Child Observation Paper Assignment
The child aged 5 years old was observed in a natural setting for 45 minutes with the goal of assessing his physical, cognitive and psycho social development. This was an American white girl Alice, who came from the family of third generation Americans born in the United States. The selected natural setting was a gym located in the school setting. The girl demonstrated excellent behavior in the gym. Her physical activities were combined with cognitive tasks and psycho social interactions. The selected natural setting is the place where the child spends much time during her school days. She spends her free time in the gym as well. The gym is well-equipped and properly furnished so that children can feel comfortable here. According to researchers, observation is based on assessment of “perceptions of children’s ability to be self-directed learners”; therefore, there is a need for considering the role of personality traits of the observed child in physical, cognitive, and psycho social development (Stipek & Byler, 2004, p. 375). Due to observation of children in natural settings, it is possible to identify the successes and failures in everyday activities, assess their strengths and weaknesses in relation to three types of childhood development, namely assessing how they develop their social-emotional skills, how they acquire and utilize knowledge, and how they use the proper behavior patterns to meet their needs. Child Observation Paper Assignment
Summary of observation
Physical development
The observed child demonstrated excellent physical skills and abilities, appropriate for the child of this age group. She walked confidently up and down stairs, used a ball to play games, climbed the ladder easily, ran at increased speed, and jumped high. The observed child looked physically confident in everything she did in the natural setting. She was proud of her physical achievements because she could run fast and jump high. The girl started to dance when she heard music. Although it was difficult for the girl to catch the ball when another girl was jumping in front of her, she managed to do it due to her fine motor skills. In their study researchers proved that fact that physical activity programs are effective for preschool children as physical activity contributes to greater improvements in movement skill proficiency (Jones, Riethmuller, Hesketh, Trezise, 2011). Piaget’s theory assumes that in Preoperational stage, children need to be physically active to deal with different situations. The observed child was active and highly motivated by other children to win the game. She managed to succeed in her physical exercises to get high scores.
Cognitive development
The observed child demonstrated good cognitive skills. She had good memory as she was able to recall information about her past activities in the gym.Child Observation Paper Assignment The girl stayed focused on completion of the assigned tasks despite different destruction’s like other children in the gym and broken furniture. Her enthusiasm for learning was at high level because she was ready to learn new concepts and terms explained by the teacher, repeat these words, and use them in her conversation. She looked confident when she was asked to count balls in the box and write the number of balls on the wall. She counted 10 balls. Also, she was asked to go left and to go right and she did it perfectly. This fact means that she differentiated between left and right. She followed the teacher’s instructions, when she was asked to read and write new words: fitness, training session, and, workout. The observed child had insignificant language problems as she could not pronounce the sound r. According to researchers, early receptive language skills of children are associated with their positive psychosocial adjustment during early childhood (Schoon, Parsons, Rush, Law, 2010). Children with language problems require educational support and care services (Schoon et al., 2010). According to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, the processes of assimilation and accommodation allow an individual to ensure adaptation to new information in order to utilize it in one’s environment. The observed child interpreted new concepts in a way that she was able to effectively use them in different situations.
Psycho social development
Also, the girl played with other children and was a leader in the group. She was able to form relationships with her peers and with the teacher because she was open to communication and sociable. Children aged 5 often start to select friends and establish close relationships with two or three other children from the group. The observed child formed close bonds with one girl and two boys. According to Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development, the observed child aged 5 years old was in the stage Purpose: Initiative vs. Guilt. She was focused on initiative in her actions and decisions which gave her autonomy in the area of task planning, task undertaking. She was very active as she wanted to learn more about the world around her. At this stage of psychosocial development, the child starts to plan and complete their own tasks purposefully (Rosenthal, Gurney, Moore, 1981).
Relationship between Ecclesiastes 3:1 and child development
There is a close relationship between Ecclesiastes 3:1 and child development. In other words,Child Observation Paper Assignment Christian world-view relates to the observations of the child’s physical, cognitive and psycho social development. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 teaches to differentiate seasons and determine their importance for various activities. This notion can be applied to child development because children grow quickly and need to have the proper development with support of their mothers or caregivers. It is critical for teachers to support children in their studies at each stage of development. As “there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven”, caregivers and teachers should facilitate the process of child development through regular exercises (Ecclesiastes 3:1, New International Version). Hence, the Scripture like Ecclesiastes 3:1 relates to child development because it explains the meaning of different stages of human life which should be recognized by teachers and caregivers.
Conclusion
Thus, it is necessary to conclude that the process of observation of a child in a natural setting allows having a good understanding of the various aspects of child development, including physical, cognitive, and psycho social development, assess the strengths and weaknesses of the child in these three areas. The observed child, namely the girl aged 5, demonstrated excellent physical skills and abilities, and good cognitive and psycho social skills during the process of observation which lasted 45 minutes. The observed child needs external support to improve her emotional control in stressful situations and learn to pronounce the sound r. Hence, the child is developing at normal rate, consistent with her age group milestones.Child Observation Paper Assignment