time at Child Development Center in Milpitas. There are 40 children ages from three to five and four staff when children. In the play yard has two playground equipment. The bigger play set has swings and climbing. Each staff cover and supervise different areas in the playground.

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

Dramatic play is one of the most important and useful center for children in the classroom. By playing in dramatic play they can develop their physical, cognitive, linguistic, social and emotional domains. In the article “Supporting Language: Culturally Rich Dramatic Play” the author state” Mrs. Ramos invites them to talk about their weekend activities. Rodrigo says he and his grandmother went to the panaderia (bakery). Two children ask, “What is that?” Juanita explains, “That’s a bakery where you buy bread and cake.” Mrs. Ramos says she and her mother used to go to the panaderia when she was a child. The children smile.” This a further proof of how children can develop their cognitive, linguistic

Children use drama as therapy spontaneously, with no outside direction or pre-imposed structure. Dramatic play is the child's method of: symbolically expressing and resolving internal conflict; assimilating reality; releasing pent-up emotions; learning to control potentially destructive impulses through fantasy; expressing unaccepted parts of the self; exploring problems

For my last observation, I decided to go to a Head Start in Roselle, New Jersey. When I walked in, the children were all sitting on the carpet having circle time. As soon as I took a seat to observe, I noticed there was a child in the middle of the carpet laying on her back with her feet in the air, while all the other children were sitting correctly and listening to the teacher. The teacher called out to the child to sit correctly, and she did, but after a few minutes she would lay on her back and do the same thing all over again. She would also give her back to the teacher and didn’t seem to be interested in what everyone else was doing.

Unstructured free play is not the first image that comes to mind when one imagines a learning environment; however, for children, play is a vast source of learning. Of the many types of play, pretend or dramatic play has been a point of constant interest in psychology. Although research has not examined all the facets of dramatic play, there does seem to be a growing consensus regarding the importance of dramatic play and the tangible lessons it could provide for children. For instance, [HOPKINS ET AL] have shown that pretend play provides children with the opportunity to learn about different objects and their functions. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that dramatic play provides a more immersive experience, leading to a better foundational

One main type of play that is considered to be beneficial for a child's cognitive development is pretend play. Pretending is among the most interesting activities of childhood. As many have noted, pretending appears to be an early expression of the child’s ability to use and understand symbols (Piaget, 1945/1962). Furthermore, Piaget (1965) made the point that when children build rules together as they play, they become more independent and increase their ability to see points of view other than their own, contributing to a child's cognitive development. Kim (1999) conducted a study exploring cognitive change underlying pretend play and understanding narrative structures. It involved comparing 4 and 5-year-old children in conditions involving pretend play enactment of stories to conditions using only storytelling.

Leroy is a 2nd grade African American student at Martin Luther King Elementary School. He is 8 years old and lives with his mother and two older brothers. His favorite school subject is math. He likes to play video games and basketball, especially when he is playing with his friends. Leroy’s favorite holiday is Christmas, for he gets to visit his grandma and enjoy all the delicious foods that his mom and grandma cook. When asked where would he go if he can go anywhere, he responded with Skate Park. He likes to skate around the park with his brothers. Leroy wishes to be like his older brother when he grows up.

I observed a 4 year old preschool class during playtime in Staten Island, New York. The class consisted of eight children, and one certified preschool teacher. There were 4 boys and 4 girls in the class. During my sixty minute observation I noticed several instances of dramatic play, peer relationships, relationships with adults, and self-control.

One of the signs of early childhood development is the ability to engage in play. Young children (ages 4-6) prefer non structured environments that gives them the “freedom” to un-limit their play in different settings. Working with preschoolers for over five years, I am fascinated to learn all the different ways children play to learn. I understand every child has their unique talents and skills that makes them individuals. It is important to sketch out different play strategies for children and their desired interests. The goal is to answer the question: what way do children learn the best; actual or dramatic.

Dramatic play will help children gain communication skills just by talking with the other children. In order for the children to play together they must listen to one another and be able to respond correctly to the question or statement. As the article, How do Young Children Learn through Play points out, “Actual studies have demonstrated cognitive benefits such as increases in language usage including subjunctives, future tenses, and adjectives” (Sege, 2012, p.1). Children are learning even when they are “just playing” we may not see it as educational, but there are many components involved in play.

Through play, children learn about themselves and the world. Play allows children to practice language skills, sort out conflicts, and develop small (fine) and large (gross) motor skills. In addition, play encourages, creativity, self-esteem, and encourages independence. Children’s social play is considered a critical means to foster and enhance cognitive, language, emotional, social developmental domains. Children’s social play, needs to be developmentally and culturally appropriate. Through play, children develop who they are through their play experiences, as well as their imagination, self-confidence, concentration, and sociability skills. These include both Parten’s and Piaget’s stages of play. “Parten’s theory divides play according

This observation took place September 26, 2014 at a daycare in Homestead. A friend of mine is a teacher at “My Little Angels” and while waiting for her, I sat down to watch some children playing. There were many kids to do the observation on, but a little girl playing kitchen set caught my eye. I started watching her from 2:00pm to 2:33pm. It is fascinating what kids do and what we can find out about their behavior by watching them for just thirty minutes.

Have you ever sat down and observed a child playing? it’s quite obvious that it’s fun to do, and is probably what makes their childhood so likeable. Now what is not so obvious is how play plays a very important role in a child’s development. Play is important in more than one way, it helps a child think with a creative mind, they also learn to problem solve, and is also important to their language development. Another way play is linked to development is it helps children with reading and writing, and social skills. “Young children make numerous language discoveries as they play, explore, and interact with others” ("How Most Children Learn to Read", 2017). Take a toy telephone for example, when a child uses a telephone and puts it to their ear and stars talking on it they are using it as 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.