Running head: PRESCHOOL OBSERVATION

Preschool Observation: Domains of Development Britney L. Collins Victor Valley Community College Child Development 100

PRESCHOOL OBSERVATION Childs First Name: Adrian Childs Age: 4 Years Old DOMAIN: Physical Development 1. Appearance and growth: Describe the childs body build, posture, heights, and weight. (2 points)

Adrian was well groomed and for his age group, he appeared to be average height and weight. Adrian always had good posture and sat up straight even while sitting on his feet on the circle during story time. 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) The main part of play during the day was called free play, which created an organized chaotic environment. The teachers were reactive in most cases when dealing with behavioral issues. Adrian's choice of play was limited and he kept removing himself from general activities because of the environment. His limited play included, play in the kitchen, dress up, painting, and other independent activities. When the teachers were being proactive and gathered puppets to play with the other children Adrian, was then willing to participate.

PRESCHOOL OBSERVATION Gross Motor Skills 1.

Balanced on one foot: While they were cleaning, he was able to balance on one foot.

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Bunny hopping on one foot: While waiting for snack, he would hop and switch feet while moving in a circle.

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Jumped in a circle and waved his hand: While he was decorating the kitchen and while the children were cleaning.

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Jumped up from seated position: When they were going to start active play. He got excited and kept his balance perfectly.

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Teacher directed: When they had the whole class participate in a jumping and dancing song, Adrian participated.

Fine Motor Skills 1. Two finger tracing with feather: During story time the children were given a feather to represent a turkey for Thanksgiving. Adrian was tracing the window from afar with the feather. He closed one eye and was moving his mouth as if he were making an etching sound while moving the feather around the window. 2. Buttoning: Adrian enjoyed dramatic play and he was able to dress himself up as a nurse. He had to button the outfit and he also put a blanket over the dolls to keep them warm. 3. Painting: Adrian was very interested in painting. He was holding the

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paintbrush with his right hand and using only his fingers to maneuver the brush. He was also holding the tray and the paper with his left hand while he was painting with his right hand. He was painting squares and different shapes. 4. Left-right coordination: The teacher took the paper he was painting on away and Adrian got up to get another piece of paper. He had paint on his right hand, and was able to get another piece of paper and a tray while only using his left hand. 3. Does this child seem to prefer large or fine motor skill activities? Why do you say this? (2 points) Adrian most definitely preferred fine motor skills over large. He spent a significant amount of time painting. He enjoyed painting so much that he kept painting well after the other children lost interest and moved on to other activities. 4. Describe the gestures and facial features used by the child to communicate. (2 points) Adrian used exaggerated facial expressions while communicating. He would squint his eyes and raise or lower his eyebrows while talking. His gestures included rubbing hands on his pants, throwing hands in the air, and rolling up his sweatshirt while he was communicating.

PRESCHOOL OBSERVATION 5. Describe at least 4 indications of good health that you can see by

observing this child. (2 points) 1. Adrian was dressed well, his clothes were clean, and his hair was combed nicely. He also showed good manners and sneezed into his arm. 2. 3. He seemed focused and not tired. He was not hyper (except for short spurts of energy like jumping or shaking hands while the class was actively cleaning) and was calm and cooperative during instruction. 4. 5. He ate his entire snack. He washed his hands by himself and concentrated.

Physical Development/Concluding Thoughts: Write a brief summary of your overall impression of this childs physical development. In this summary, use specific information from the text and course readings to explain what you observed. Be sure to discuss the following: Do you feel that, based upon your observation, this childs physical development would be considered to be typical or atypical? Why do you say this? Use a minimum of four specific pieces of information from the text to support your discussion. Be very specific in your comparisons, using correct vocabulary terms, milestone descriptions, etc. Remember, your statements must be supported by information from the course readings this is not optional it is required. Be sure to provide citations in correct APA format when referring to the readings. (10 points) I feel based on my observation that Adrians physical development was typical. He is average in his height, weight, and was well groomed. He expressed his

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emotions with appropriate gestures and was developing his fine and large motor skills at optimal speeds. Adrian had developed age-appropriate large and fine motor skills. He was able to hop, jump, balance on one foot, and took steps up and down from a stool. By age four, they can jump rope, skate, and skip, alternating their feet. (Martin & Fabes, 2009, p. 249). He preferred fine motor skills and was able to wash his hands, attempted to get a towel, and held the paintbrush with only two fingers. Adrian was tracing the window with the feather, which also shows that his eye-hand coordination had developed. One key factor of motor skills is the development of childrens visual systemthe ability to focus the eyesadvance in eye-hand coordination (Martin & Fabes, 2009, p. 250). Martin and Fabes also point out they must be able to organize the coordination between their hands and eyes using the small muscles in their hand precisely (Martin & Fabes, 2009). He was very interested in painting and he was holding the paintbrush with his right hand and using only his fingers to maneuver the brush. He was painting squares, different shapes and was able to dip the brush into the cup accurately. Because Adrian was able to dress himself in the nurses outfit and was able to button up the smock without any problem, he showed fine motor skill development for his age. By age 4 children can dress themselvesmost 5-year-olds can button buttons (Martin & Fabes, 2009, p. 251).

PRESCHOOL OBSERVATION 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) He was curious as to what the boys were doing, especially after they called his name repeatedly. He looked at them and showed curiosity by raising his eyebrows, but chose not to participate. There was curiosity by way of empathy when he chose to take care of the dolls and put them to bed. If curiosity is by way of understanding how the world works, then he showed it when he found a different way to get a paper towel when the towel dispenser didnt work. He showed interest in a new situation while painting at first he only used green paint. But when the teacher put red paint next to him, he dipped his paintbrush in the green paint and then in the red paint and started painting with different colors. 2. When they are challenged some children will stay with an activity for a long time. Give an example of the length of this childs attention span. (2 points) The class was doing a project for the staff to thank them for the Halloween party they threw for the children. They were painting their hands and making handprints on colorful pieces of paper. Adrian was the only child that painted until the teachers put the paints away. He colored on three pieces of paper and even on the back of one. The teacher took

PRESCHOOL OBSERVATION away the last paper he was painting on and suggested that he go play in

another areas. He asked for another piece of paper and the teacher didn't hear him. After he realized she wasn't going to get him another piece of paper he got one himself and continued to paint. Adrian painted for well over 15 minutes by himself. He was very engaged in painting and appeared as though he was thoroughly enjoying it. 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) Adrian washed his hands after he was done painting. He needed to dry his hands but he couldn't figure out how to get the automated paper towel dispenser to work. He tried several times to put his hands under the dispenser and when nothing happened he yelled "HELP!" He was unable to get the attention of any of the teachers or children in the class, so he stepped down from the stool and looked around. He spotted a paper towel roll on the table next to the sink and he tore off a piece and at last was able to dry his hands. Adrian used trial and error and was not supported by another child or adult. 4. Look for evidence of symbolic representation. Did the child use one object to represent another? (2 points) He pretended to use a feather as if it were a laser tool to cut into the window. He used colorful pieces of sheer fabric to dress up the kitchen curtains. He also played dress up and was taking care of baby dolls as if he

PRESCHOOL OBSERVATION were a doctor and they were sick. 5. Give an example of a child using classification or seriation in an activity or in play. (2 points)

When Adrian was putting the cups away in the kitchen during cleanup a teacher tried to hand him a plate to put away as well. He pushed the plate away and continued to organize the cups together on the shelf. He was classifying the different dishes. A preschooler's concept of "classifications of objects and people are based on partial concepts (sometimes called preconcepts) that allow them to make distinctions among global categories, such as animals, food, and people to understand differences within a category (Martin & Fabes, 2009, p. 272). I did not observe seriation. "Seriation involves ordering stimuli along a quantize dimension (such as length)" (Martin & Fabes, 2009, p. 369). Example: If Adrian were given different sizes of colorful sheer cloth and was asked to put them in order from largest to smallest he would most likely try to arrange them by comparing two at a time and would not be able to do it quickly. He might also be distracted by the colors of the fabric. 6. Describe an example of the child showing centration in his/her thoughts or actions. (2 points) While playing with the small, sheer, and colorful pieces of fabric, Adrian was approached by another child who then took two pieces fabric out of his hand. Adrian, was not very happy about this. Adrian grabbed a

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different, bigger piece of fabric and gave it to the child in exchange for the possibility of getting his back. The child happily accepted the different bigger piece of cloth and returned the smaller pieces to Adrian. 7. Cite an example of egocentric thinking. (2 points) Adrian expressed egocentric thinking when he used private speech to look for his jacket. He said, Who took my jacket! Wait! I got my jacket! 8. How does the child describe object(s) she/he sees, or hears? Quote the child directly. (2 points) Adrian spent a significant amount of time decorating the window over the kitchen with different colored fabric. When showing the teacher what he had done he said, Look! I put the blue and yellow ones on the kitchen. 9. Listen carefully to the childs sentence length and vocabulary and look for examples of overregularization. (2 points) Adrian was well spoken when he did speak. He didnt seem like a talkative child. I did notice two possible examples of overregularization while I observed him: Her my friend. Excuse me, I go show you my painting. I show you my painting. 10. Listen carefully to a childs 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 childs sentence. (3

PRESCHOOL OBSERVATION points) Some of the sentences I was able to pull from Adrian while I observed him were:

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I changed my mind. Sometimes I like to sit over there, and sometimes I like to sit over here. o o o o Compound sentence There & Here use of prepositions. Expressive vocabulary I & My use of personal pronouns

Who is that? (Repeated until he got an answer) o Interrogative (Maybe if the adults in his life answer his questions, he expects an answer. If not given, hell keep asking) o Expressive vocabulary

Excuse me! I go show you where my painting is. Im, I show you my painting. o o o o o Expressive vocabulary Exclamatory sentence Conversational rules Pronouns Double verbs

PRESCHOOL OBSERVATION o o o Possessive pronoun Referential Contraction

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Who took my jacket? Wait! I got my jacket! o o o o o o o Exclamatory sentence Past tense Referential Present tense Using grammatical regularities Syntax of word and word order Rules of past and present tense

I show you my painting. o o o Missing a word will or want to Referential Declarative sentence

Cognitive/Language Development Concluding Thoughts: Write a brief summary of your overall impression of this childs cognitive/language development. In this summary, use specific information from the text and course readings to explain what you observed. Be sure to discuss the following: Do you feel that, based upon your observation, this childs cognitive/language development would be considered to be typical or atypical? Why do you say this? Use a minimum of four specific pieces of information from the text to

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support your discussion. Be very specific in your comparisons, using correct vocabulary terms, milestone descriptions, etc. Remember, your statements must be supported by information from the course readings this is not optional it is required. Be sure to provide citations in correct APA format when referring to the readings. (10 points) Based on my observation, I believe Adrians cognitive/language development would be considered typical. His use of language was typical for his age range. He used adult language, overregularity, and was also able to classify objects. Centration was shown when he focused another childs attention on the most obvious and striking characteristic of an object while ignoring others (Martin & Fabes, 2009, p. 271). Many of Adrians actions pointed to proof that he is in the preoperational stage. The preoperational stage, lasts from about 2 to 7 years of age (Martin & Fabes, 2009, p. 40). I observed five different aspects of this stage: Imitating behavior, symbolization, egocentrism, animism and moral realism. Piaget says the pre-operational stage is when children imitate behaviors they have seen in the past (Martin & Fabes, 2009). For example, Adrian covered the baby dolls with blankets showing that he had seen this action done before. To further prove he was a pre-operational thinker, he was unable to apply operations actions internalized as symbols that can be reversed and coordinated (Martin & Fabes, 2009, p. 270). The children were given a plan each day while engaged in play. This "plan" was more of a goal but Adrian saw this plan as being a symbol, a physical thing, and he believed it could be stolen. He wasnt

PRESCHOOL OBSERVATION able to reverse his thinking. Egocentrism is when a preschooler assumes that their own perspective is shared by other people" (Martin & Fabes, 2009, p. 273) or when they de

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monstrate egocentrism through private speech. He used private speech when he said, Who took my jacket? Wait! I got my jacket! Martin and Fabes say that private speech is when individuals speak to themselves when solving problems (Martin & Fabes, 2009). Adrian used his language to solve his problem. Animism is a key feature of the preoperational stage. This is the belief that inanimate objects have human feelings. Adrian demonstrated this when he was playing with the dolls. He was taking care of the baby dolls as if he were a doctor and they were sick. He affectionately put the dolls to bed and covered them up with blankets. Children focus on their own view of the object and their perception of it, and his distracts them from attending to the features that determine whether or not something is alive (Martin & Fabes, 2009, p. 273). Moral realism is another aspect of this stage. This is where the differences between right and wrong are thought to be shared by everyone else around them. It becomes impossible for them to consider anything else. Adrian demonstrated this many times when he felt everyone else should be following the rules. He felt that his plan was his own and that it was stolen from him. He expressed deep concern against bullying and was adamantly trying to avoid the misbehaving children and tried to get them to stop.

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He knew that although the other boys were calling for his attention he had no desire to interact with them. (Does his home life foster independence in which he can make his own decisions without being bothered?) 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) Adrian did express intense feelings with his words. There was an incident that occurred over his plan being taken from him by another child. Each child was given a plan at the beginning of playtime, which allowed them to play with purpose and gave them a goal to meet while playing. Adrian accused a girl of stealing his plan. Adrian stomped over to Mrs. Becky and said, She stole my plan! and pointed his finger in the direction of the kitchen. Mrs. Becky asked him, Why did she steal your plan? and, as he was stomping back over to the kitchen he said, I dont know! His words were stern and his stride had purpose. Adrian not only expressed his feelings verbally but also physically with his walk and his facial expressions.

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2. Which of the following types of play did the child spend time in? Provide an example(s). * Unoccupied, * onlooker, * solitary, * parallel, * associative, * cooperative. (Partens Theory of Play) (2 points ) 1. Solitary play is when a child is in a room full of other children but is playing alone and not paying attention to anyone else (Martin & Fabes, 2009). Adrian demonstrated this when he chose to: a. Decorate the kitchen b. Paint with a paintbrush c. Dressed up as a nurse 2. Parallel play is when children play along side each other, near each other, but are not talking (Martin & Fabes, 2009). Adrian demonstrated this when he was: a. Setting the table b. Making a Thanksgiving dinner c. Following his plan alongside others 3. Associative play is when children are playing the same thing, but not working together. They are talking but not working together (Martin & Fabes, 2009). Adrian demonstrated this when he was playing with the puppets. He and a group of children were playing with puppets but they did not have the puppets interact. However, him and other children were engaged in conversations. 4. Cooperative play is working together with a shared purpose (Martin & Fabes, 2009). Adrian demonstrated this when he began playing puppets with another boy who was also playing puppets. Associative play then turned into cooperative play PRESCHOOL OBSERVATION 17

when they hit the puppets together and laughed about it. (Adrian preferred to play alone while I was observing him. After the class was gone, Mrs. Becky allowed me to walk around the classroom and I asked her a few questions about Adrian. She stated that it wasnt his typical behavior and he normally interacts with all of the children very well.) 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 ) a. Activity level: Adrian was constantly moving while engaged in activities. He had spurts of energy where he would jump up and spin around. He would shake his hands in the air if ever there was a time of physical stillness. b. Approach-withdrawal: Adrian rejected interaction with his peers when they were playing roughly during free-play and without teacher direction. He accepted interaction with his peers when a teacher was present and guided the play. c. Persistence: Adrian was highly involved in every activity he was engaged in. From painting, which he continued well after the rest of the class lost interest, to continuing to decorate the kitchen even with constant badgering from other children. d. Adrian showed leadership qualities when he chose not to be a follower and interact with the other children. He took the initiative PRESCHOOL OBSERVATION 18

in many aspects of play and independent decision-making. He actively rebelled against peer pressure. 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) When I was observing Adrian, he wasnt in the position to show guilt. He did however show a substantial amount of initiative. He was intensely involved in painting, and was creative with the color mixing. He was involved in creative play the entire time he was in the kitchen. Adrian decorated the window, cooked everyone dinner, and set the table with plates and cups. He took the initiative to stack the cans of play food into a pyramid on the shelf where the cups normally sat. An unusual idea I noticed was when he picked up the play phone that was in the kitchen. While looking at children in another area, he yelled into the phone, STOP PLAYING! then slammed the phone back down and walked away. 5. What dramatic play activity does this child seem to enjoy? (2 points) Adrian enjoyed playing dress up. He dressed up like a nurse, and played and cared for baby dolls. He was very compassionate towards the dolls.

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6. What evidence did you observe for the development of gender awareness? (2 points) Adrian didnt show signs of gender awareness. He was not interested in playing trucks and building blocks with the boys and even got angry with them when they persisted that he play with them. He played in the kitchen and was interested in the baby dolls and puppets that were in the classroom. 7. Does s/he accept responsibility for small jobs or does s/he attempt to avoid responsibility. Cite an example to support this inference. (2 points) Adrian accepted responsibility for small jobs. He put away the colorful fabric he was so fond of after direction from the teacher. He even went as far as chasing and playing tug-o-war with a child to get a piece of fabric that he wanted to put away. Adrian put away all of the cups in the kitchen. He was so focused on putting the cups away, when the teacher tried to hand him a plate to put away, he pushed it out of the way and picked up a cup from the floor and placed it on the shelf. 9. Describe a situation where the child shows empathy for another child. (2 points) Adrian played by himself most of the time and got annoyed when any other child interfered in his play. However, during clean up, another boy crossed his arms and said Brrr, its cold in here and shivered. Adrian witnessed this, mimicked the boys actions, and said he was cold as PRESCHOOL OBSERVATION 20

well. 10. What evidence do you see of the childs prosocial development? (2 points) Even though Adrian preferred to play by himself, he did set the table and cook food for the teacher and other children. He brought the food to the table and asked if anyone wanted any. Another child accepted Adrians offer and took the food, which made Adrian smile. After snack and before outside play time, Adrian willingly pushed the chair in for himself and the other boy he was sitting next to. 11. Provide an example of how this child avoided or resolved conflict with another child. (2 points) After clean up time, the children sat on the carpet before they washed their hands. Adrian accidentally stepped on another boys hands. He apologized and said he didnt mean to. He resolved the conflict. While playing, he was not willing to play with other children. When they persisted, by calling his name over and over again to get his attention, he got upset and yelled at them. He created conflict. There was a conflict with a girl in the kitchen. He got the attention of a teacher by crying until the teacher resolved the issue. He resolved conflict.

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Social-Emotional Development Concluding Thoughts: Write a brief summary of your overall impression of this childs social-emotional development. In this summary, use specific information from the text and course readings to explain what you observed. Be sure to discuss the following: Do you feel that, based upon your observation, this childs socialemotional development would be considered to be typical or atypical? Why do you say this? o Use a minimum of four specific pieces of information from the text to support your discussion. Be very specific in your comparisons, using correct vocabulary terms, milestone descriptions, etc. Remember, your statements must be supported by information from the course readings this is not optional it is required. Be sure to provide citations in correct APA format when referring to the readings. (10 points) Based on my observation, the overall impression I got from Adrians Social-Emotional Development, was that he was developing typically. He expressed his emotions verbally while interacting with other children and teachers. While involved in different levels and types of play, Adrian showed specific traits of temperament. He showed healthy levels of initiative and enjoyed dramatic play. He was confident in his actions, the decisions he made during free-play, and he didnt succumb to peer pressure. As young childrens physical, cognitive, and social skills improve, they formulate their own goals and desires and are increasingly capable of developing plans to reach them (Martin & Fabes, 2009, p. 299). The classroom had a plan and a goal for the day, he liked that structure and he knew that it needed to be followed, which showed that he had developed high self-esteem and Children with high self-esteem are better prepared to face challenges because they have acquired feelings about themselves PRESCHOOL OBSERVATION 22

that are associated with success and positive worth (Martin & Fabes, 2009, p. 301). To further prove that he is a typical 4-year-old, Adrian exhibited prosocial behavior. Four- and 5-year-olds also justify prosocial behavior on the basis of selfish reasons (Martin & Fabes, 2009, p.314). When another child wanted to take his piece of fabric, he traded the child for a bigger piece of fabric that he was not interested in. The fabric that he offered was larger than the one he wanted, making it more appealing to the other child. This interaction was purely for selfish reasons. With maturity, children recognize the social nature of helping relationships. It is not until later that childrens reason for helping become altruistic (Martin & Fabes, 2009, p. 314).

Interrelationship of domains of development: From your observations, pick one activity which you feel illustrates the interrelatedness of the three domains of development. Describe the activity. Discuss, very specifically, how the childs skills in one domain influenced their actions/behaviors in the other two domains. Based on the childs current skills, identify/discuss one potential long-term outcome. Note: If you are unsure what interrelated means, then be sure to look it up. It is important that you understand interrelated. (5 points ) The activity I chose that illustrated the interrelationship of the domains of development was when Adrian painted. The plan for the class was to paint their hands to make handprints on a piece of paper. He chose to veer from the original plan of painting his hand and decided to paint random shapes and designs on multiple pieces of paper before making the handprint. Since the activity only PRESCHOOL OBSERVATION 23

called for one piece of paper, the teacher did not expect to give him another piece. After he asked the teacher multiple times for another piece of paper and was ignored, he decided to get his own. At this point in the activity all the other children were done painting and he chose to continue. The main domain that influenced Adrians action to paint was his physical development of both his fine and large motor skills. Therefore painting took precedence over any other activity. Because he was confident in his ability to paint, his cognitive skills allowed him to dedicate a large amount of attention to this activity. The physical and cognitive aspects of his development coupled with his emotional development created his temperament while painting. While painting his disposition was intense. He had no need to withdrawal from the task and his persistence showed through when he got the materials himself. Based on Adrians current skills/traits I believe being able to work though lifes obstacles regardless of the circumstances, is one potential long-term outcome. This was his strongest skill and Adrian was constantly focused on the task at hand. He worked through problems he faced and was able to move forward without hesitation. I also believe Adrians ability to not succumb to peer pressure will allow him to be leader in life. He did not feel the need to conform to the other children in the classroom and was perfectly content engaging in Adrians play and pursued his plan for the day.

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Concluding Thoughts (5 Points) Write a brief paragraph in which you discuss: Discuss your overall impression of this assignment. Discuss at least 4 significant concepts learned from the assignment. Provide an explanation as to how information learned will be used for future growth. Discuss how you will use the skills you have developed; and how you will improve or build upon your strengths and weaknesses. Provide an action plan with three specific goals based on this assignment Anything else you would like to share regarding the assignment. Note: You will be graded on your use of correct grammar, spelling, neatness and APA format. Having the opportunity to observe a real-life classroom in action was invaluable. Watching the interactions of preschoolers allowed me to apply all the terms and concepts I have learned from the textbook to real-life. I was able to not only apply the vocabulary terms to the examples of this specific observation, but also apply them to life experiences outside of class. Specifically when I was able to spend time with younger children during the Thanksgiving holiday. Four significant concepts I learned are centered around the childs play. There are so many aspects that can be gathered from observing childrens play. It was amazing to me that some of the most basic and important aspects of play were: Motor-skills. Having age-appropriate developed or developing motor skills whether fine or large, and being physically able to partake in activities no matter what age is key while playing. Playing allows these skills to be fine-tuned. Language. The ability to converse with those involved, to express emotions, direction, and ideas often help bring play to another level. While PRESCHOOL OBSERVATION 25

playing, children will practice vocabulary and syntax structure. Cognitive. Developing cognitively and being able to absorb and apply all of the new and many things one learns in the exciting world of preschool is important while playing because children are explorers who discover interesting and valuable ideas through their interactions with people and objects (Martin & Fabes, 2009, p.275). Social-emotional. While playing with others, social-emotional development is bound to develop. Play provides young children with the opportunity to experiment with emotions in a relatively stress-free environment (Martin & Fabes, 2009 p. 213). This is significant to play because it shows the importance of world knowledge to a growing child. Whether play is positive or negative interactions help children learn about their emotional worlds-they provide children with opportunities to gain self-control and cope with negative social interactions and feelings (Martin & Fabes, 2009, p.213). In the future I plan on using my skills every time I encounter children. I will have these domains and the scaffolding system in my head as I am interacting with children of all ages and levels. I will be able to play by using questioning techniques to find what level they are functioning at, then I will be able to help them to discover new ideas. I believe that because I am deeply passionate about children, this will allow me to explore their world at a different level. With this passion, which has for some reason or another, been subtly ingrained into my PRESCHOOL OBSERVATION 26

lifes purpose, I will be able to raise my own children with confidence. My weakness may be my past. I fear only that I will not allow this passion to flourish. That, if given the opportunity to help, I fail. Based on this assignment my action plan is to increase my knowledge of child development in order to help me in my future career choice of public service. I want to assist families in a social-service-type environment in which I will aid parents in child-rearing situations. This assignment has helped me discover the norms of child development, what to expect is typical and what is atypical in a developing 4-year-old. It definitely has shown me just how complex every aspect of a childs development is to their wellbeing.

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Reference

Martin, C., & Fabes, R. (2009). Discovering Child Development. Belmont: CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

You have done an outstanding job! Please review my comments on the attached grading rubric 100/100 A+