Observing the Physical Characteristics of the Child - Essay Example

Preschool Observation Edwin -Boy A. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CHILD While observing Edwin, I noticed that his height is not normal as to other children in the class. I found that many students in the class were shorter than Edwin. The normal height for the children of 5 yrs is 43 inches and Edwin was 45 inches in height. Edwin is a healthy child, and the height adds on to his physical structure. When all the students stand in a line, Edwin can be pin pointed easily with his above the average height. 2. When considering the weight of Edwin, he is of normal weight comparing to the other children in his group. I find him to have a well structured body and he need not add or put down weight to become one of normal weight. It can be noticed that many children in the class are overweight but Edwin seems to be have a well proportioned body. Edwin is one child in the class who has good physique. 3. The three things that acknowledged his status as a preschooler was his talkative attitude, his impulsive behavior and his hyperactivity. I observed the way he talked, which was without a break. Moreover he was not able to stand in one place; he was very impulsive and acted whatever he spoke out in words. Also he was not standing in one place and was moving continuously. 4. Looking from the health perspective, Edwin was a normal child with good physique and a cheerful attitude. But it is a fact that he is bit over grown compared to his classmates. His body also showed an overgrown aspect which when compared to his aged children become odd. I can take this fact as a hereditary attribute as his parents both are tall and well built. Emotionally he seemed to be strong with good activity and physical capabilities. B. MOTOR DEVELOPMENT Gross Motor Skills 1. While observing closely, the three gross motor skills that can be pinpointed are the way he walked, ran and did sit dups. I noticed that while walking, he was not placing his foot with pressure on to the ground and it seemed as if he is not touching the ground with his feet. While running, I observed that he ran with his shoulders stooped to front which was not a healthy way of running, this can hurt his shoulder with time. When I asked the class do sit –ups, he could not get up properly and had to place his hands on legs. I could see that Edwin was not enjoying the sit – up movements. 2. While comparing what I read in book and activity of Edwin it can be understood that what Edwin was doing was not exactly right. The walking part can be understood as he his hyper but to place shoulder stooping while running is not a recommended activity. Doing sit – ups he was normal as he might not be used to this kind of physical activity. 3. While observing Edwin, I noticed that he can juggle the ball well with his hand. This was surprising for the class mates and me. He had strong grip on his hands for the ball and grabbed them at the right movement. For this I complimented him saying that “You are a superstar here”. 4. I feel that Edwin was quiet able to perform any gross motor skill without any limitations. C.Fine Motor Skills 1. After one hour of watching Edwin I noticed that he is very well using his fine motor skills. First thing I noticed was the way he was drawing with crayons. He came to show it to me and it was beautiful and colorful. The next thing I noticed is that he was using paint colors to paint what he has drawn carefully. The third thing I noticed was that of the clay modeling where he molded an apple out of the clay. 2. My expectation was higher for Edwin and he did live up to it. 3.Edwin was right handed and this I noticed while he was drawing and clay modeling. 4. The remarkable thing of Edwin was that he had exquisite skill in paining and clay modeling. C. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: 1. While observing Edwin, I noticed that Edwin molded the clay in an expertise manner and the end product looked just like apple. 2. While observing Edwin, I grasped the fact he had good skill with hand movements. While he was using crayons he was swiftly coloring the page. Even while painting he drew the picture very detailed and sharp. His coloring technique was outstanding and the painting looked amazing. I understand the children of his age are much expert using paint, crayons and clay. 3. While clay modeling ,he was confident that what he was doing is right. This is because when I opted to help him he said he will do all by his own. 4With regard to categorizing things, Edwin was up to the mark. The day we went to animal zoo, Edwin was really observant and noticed animal closely and specifically. Once in class Edwin was able to spot his favorite animal as elephant and disliking animal as crocodile. D. LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION BEHAVIORS 1. Edwin is a talkative young child and he is all the time eager to talk with people. Even if one doesn’t speak he breaks the ice and start speaking. 2. You may notice that ,I have mentioned about Edwin more than needed because he is an active child. His English is good, due to the fact that he is British and he does not portray lisp or any kind of malfunctioning in his language skill. While talking to him ,it is clear that his language is his power. I would rate him 5 for speech. 3. The sentences spoken by Edwin were long and bit complicated but he managed to speak them well. For points I will give him 5.Compare to other children he is much better and had clarity in speech. 4. I did not hear Edwin use overregulation, over regulation is something like “we have two hands”. 5. During my observation ,I noticed that Edwin initiated the conversation one time. He did not initiate when I was talking with him but he did while he was speaking with his peer. This happened when he made the apple with clay .He showed it to his friend and said “Look here is an apple”. 6. Edwin is quiet comfortable in talking with children as well as adults. Talking to adults and children he was pretty confident and lively. However he gets disturbed when adults do not understand what he is speaking. E. EMOTIONAL and SOCIAL LIFE 1. Throughout the day he reflected a happy as well as at times gloomy mood. 2. Sometimes he is aggressive when it comes to his peers. With teachers he was calm. 3. Edwinis affectionate as he enquired to me about the band aid on my finger. 4. I acknowledge that the environment is peaceful ,safe and proper for kids to interact. 5. While observing Edwin, I noticed that he preferred girls rather than male children. 6. Edwin seemed to be pre-occupied with the thought of me watching him and contacted less with me. He understood I am watching him closely and this made him little shy. 7. Edwin mostly liked to spend time swinging and also interacted with other kids doing swinging activity. 8. Edwin seemed to be spending lot of time in clay modeling. Hence his fine motor skills are solid, he liked the idea of molding clay to different shapes. 9. Edwin spent least amount of time in walking. It seemed to me that he did not prefer leg movements much. 10. By observing all the cognitive, physical and social development, I understood that he spent lot of time with swinging and clay modeling. While swinging he interfered with other kids and helped them to swing. So socially he is extrovert and engaged much talking to his peers while clay modeling. F. THE PRESCHOOL’S ORGANIZATION and CURRICULUM 1. The main time for which I noticed Edwin was while he was drawing and painting. This was the time during mid – afternoon. 2. Since I have not had much experience with Preschooler s my expectation was kind of neutral. However Edwin’s activity did match with my expectation and was above normal of his age child. 3. During the adult/child observation which was story telling time, I noticed that Edwin was a good listener. During story telling, the adult interaction was effective and Edwin could remember the facts of stories when asked by adult. G. THE PHYSICAL DESIGN AND LAYOUT OF THE NURSERY SCHOOL and OUTSIDE PLAY AREA 3. Compared to the Signs of Developmentally Appropriate Early Childhood Programs from the book I saw that everything such as physical setting, daily activities, and interaction between child and adult was little higher that mentioned in the book. 4. One thing I would like to change in the settings of the preschool environment is that there should be more books for the children to read and understand. The class had less crayons and sketches from which children can get ideas. There can be also some amenities where the children can fully engage in physical activity. H. REFLECTION While observing Edwin at the preschool,I could understand deeply his cognitive, physical and social abilities. Usually I don’t observe small children sharply but passively. But while observing Edwin I was more objective oriented as I need to pass comments on his preschool activity. Still I am not sure I have watched Edwin from all dimensions. During this observing section, I got many aspects regarding the activity of a preschooler. I normally watch children of these ages but my attention mostly goes to their face and not hands and legs. Now I understood I should watch them closely and specifically. I could also compare what I read in book with what Edwin was performing. Time The childs actions or words Comments 10.00am Walking around the class room The child was not placing the foot firmly on the ground. 11.00am Running loosely around the garden Edwin was having his shoulder stooping onto front. 11.30 am Doing sit-ups He could not get up properly and needed support from leg. 2.00pm Coloring with crayon He was expert in this field. 3.00pm Water coloring Well colored water colored painting 3.30 pm Clay modelling Well shaped apples were molded out of clay 4.00pm Visiting Zoo Edwin was keenly observing animals and also mentioned his choice of animal and disliking animal. Time The childs actions or words Comments Read More