Narrative Observation of a Child

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

As an early years practitioner you will recognise that children’s play is closely linked to their learning and development. Children learn in so many different ways but you will notice that they learn mainly through play. When children are able to do many different activity’s that allows them to lean but have fun at the same time thy will find what they are doing fun and will engage the children. It is important that when in you your setting you set up a variety of educational activity’s this way the children will be able to choose freely what they want to do.

For my middle childhood observation I chose a 10 year old female by the name of Mycah Landry. Just to give you a bit of a background, Mycah attends a magnet school and makes straight A’s. She is a very smart young girl. We will start off by comparing Mycah’s physical development to that of Berger’s in the text. As documented in the text “Unlike infants or adolescents, school-age children’s growth is slow and steady. Self-care is easy –from brushing their new adult teeth to dressing themselves, from making their own lunch to walking to school. In these middle years, children depend less on their families and do not yet need to cope with the body changes and impulses of adolescence. Muscles become steadily stronger.” From my observation I

Physical activity encourages children and young people to develop all their physical skills and to practice the skills that they already have. Your role in supporting a child’s physical development will be to ensure that the child has a wide variety of experiences of being in a safe environment. Any setting should offer a wide range of equipment that can be used both indoors and out. It is considered important that children are given opportunities to develop their gross motor skills indoors as well as outdoors. Such opportunities may be provided by designated areas such as soft play area or by activities such as drama.

Physical activity is important to the short term and long term health and well being of children. In the short term physical activity helps children to build muscle, develops the skeletal frame, develops the heart and lung function and helps to prevent obesity. If children have enough physical activity a day which is said to be up to an hour it can help the children get to sleep easier and for longer periods of time, this can then lead onto long term benefits as if the activity is in the garden it will also help the child to build up a good immune system so they will be less likely to fall ill to the common cold or the flu. This outdoor environment helps the over all wellbeing of the children as the outdoors makes them

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.

I observed a multitude of children for this notebook activity because I felt like it was necessary to observe as many children as possible in order to see what differences there were not only between ages, but also between genders. The first child that I observed was Malachi. We played with a ball and I observed his throwing and catching techniques. He seemed to not be as developed in this area as he was with kicking the ball. Malachi was actually more physically developed in some areas than others. For example, he was riding a two wheel bicycle without any assistance, which is a skill that most children do not develop until the end of their fourth year of life. During

This study is intended to document my observation of a child between the ages of 2-5. The small child I observed is a 4 years old male. Family arrangements consist of the mother being the primary caregiver of her son. Since the child is not old enough to consent to my amateur study, I have received permission from the mother and father. The method used in this clinical report is a naturistic observation in which I went to the family’s household where I recorded his behavior for an hour.

As children’s bodies become more streamlined and less top-heavy, their center of gravity shifts downwards toward the trunk. As a result, balance improves greatly, paving the way for new motor skills involving large muscles of the body. (Berk, 1999) During the preschool years until approximately age seven, fundamental motor skills develop including the locomotor skills needed to run, jump, hop, and skip. Also the object control skills such as throwing, catching, and kicking are developing. By the age of six or seven, children begin to integrate two or more of these skills. Though all children will not develop these skills at the same age, they will follow the same sequence.

Play contributes to children’s “physical, emotional and social well-being” (Else, 2009, p.8) and through play, the child’s holistic development and well-being is being constantly accounted for as is it led by the individual. The child decides what s/he wants to do and does it; it is

In addition to play promoting pleasure as well as physical activity, play forms the holistic growth in children’s development, or to put it in another way using Brown (2003) acronym, acknowledged as ‘SPICE’; play represents the ‘social interaction’; ‘physical activity’; ‘intellectual stimulation’; creative achievement and emotional stability, (with the addition of “compound flexibility”) in a child’s development. Compound flexibility is the idea that a child’s psychological development occurs using the relationship between his/her environment with the adaptability of the child himself. Thus the flexibility of surroundings and his/her adaptableness can provide children the means to explore; experiment and investigate (Brown, 2003, pp. 53-4). On the contrary, the absence of social interaction and physical activity through the means of play can inhibit children’s overall development and without the consistency of play children suffer a “chronic lack of sensory interaction with the world, [which leads to] a form of sensory deprivation” (Hughes, 2001, p.217 in Lester and Maudsley 2006).

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

In the beginning months of children’s lives, they are “introduced” to their little bodies and minds, and start by moving their heads, and then work these movements down and out. When one skill is mastered, they move on to the next area of the body until it is mastered. This process continues so children can control and use their bodies to become strong and active little people. Their brains really connect, control, and communicate with their bodies. Just like children’s first steps; they move one step at a time—slow but

This paper will be about an observation to a child, and the different behaviors of the child. After watching the child I will study her physical, cognitive, and social development according to her age. That will give us an idea of how children should behave at a certain age. I will also compare the theories of some well-known theorists according to my child’s behavior.