You will complete an in-person observation of a preschooler. This preschooler can be observed in a preschool setting, family childcare setting, or a home environment. You will write what you observe objectively. You will include running times on your observation and record your comments separate from the actual behavior observed. You could either use parenthesis (). or document your comments on the side of the text.
Describe the physical setting and how the child responded to the constraints of the What was the area of the room or yard and equipment/materials used? What was the composition of the group involved (i.e. adults, children…)? Describe any other points to familiarize the reader with the situation. Basically, you need to tell me what you see in the environment because am not there with you. (This section should be at least minimally 2 paragraphs in length)
Breakdown the development of the child in each area:
-Bio‐Social: Describe the infant’s/toddler’s physical appearance in detail (size, skin tone, hair, body proportions). Describe all motor activity carefully (body movements, use of hands, use of legs, etc.) Describe any information about the routines of the child that is available to you: feedings, when, how much and what; sleep, when how long…). **Use your knowledge from the online t textbook for averages if the caregiver does not know.
**Theory portion of the paper below. Please address each question. If the caregiver does not know the answer, you should use your textbook and give the average answer. Also, please offer a citation to support findings from your classroom textbook.
-Physical:
Describe the child’s ability to utilize large and small motor development to support self-help skills.
-Cognitive:
Describe Piaget level of thought: cognitive developmental milestones and language development the nature and quality of vocalizations (cooing, babbling, sounds, telegraphic speech, words, sentences, etc.) Identify terms and theories discussed in class.
-Social and Emotional Development:
Describe social responses (smiling, laughing, fussing, crying, etc.),
level of attachment; identify terms and theories discussed in class.
Your Opinion
Discuss how your findings agree or disagree with your text/class discussions covering these age ranges. Describe all the developmental milestones and identify terms and theories discussed in class that you observe and compare to other children the same age. Examples, walking, motor, language, etc. Include any other information you feel is significant. You should discuss a hypothesis that you previously held about infants or toddlers and whether or not this observation confirms it. (This section should be 2- 3 paragraphs).
