Analyze the Child Observation Essay

?-1Observer: Michelle StanleyDate of Observation: 3/2/10 Fictitious Name of Child: AbbySetting: Bed room and living room Child’s Age: 3 years and 10 monthsPhysical Description of Child: When I walked into the house Abby was wearing her princess Belle dress-up gown. Her hair is bright blonde, down lloose and knotted, her eyed are blue, her skin is pale and her cheeks are rosy. Time Observed: 4:00pm – 4:10pm Behavior Observed: Upon entering the house Abby politely took my jacket and hung it up on a chair. She then ran up the stairs and asked me to come see her dollhouse.
She identified every little thing in her dollhouse as she was showing it to me. She showed me the “windows”, “stove”, “soap”, “mantel”, “rockwing chairs”, and the “shower head, where the water comes out so everyone is clean”. She then began to play with two cats, according to her “the mama and the daddy cats”. She made a deep voice for the “daddy cat” and an extremely high pitched voice for the “mama cat“. She made up an elaborate story about the “mama cat” having to go on an adventure to find the “baby cat”. While telling this tale she used words such as “excited” and “surprised” in the right context.
Time Observed: 4:10pm – 4:20pm Behavior Observed: When Abby became bored with her dollhouse and cats she moved on to her Disney Princess Barbie’s. She introduced me to each princess, “Belle”, “Ariel”, “Snow White”, and “Cindyrella, her favorite princess”. After telling me all of their names she showed me all of the outfits that they wear and explained to me when and why they wear them. When she began playing with her Snow White Barbie she dressed her in her “cleaning clothes” and started to sing “Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, it’s off to work we go”. This line was followed by her attempt to whistle.

After finishing her singing she asked me if I wanted to see her “special doll”. I told her yes, and she came up to me and said “Be careful she is porcelain and very fragile. ” She then struggled to lift herself onto her bed. Time Observed: 4:20pm to 4:30pm Behavior Observed: Abby then began playing with fairy dolls. She showed me one fairy that she called “the fairy of forgiveness”. She then made up a dialogue, at the end a doll apologized, and the fairy forgave her. Immediately after this scene ended she headed back downstairs to the living room with ease and began drawing pictures and writing her first and last name.
In doing this she accidentally got marker on her face. Her mother responded to this by saying “Well, don’t you look beautiful. ” Abby took this literally and when her mother was not paying particularly close attention she went into the bathroom to finish beautifying herself. She came back out with pink marker scribbles all over her face. Her mother then went to take the marker away before any more damage could be done and Abby began to make whimpering noises and complained. She was quickly reprimanded by her mother. Interview with the Abby’s Mother On what date was Abby born?
Abby was born on April 27th, 2006 two months premature. Was Abby born with any disorders? She was born with Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA), or in simpler terms with a hole in her heart that caused a heart murmur. At birth she was also plagued with a low level brain bleed. Thankfully, both of these conditions cleared up on their own. Was Abby fussy as an infant? As an infant she was not fussy and in fact was always smiling… not much has changed today. Was she breast fed or bottle fed? Abby was breast fed until four months when she began having cereal and baby food. When did she first roll over?
She first rolled over when she was around 12 weeks old, but after that she was not very active. When did she start crawling? She never really crawled around. She would scoot a little bit, but she went right from scooting to standing. The reason Abby did not crawl is because she has weak upper trunk muscles (this is common in premature children). Basically, she has “loosey goosey” arms and struggles in simple tasks such as carrying her backpack and lifting herself onto her bed. She may one day need physical therapy for this but as of right now she participates in activities such as swimming and using the monkey bars on a play set.
She is also always made to carry her bags, and once or twice a week she and her father have fake push up competitions. As a result of her weaker upper trunk she may one day have trouble in fine motor skills, such as forming her letters, but so far she has developed normally. When did she begin walking? Around 1 year, she began to walk. What percentile is Abby in for height and weight? Abby is in the 50th percentile for weight for kids her age and in the 98th percentile for height. What have you done for daycare throughout the years? From birth until September of 2006 Abby remained with me at home.
When I finally returned to work Abby’s primary care giver was her father, he stayed home with her from September of 2006 through December of 2006. She was then placed in the care of her aunt’s daycare from December of 2006 until August of 2008 as she then began Preschool at Precious Gems Learning Center. How is Abby doing academically? She can recognize and write all of her letters, knows how to spell her first and last name, can recognize and write simple words such as “mom” and “dad”, can recognize numbers up through ten and can count up to about thirty.
Has she received any evaluations from her learning center? Yes, two. She has earned the highest possible marks in almost all subject areas. Has she ever had any behavioral problems? She is sassy and knows her own mind, as a result she has been sent to the principal’s office on two occasions for defying her teacher because she believed her teacher was wrong. As far as the many aspects of physical development go Abby is right on track for the most part. According to the interview with her mother she is tall for her age (98th percentile) and she is of average weight (50th percentile).
Her body shape and structure have changed the way they were supposed to, meaning that she has burned off almost all of the fat that she carried during infancy, and her arms and legs have lengthened so her body looks more proportionate. In looking at brain growth and sensory development Abby seems to be ahead of her age group. While most preschoolers focus on the initial letters of words and guess at the rest Abby is able in many instances to sound the word out.
In observing her write her first and last name I noticed that she was actually sounding the letters out, most children her age are unable to do that. In the health and wellness aspect of Abby’s physical development she is a bit behind her peers. I noticed while we were playing in her bedroom that she had great difficulty hoisting herself onto her bed. While the most serious health problem of her peers is a runny nose, Abby suffers from those weak upper trunk muscles. When gross motor skills are concerned I noticed that Abigail was ahead in certain areas, like descending the long stairway in her house.
The majority of the time it is not until the age of five that children can descend a long stairway alternating feet, but I observed that Abby could, this could be because of her reliance on her legs as her main support since she was very young. When fine motor skills are factored in there are also some ways that Abby is ahead of her age group. For instance she can copy letters and short words, as I observed during the short time that she was writing and drawing with the marker, these abilities do not usually develop until closer to the age of five.
After all that I observed I would say that Abigail is right on track to meet future developmental milestones. Cognitively, from what I observed, Abigail seems without a doubt to be just as knowledgeable as those her age and in many areas she surpasses her peers. The ways in which she is most like children her age are that she is extremely egocentric, meaning that what she says is right no matter what and she is able to count in a systematic manner. For example, in speaking to her mother I learned that Abby was sent to the principal’s office twice because she believed she was right and that her teacher was wrong.
Also, according to her mother she is able to count up through the number 30. Verbally, I believe she surpasses most children her age. She uses such words as “surprised” and “ecstatic”, and forms such sentences as “Be careful my doll is porcelain and very fragile. ”, while most children her age form sentences like “Can I put my head in the mailbox so the mailman can know where I are and put me in the mailbox? ”. Abigail is definitely on track to meet all of her cognitive milestones. Socially Abby seems to be at the same level as her peers.
During psychosocial development it is important that Abby develop a sense of initiative. She is able to do this by dressing up in her dress-up Princess Belle attire. Also, much like her peers her play is mostly functional. Functional play is anything that is repetitive, such as playing with dolls and cars. She played with dolls almost the entire time that I observed her. Emotionally she seems to be doing well too. She understands the concept of forgiveness and how other people might feel about something as a result of her actions.
She shows this through her dialogue with the doll and the fairy. This dialogue shows that she has begun to develop a sense of empathy, as most kids her age do. Another example of how Abby is on target emotionally is how she behaved when she was reprimanded for drawing all over her face. At first, Abby tried to cry and complain her way out of the situation, but as soon as her authoritative mother explained to her that her behavior was unacceptable, and described why it was unacceptable Abby said sorry and gave her mother the marker.
This shows that Abby can regulate her own behavior affectively, as most children with authoritative parents her age can. In having the opportunity to observe Abby for only thirty minutes, there are two theorists that come to mind when analyzing her behavior: Erik Erikson and Jean Paiget. Erikson believed that children aged 3 to 6 went through a stage of psychological development that involved initiative versus guilt. Children within this age group discover ways to initiate their actions and on the opposite side can feel guilt from their actions and thoughts.
When Abby decided to draw with marker on her face she initiated her own actions and when she realized it was wrong and apologized she felt guilt. Piaget claims that those ages 2 through seven develop language skills, symbolic thinking and egocentric thinking. Though I did not experience any type of symbolic thinking, I did experience egocentric thinking and her language skills. Abby is definitely in the preoperational stage, she is like a sponge taking in new vocabulary words on a daily basis, as she showed by using words like “porcelain” and “fragile”.
Also, the episode in the classroom described by her mother shows that she is very egocentric, and is unable to see anyone else’s view point besides her own as right. It was extremely important that I observe Abigail in her own house because this is the setting in which she is most familiar. The more familiar the setting, the more likely she was to act and behave normally. I definitely believe that in observing her in her natural setting I obtained accurate information of the way that she is developing.