Infant Observation Paper

At the start of their lives, babies are programmed to seek out the things that they want by crying. As they mature, though, children's emotional capabilities expand, allowing them to develop a variety of skills that they will need in their adult lives.

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

The physical development of a baby in its first six months of life shows limited range of movement but the beginnings of an ability to respond to stimulus around them. They show their reaction to people, sounds and movement by turning their head toward whatever attracts their attention. They will watch an adult’s face whilst feeding, but have already begun to shows signs of recognition as they will smile when familiar people are around them either because they can see them

In order to discover whether child is in secure stage, Ainsworth and her colleagues (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978) investigated a ‘strange situation’ experiment, observing infant’s behaviours and emotional expressions by

This child observation was carried out at the ETSU Child Study Center, after an appropriate permission was taken. I arrived at the Child Study Center at about 7:50am on Friday November 13, 2015, and I was taken to the Cricket Preschool classroom for my child observation. When I got there, there was only one child present at the class, and when I asked the teacher if he was the only student in the class, she said the rest students were yet to come. So I began my observation of the child. For the purpose of this observation, I am going to call this child Dave.

At 6 weeks infants develop a social smile, at 3 month laughter and curiosity develop, at 4 months full responsive smiles emerge, from 4-8 months they develop anger, from 9014 months they develop a fear of social events, at 12 months the are fearful of unexpected sights and sounds, and at 18 months they are self-aware, feel pride, shame, and embarrassment. In the first two years, infants develop from reactive pain and pleasure to complex patterns of social awareness. Emotions in infants are produced from their body as opposed to their thoughts. Therefore fast and uncensored reactions are common in infants. During their toddler years, the strength of their emotions will increase.

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.

After observing a nine month old child for this Child Observation paper, the author of this paper has taken copious notes during the session. The purpose of this paper is recognizing the biological, cognitive and psychosocial development of the child. The author of this paper identified the background history of the child, the observation made and the development process of the child.

At a certain age infants begin to resist the unfamiliar and are very vocal in expressing their feelings (Brazelton, 1992).

J, a 18 month old female was observed outside her home, around 4pm for an hour. The observer and J played outside on her swingset and played catch with her sister. We played for about 40 minutes before we went inside for dinner. J enjoyed playing outside. She loves enjoying the weather while she can and her sister being by her side. J appeared to be very happy, but sometimes she would put a frown on her face if she didn’t get her away. She always got quickly over the frown and become instantly happy again. When we were playing catch with her sister, she was extremely active. She enjoyed bouncing all over the place while the observer and her sister played with her. J’s language sample was right where she belongs. Sometimes, she would use full sentences and other times she would use one word. I understood what she was saying at all times. Although her language was not always put together like it should be, there was always an understanding of what she was saying.

Infants begin experimenting different sounds and actions through a trial-and-error pattern in order to be exhibited to the parent’s attention often. During this stage, infants show goal-directed behavior displaying purposeful responses to other people. For instance, a crawling baby will show goal-directed behavior by crawling to a covert in the kitchen, where his sippy cups are stored, taking one out holding it up and grunt to his father as if to say, “I’m thirsty!” Their actions are purposeful. Another important thing happening in the secondary circular reactions sub stage four is that infants achieve object permanence. Object permanence is when an infant is watching an object which then disappears, the infant is still thinking about it or can try to look for object. Even if it is out of sight, it is still on