Observation Project

Part 1: Observing infants and toddlers, 3 to 36 months old

Observing this toddler has taught me many things. I was able to learn about the different forms of child development and what it looks like. One of the major forms of child development is physical. The child experiences major child development during the first two years of life. During this time the child experiences gross-motor development. The skills obtained from these developments are the ability to run, jump, catch etc. During the observation of the infant I was able to witness some of these developments. For example over the course of my observation I noticed the infant had significantly improved his ability to stand up and sit down on his own. He was struggling when the observation but seemingly got more comfortable doing it over and over again. The walking stared to become natural and more second nature however it was awkward and difficult when the infant just started. The infant also became more comfortable gripping and grasping objects. Another form of development observed was cognitive development.

This development includes the ability to think rhetorically and the ability to communicate with others. The child made significant development in this field he was able to learn more words and express his thoughts in an understanding manner. The infant’s ability to play and interact with other children has increased. His memory has increased and is able to remember certain things over time his able to memorize more things and can recognize familiar faces. The final form of physical development is social-emotional development. This stage involves dealing with other children and being able to pay attention to adult figures. The infant is able to obey the adults and other persons in charge. They also become more comfortable at expressing their emotions. The child is also able to learn empathy and the feelings of the people around them. During the observation the infant became more comfortable sharing his toys with the children who did not have any. This also helped the child put himself in the shoes of other and understand their point of view, although the child may not realize but he feels for the child who does not have any toys to play with.

The infant was also able to develop problem-solving skills between them for example instead of snatching the toys from one another they would ask for turns and share the toy. The infant also realizes how his emotions affect other for example if he smiles than adults or other child tend to do the same. This causes the infant to smile more often trying to positive influence everyone around them. The child demonstrates both the physical and cognitive development when explain a situation using his hands as a demonstration. This shows the child’s ability to explain a story yet also be able to use his hands an illustration to better explain what happened in that situation. This demonstrates the motor skills to make controlled movements with his hands but also displays his cognitive and language skills. This becomes much easier over time because the child soon becomes more comfortable with his body.

This observation taught me many things about the early child that I had no prior knowledge about. I did not realize that so much was happening in a small amount of time and especially at such a young age. This was a really great learning experience because I was able to see life from a child’s and why they do certain things and to reinforce positive behavior in them and how that can help their development in the future and how they interact with other people. However I do wish I had more time to observe the infant so I could have learned more about the development process. However this was a great experiment and would love to repeat it sometime in the future.

Part 2: Observing children, 3 to 5 years old

The observation of the preschool was a great experience. During the preschool years there are many different forms of development taking place one of the most visible is the physical changes. During this time child begins to lose most of its baby fat. The arms and legs become longer and muscle mass begins to form. The brain also begins to develop during these ages. The development of the child’s brain allows them to better understand situations and also use their cognitive abilities. They also learn the ability to imitate others movements, practice a behavior, and are now able to form mental images. They are also able to draw, write, throw, skip, hop, dance etc. The motor skills is definite increased during the time of observation the child progressively became more comfortably adjusted partaking in movement related activities. However the biggest difference was the in physical ability was the difference in fine motor skills for example the ability to tie a shoe is significantly harder for a 3 year old than a 5 year old.

This is because the fine motor skills take longer to develop than the most of the other skills. Cognitive development is another form of development experienced by this child. The children during this age having a yearning for knowledge and want to know about the world around them. They also have an increased ability to understand, explain, and predict situations. The operational abilities increased during this stage of development as well. During the observation the infant’s ability to solve math problems had increased as he began to understand it and was comfortable doing it. Although they have many developments in their cognitive abilities there are also some limitations. The most substantial limitation is egocentrism which the inability to view a situation from another person’s point of view. It is always present but more so here than in other stages of development. They learn how to take in a different perspective form their own but it requires a little more time than other limitations.

Other imitations include classification and serial ordering which will require some extra time for them to comprehend. They also cannot comprehend conservation. Conservation meaning that the properties remain the same but the appearance changes. If the appearance changes even if the properties are the same amount the child would assume that the item that appears larger is in fact the larger. The observation proved that these limitations were true and decelerated the child’s development. However over time the infant continued to improve on his limitations and was able to become more considerate and understand that changing appearance does not necessarily change the amount. Some other aspects of cognitive development that are developed during this preschool stage are the abilities to communicate and the child’s memory. The child is able to retain more information from people to place to things. Their communication skills also increase during this time and are able to from full sentences.

However they do continue to struggle from time to time. Some children are even to speak multiple languages. The observation demonstrated the child’s improvement in these area some faster than others. The child also experiences a social-emotional development. The child begins to obtain new knowledge about the world around him for example he becomes more aware of race, gender, and different personalities. Although children are very egocentric at this age they are still able to develop empathy and relate to others. The cognitive development and social development overlap because the child is increasing capable of communicating with his peers and the people around him. He is able to express his thoughts in a clearer way and are able to relate to other people in a conversation. The observation taught me a lot of how the child thinks and what goes through their mind and why they act the way they do.