Child Growth and Development- CHDV 100

Preschool Observation Assignment- Observation 3: Domains of Development

Name: Margaret Weber
Date Submitted: April23, 2014
Victor Valley College
Child's First Name: Isaiah
Child's Age: 4 Years 10 Months
DOMAIN: Physical Development
1. Appe, rance and growth: Describe the child's body build, posture, heights, and weight. (2 points)
xu-f-k -
c; '1 Cfsaiah is tall with a stocky body. He has long arms and legs and his head is more in proportion than that of
the infants and toddlers. His torso is also longer than that of the infant and toddler and the protruding belly is
no longer evident as it is with an infant and toddler. During my observations of Isaiah, I noticed that when he
sits, he sits up tall and not hunched over and when he walks he is not hunched and he appears to good
coordination when walking, running and jumping.
Gross & Fine Motor Skills
2. What types of play did you observe the child engaging in? Based on your observations of this play,
determine which parts of their play involved Gross or Fine Motor Skills and list them accordingly in the
space below. ( 4 points)
Gross Motor Skills
1) During outside play, Isaiah was running around chasing other children while playing tag.
2) I also observed Isaiah using the scooter in the bike area. He can push off with one leg to get the
scooter going fast, place his leg on the scooter and coast until he needs to push with his leg again.
3) During one outdoor activity, an obstacle course, I ofthe bales with both feet
and having both feet land on the ground at the same
4) During the obstacle course I also observed Isaiah crawling through the pop-up tents. He crawled on
his hands and knees as well as sfithenng like a snclke through the pop-up tent. He also hopped on two feet
through the hoops on the ground.
Fine Motor Skills
1) During outdoor time, Isaiah uses the microscope to look at bugs. He holds the microscope in his right
hand making a lose fist.
2). During work time Isaiah is at the sensory table with Valerie and Roman. The sensory table filled with
bird seed. Isaiah uses funnels and small strainers to scoop up the bird seed. He held a funnel in his left hand
and scooped bird seed into the strainer with his left poured it into the funnel.
3) After Isaiah left the sensory table, he went over to the wood shop area with Roman and Valerie.
Isaiah picked out a triangular piece of wood. Then he went over to the writing area and grabbed a red crayon.
"I am making my race care red". Isaiah holds the crayon in his right hand using the tripod style or with three
fingers in the shape of a tripod to hold the crayon.
4) At the writing area, I observed Isaiah cutting pieces of paper. He was able to cut a fairly straight line
and be also held the scissors correctly with his thumb and two fingers.
3) Does this child seem to prefer large or fine motor skill activities? Why do you say this? (2 points)
Through my observations of Isaiah, it would a ear that he prefers large motor activities more. Isaiah is
constantly moving throu t e c assroom and while he will build in the block area and play in the dramatic play
area as well as other areas, he seems to prefer moving around more than sitting down at an activity. When the
class went outside I observed Isaiah, running, jumping and riding bikes more than staying stationary at an
outdoor activity. He appears to be highly active.
4) Describe the gestures and facial features used by the child to communicate. (2 points)
I have observed many gestures and facial features that Isaiah uses to communicate with. When he is
upset or frustrated with another child, he has a scowl on his face. Also during a science activity with baking
soda and vinegar, Isaiah' s facial features showed his mouth in a wide position for being in awe or surprise and
when his baking soda and vinegar erupted, he laughed a smile on his face as well as rising his arms up
in a fashion to express the explosion.
5) Describe at least 4 indications of good health that you can see by observing this child. (2 points)
I would say that Isaiah appears to be in good health. He comes to school alert and wake and is active
during class. During my observations oflsaiah at snack time, he appears to be a good eater, he does not appear
to be undernourished or over nourished. He seems to be within the normal height and weight guidelines for his
age. During my observations of Isaiah, he has been physically active running, jumping, and throwing balls
outside as well as active in the classroom building btoCks, building wood structures, playing in the dramatic
play area and socializing with his peers.
In conclusion, through my observations of Isaiah, it appears that he is a typically developing child in the
physical domain. Isaiah's has grown and his body is longer with the protruding belly of infant and
stage gone, his hear is in proportion with his body and he has a longer torso, arms and legs than the infant.
According to the textbook, "Compared to infants, the most notable physical feature of preschool children is
that they lose their babyish appearance. Body fat decreases to approximately 12 percent ofbo.d weight, the
stomach flattens as muscles strengthen, arms and legs grow longer and slimmer, and the body grows in size
relative to the head" (Martin & Fabes, 2009, pg.245). During my observations oflsaiah, it appeared that he
was a highly active four years old that is constantly moving throughout the classroom and outside. During
..Jme of my observations, Isaiah was jumping off the hay bales using both his feet and arms to propel him off
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the hay and down to the ground. Martin & Fabes writes, "By age 4, most children can jump on high level
{J. ground, using their arms appropriately to help propel them. And by age 5, most children can jump a
distance of three feet" (Crafty, 1986) (Martin & Fabes, 2009, pg.251yiD my observations oflsaiah, he
prefers gross motor activities over fine motor activities, especially running. In my observations oflsaiah, he
(} spends the majority of his outdoor time running around chasing other children in games of tag or by playing
superheroes. I have also observed Isaiah throwing and catching the basketball as well as kicking the soccer
ball around. When Isaiah is catching the ball he has both arms out ready to receive the ball as it comes
towards him. According to Martin & Fabes, "Very young children tend to hold their arms stiffly in front of
them to catch a ball. And sometimes close their eyes or turn their head away to avoid the ball. By 4, most
children watch the ball coming and hold their hands open to receive it. By 5 to 6 years of age, most children
hold their arms and elbows flexibly to absorb the force of the & Fabes, 2009, pg.251). While
watching Isaiah closely, it appears that he is beginning to holds his arms and elbows flexibly when catching
the ball.
During my observations of Isaiah I would also say that he is a typically developing child in fine motor
growth. While observing Isaiah in the classroom during work time and snack time, I noticed that Isaiah appears
to use his right hand to pick up materials, food and to write with. Martin & Fabes writes, "Parents often wonder
whether their children will be right - or left - handed. Handedness is influenced more by genetics than
environment (Beaton, 2003), and most children and adults (92 percent) are right handed (Coren & Porac, 1977).
Infants do not show strong hand preferences; instead they vary the use of their hands. Stable preferences
emerge for most children at around 3 to 4 years of age (Coren, 1993) (Martin & Fabes, 2009, pg.253). During
one observation of Isaiah at work time, he appeared to be drawing a picture of a person. The drawing had a
circular face, with two long lines extended from the head as well as long stick arms extended from the head. He
also put a mouth, eyes and nose on the face. According to our textbook, "Often children' s first attempts at
combining shapes is to draw a person-a tadpole person, one with arms and legs growing out of the circular
body-head lump. Eyes, mouth, and noses are included in early tadpole drawings of people" (Martin & Fabes,
2009, pg.252).
Throughout my observations of Isaiah, it appears that he is a typical developing child that does not
appear to have any developmental delays or health issues. Isaiah appea-;s to be well rested when he com; s into
the classroom and appears to have an abundance of energy for play and learning. Isaiah also appears to be in
good physical health. He is tall and does not appear to be undernourished or malnourished. Martin & Fabes
writes, "Children's physical, motor, and cognitive development depend on being in good health, having
adequate nutrition, and getting rest each night (Georgieff & Rao, 2001). Children who do not eat well or sleep
well are likely to have a variety of problems, including being at risk for accidents, being less likely to learn new
information, and being less likely to have the energy to play and practice their motor skills (Wagner, Meusel &
Kirch, 2005) (Martin & Fabes, 2009, pg.254). Isaiah appears to be able to remember things that he has learned
in the past few days of class, what they have talked about in large group time and he can also give a descriptive
narrative on how he would get to his house. He appears to have plenty of e ~ play and practice his motor
skills especially his large motor skills.
~
l{,rQ.- Domain: Cognitive And Language Development
1. How does the child show curiosity? Is the child showing interest in a new situation? Describe a time
when a child was curious. (2 points)
When the children were outside, Isaiah and some other children found a ladybug. This made the
children curious. Isaiah said, "Lefs look for bugs". Isaiah, M a d d ~ x Roman, Mario, Valerie and Lillian all
begin looking for more ladybugs. A short time later Isaiah says, "I found one". The children then placed the
bug in a container and watched it, gave it grass and tried to hold it. Isaiah, "Aw man it flew away"
_:..-
2. When they are challenged some children will stay with an activity for a long time. Give an example of
the length of this child's attention span. (2 points)
During my observations oflsaiah, he stayed at the wood shop area making a race car for about 15-20
minutes. He started out cnoosing a riangular piece of woo , t en getting a red crayon. He sat at the table with
Valerie and Roman and three worked on separate projects but talked with each other. After Isaiah colored his
triangle red he said, "Teacher, I am going to use this glue to make it softer" (referring to his red race car). After
a second he says, "This glue doesn't work to make it softer". He walks over to put the wood glue away and
grabs the school glue and says, "This glue makes it softer". After a few minutes Isaiah says, "Oh my God why
did I use glue"? Valerie replies, "To make it softer". Isaiah says, "Oh yeah".
----
3. Watch and describe how the child participates in problem solving. Did the child learn by trial and
error or by another approach? Was the child supported by another child or an adult? (3 points)
Isaiah was building His tower was getting really tall when another child accidently
bumped into Isaiah' s structure. Isaiah says, Aw man why did you do that Maddox"? The two boys begin to
argue when a teacher comes over and asks "how do you think we can solve the problem. The boys think for a
minute and Isaiah says, Maddox can help rebuild it". The teacher replies, "What do you think Maddox"?
Maddox replies, "Sure, I will help Isaiah build a new tower" went on to create a new tower for the
bad guys.
4. Look for evidence of symbolic representation. Did the child use one object to represent another? (2
points)
During one of my observations of Isaiah, he was at the wood shop area. He chose a triangular piece of
wood and went over to the writing area to select a red crayon. He came over and stated, "I am going to color
my race car red". When another child said that he needed some wheels he stated, "I make all my race cars
without wheels".
5. Give an example of a child using classification or seriation in an activity or in play. (2 points)
i
During the morning table activity, the children were cJassifyi ng and counting Cheerios and fruit loops on a
graph paper. He placed all the purple ones in the purple column, greens in green column and so on. He also
; all42 cereal pieces. He was able to state that he had seven green, three purples, seven oranges and
<"" seven reds. He was able to tell the teacher that if you take four greens away, he would have three greens
r15 left.
6. Describe an example of the child showing centration in his/her thoughts or actions. (2 points)
During one activity where the children were placing dropper fills of colored vinegar into a container,
Isaiah made the comment, "Hey Mekhi, mine has more". Isaiah' s container was taller than Mekhi ' s but both
containers had the same amount of baking soda at the time Isaiah made the comment. He was focusing on the
fact that his container looked bigger than Mekhi ' s. ___.....-
7. Cite an example of egocentric thinking. (2 points)
While playing at the wood shop table with Valerie and Roman. Valerie is building a circus and Isaiah
keeps stating whoever finishes fust wins. Isaiah states, "I finish my car so I win". Isaiah assumed that
Valerie was racing with him that she had wanted to race as he had not asked her if she wanted to race. "Valerie
replied, "I was not racing".
8. How does the child describe object(s) she/he sees, or hears? Quote the child directly. (2 points)
During one observations of Isaiah, be was playing at the sensory table with Roman and Valerie.
He picked up a dinosaur that was in the bird seed and said, "I got a Stegosaurus and aT Rex, I got two". A few
seconds later, he says "I know what a Stegosaurus is, with plates on their back" (he points to the plates on the
dinosaurs back).
_,...----
9. Listen carefully to the child's sentence length and vocabulary and look for examples of
overregularization. (2 points)
During my observations oflsaiah, I did not hear any evidence of overregularization. One child, Roman,
that was playing with Isaiah outside side said, "I fighted the monster". Through my observations oflsaiah, it
appears that Isaiah is more advanced in some cognitive areas.
10. Listen carefully to a child's sentence length and vocabulary and list the parts of speech which you
have heard him/her use. (nouns, verbs, adjectives) Give example/s (in quotations) of the child's sentence.
(3 points)
Isaiah was explaining to another child how to get to ..his house. "My mom drives straight, straight,
straight, straight. Turn this way (points to the right), and that's my house. Valerie lives across the street from
me". A few seconds later Isaiah and Valerie engage in a discussion on who lives on the right or the left. Isaiah,
"My house is on the right, (is standing sideways, and holds up his right hand, my house is on the right, Valerie' s
house is on the left. ". Valerie turns facing the opposite direction and says, "But this way my house is on the
right". Isaiah responds, "My house is on the right". Isaiah uses, and adjectives when he is
speaking.

In conclusion, I would say that Isaiah is a typically developing child in the cognitive/language
development with areas where is more atypical or advanced. Isaiah is in Paiget's preoperational stage and
during my observations of Isaiah on more than one occasion, he used a piece of wood to represent a race
car. Martin and Fabes writes, "Young children have moved into the preoperational stage of cognitive
development (2 to 7 years of age). At this stage, they use sym b.2lic representations-they can mentally
represent objects and people and manipulate these representations" (Martin & Fabes, 2009, pg.270).
During my observations of Isaiah, I observed how Isaiah became re'!!!y focused on coloring his ,.race car red.
He chose to use a color crayon or a marker on his race car as opposed to using paint. While coloring, he
was also conversing with two other classmates sitting at the table working on their wood projects. As they
were talking, Isaiah kept saying to Valerie, "whoever finishes first wins the race. " He was referring to
whoever finished their wood project first. When he finished his race car he stated, "I win, I finished first
Valerie". Valerie replied that she was not playing or racing. In this case Isaiah was exhibiting egocentrism.
According to the textbook egocentrism is "the assumption, characteristic of most preschoolers, that their
own perspective is shared by other people" (Martin & Fabes, 2009, pg.273). During one of the curriculum
activities that I did for the CHDV 210 class, I observed Isaiah and another boy Mehki talking about their
baking soda and vinegar experiment. Isaiah looked over-at Mekhi ' s container and said "Hey MelilCi, mine
c:; has more." This is a good example of how a preschool children exhibits centration or where they tend to
focus on the most striking characteristic of an object and ignoring other features of the object. Martin &
Fabes writes, "Also, young children' s thinking exhibits centration-the tendency to focus attention on the
eJ most obvious and striking characteristics of an object while ignoring others. They see the snake as ng
more clay than the ball, for example because it is longer. Young children centrate on the length of the
snake, while ignoring its comparative thinness. Their thinking is guided by appearances-what things look
like - rather than by logic" (Martin & Fabes, 2009, pg.271). When it comes classification and seriation, I
observed Isaiah one morning during the greeting table activity. The activity was to sort out different color
fruit loops and cheerios and place them under the correct color on the graph paper. As the children sorted
their fruit loops, the teachers would guide math questions to see what areas under the math concepts of the
DRDP' s that the children comprehended. Isaiah knew which color had more that the other colors, counted
all42 of his cereal pieces and when guided he could tell the teacher that if he took four green fruit loops
away, he would have three green ones left.
During one of my observations of Isaiah he was explaining to a couple of children how to get to his
house. "When my mom picks me up then this is how to get to my house. First you go straight, straight,

straight, straight, then turn this way (pointing his arm to the right), then there is my house. Valerie lives
across the street. " In this instance Isaiah is using descriptive language to explain how to get to his house
within his understanding of everyday events or scripts. Our textbook describes scripts as "concepts that
people form about routines involved in everyday interactions and events. As children experience these
activities, they have opportunities to learn the sequencing of events" (Nelson, 1986) (Martin & Fabes, 2009,
pg.277). On other occasions I observed Isaiah explaining the sequence of his day at school as well. During
my observations of Isaiah, I noticed that Isaiah appears to have an extensive vocabulary and appears to have
a more advanced grasp of language than some of the other children. During one activity for language and
literacy, the children were playing a game with magnetic alphabet. They were placing the letters on the
cookie sheet that had a coconut tree. As he placed the letter "D" on the cookie sheet he said "Teacher look
D is for dog, D is for dad". During my observations of Isaiah, I never heard him using overregularization.
According to Martin & Fables, "During young childhood, children gain mastery over many rules of
grammar, indicating past tense by adding - ed to the end of a verb and forming the plural by adding - s to the
end of of a noun. Their application of these rules becomes obvious when they use them in situations in
which the rules do not apply, in a process called overregularization" (Martin & Fabes, 2009, pg.284).
Isaiah appears to use nouns, verbs and adjectives in his sentences and also appears to speak in lengthy
sentences to get his point across. For many children like Isaiah, attending a high quality preschool program
sets them up for later academic learning. However parent's need to be careful when selecting a preschool
program as young children learn best with hands on activities that met their needs and interests and through
meaningful play experiences. Martin & Fables writes, "Many experts in child development, however,
oppose an emphasis on early academic training in reading, writing and arithmetic (Charlesworth, 1989;
Elkins 1987, 1988), primarily for two reasons. One reason relates to the belief that children learn best when
they are actively involved in learning. Good kindergarten and preschool programs lay the foundation for
later cognitive skills by encouraging developmentally appropriate play and supplying hands-on experiences.
Another reason is that children who are pushed academically at a young age may lose interest in learning,
which has serious long-term consequences for their education" (Martin & Fabes, 2009, pg.290). Preschool
children are active learners and need age appropriate, individually appropriate and culturally appropriate
activities and play opportunities to make their learning experiences meaningful to them. In addition to this
preschool children benefit from high quality programs where staff to child ratios are lower. In these
programs there tends to be less behavioral issues benefit more from the quality interactions
with their teachers and peers.
Domain: Social and Emotional Development
1. Did the child express intense feelings with words? Describe an incident. What other means did the
child use to express his feelings? (2 points)
During my observations oflsaiah, I have noticed that he can have some intense reactions. While
building blocks with Roman, Mario and Maddox, Isaiah became upset when Roman and Mario accidentally
knocked part oflsaiah' s block structure down. Isaiah said, "Look what you guys did, now I am mad". Roman
and Mario said they were sorry and helped Isaiah to rebuild his structure but Isaiah still had an angry expression
on his face. During another observation of Isaiah during transition to snack time, Isaiah wanted to sit at the blue
table and kept saying, "Teacher I want to sit at the blue table". The teac)ler responded with "We have to take
turns so one day you may sit at the blue table and the next day you may be at the green table". Isaiah kept
repeating that he wanted to sit at the blue table while the pass the frog activity went on until he finally just sat
there with a frustrated or angry scowl on his face. When he did-go sit down for snack, he was in a better mood
and talked with the other children at the table as well as participates in recall of where he played that day during
work time.
2. Which of the following types of play did the child spend time in? Provide an example(s).
*Unoccupied,* onlooker,* solitary, *parallel,* associative,* cooperative. (Parten's Theory of Play) (2
points)
Through my observations of Isaiah, it appears that he spends time in cooperative play. During one of
my observations of Isaiah, he was in the dramatic play area with Madaox, and Valerie. The three of them were
playing laundry. Valerie was washing the laundry, Maddox was drying the laundry and Isaiah was ironing the
laundry. He says as he is showing me how to iron, "This is the way you use the iron, this is a real one that you
would plug into the wall" Isaiah was observing that the iron that was in the dramatic play area was one that
was real without the cord versus the one that was a toy. After the laundry, the three of them began to play
Mom, dad and kid with Isaiah being the dad, "I have to go to work now". "See you at dinner".
Their play Continued until work time was over and it was time to clean up.
3. Describe 3 traits of temperament exhibited by the child. Cite behavior to support your descriptions.
Does s/he seem to be a leader or a follower? (3 points)
Isaiah appears to be slow-to-warm-up. While observing Isaiah, Isaiah' s activity level was high. In the
classroom he would go from activity to activ1ty and 1s constantly moving. During one observation, Isaiah
started in the dramatic play area, then within ten minutes he went over to the sensory table and played in the
bird seed with Roman and Valerie. Then within about ten minutes after going to the sensory table he said, ' Tm
ready to leave guys, let's go somewhere else". The three children went over to the wood working area where
\ Isaiah took a red crayon to a triangular piece of wood to color his race care. He appears to be more distractible
0 then some of the other children. I have also observed Isaiah get upset at other children over the smallest in
ncident. For example, Isaiah yelled at Roman, "Roman you are taking my bird seed, Stop Roman". Roman
scoops up more bird seed that wasn' t really near Isaiah but Isaiah yells, "Stop Roman". It would also appear
<;)/ that Isaiah adapts to changes a little slower than other children. During one observation when student was
doing her large group activity Isaiah states, "Ohman", and he had a hard time settling down during the group
time. It would appear that Isaiah is more of a leader than a follower. When he is in a group of children, he is
usually the one that suggests play ideas for the group, like outside he stated, "We should play superheroes, I am
Spiderman, Maddox you can be Batman".
4. What evidence do you see of the child acquiring initiative or guilt? Look for things such as creative
play, unusual ideas, reaction to rules, conforming. (2 points)
During my observations of Isaiah is acquiring Isaiah appears to be eager to learn new things
and takes the initiative to start new pfay scenarios with other children. While in the block area Isaiah, Elexis,
and Maddox were playing with cars. Isaiah said, "I'm going to build a car wash. Who wants to build with
me"? The three built two car washes and one library during the work time.
5. What dramatic play activity does this child seem to enjoy? (2 points)
Isaiah seems to prefer dramatic play that involves superheroes. During my observations oflsaiah, he
wants to play superheroes outside and even when building in the block area. During one of my observations of
Isaiah in the block area, he was telling other children in the area, "Let's build a tower for Spiderman". Isaiah,
Maddox, Mekhi, and Roman began to build a tower for Spiderman. Later that day when the children went
outside, Isaiah again stated, "Let's play Spiderman. I am Spiderman, Maddox you can be Batman". The boys
began running around chasing each other playing
6. What evidence did you observe for the development of gender awareness? (2 points)