Child Observation
Introduction
The child whom I observed is known as Tracy and she was born in 6/27/2007. The child is aged 9years 2months. We interacted together with the child in a favorable environment for about 2 hours. The actual observation was done on 20th march 2017 and it was a form of narrative, and I was able to understand the cognitive, physical and emotional development of the child. The relationship with the child was created by the ‘Early Childhood Assessment’ and this tool assisted in gathering information on child’s development. I used an informal method of child assessment and conducted natural observation. This process fostered the relationship and learned the social-emotional, cognitive and physical development of the child.
The child’s behavior
First and foremost, the child was dressed and it seems like she was able to differentiate between clothes to put in social situations and while she is at home. I was impressed by the child’s behavior and how she utilized her social interaction skills. The child is respectful and she understands the basic manners while interaction wills an adult. Actually, the child is well-mannered as she greeted with respect and she could not interrupt while talking. The child is also appreciative as she could show gratitude for spending time together. The child appeared well-cared and this is evidence from her social competence. This means that the child appeared to have been well interacted with parents and other people in social setting. The child has self-confidence and while in the new environment, she was not distressed. This is an indication that both parental and nonparental care influenced a positive development and helped the child to manage challenges in social setting. In the area of age and development skills of the child, she seems to be physically active and she is active in learning. Through interaction, I learnt that the child considers things in concrete terms and her self-esteem and self-worth changes with respect to the situation or surroundings.
Focusing on Erikson's stages of development, this child is in the fourth stage of psychosocial development which is known as industry vs. Inferiority. According to Erikson, this child has a sense of industry through incorporating new skills and knowledge in life. During observation, I learnt that this child has the ability to learn and she develops competence and sense of worth through having a strong relationship with adults. In addition, the child has developed initiatives and so the only thing remaining is encouragement and support so that she can achieve her goals. For example, the child said that she would like to become a doctor. I learnt that if this child is reinforced, she will develop a sense of pride in fulfilling her accomplishments and also for achieving things which are valued by the society. However, if the child is not encouraged, there is a possibility that she will have sense of inferiority and lack the ability to achieve her goals.
Freud asserts that there are series of stages in child development and every child must pass through these stages and nurturing and parenting should support every stage. Freud developed a psychosexual theory which explained the personality development. Accordingly, this child is in the fourth stage of development which is known as the latency stage. During observation, I learnt that the child has developed ego and superego and she is more concerned with being connected with friends in social setting. Though she has sexual energy, she has a low libido interests. She is capable of developing communication skills by interaction will peer groups. For example, she said that his best friend Antonios and they interacts together in hobbies, school work and more. She is more interested in developing moral behaviors which will be accepted by the society.
According to Piaget, there are four critical stages which children pass through in their cognitive development. These stages help them explore and understand the world. Focusing on the four different stages, I can say that the child is in the third stages of cognitive development which is known as the concrete operational stage. The reason for saying that the child is in this stage is because, during observation I observed that she has the ability to think logically. Though she thinks logically, she does not use hypothetical thinking but instead she use concrete events in solving a problem. In other words, she uses inductive reasoning and finds it difficult to explain her logical thinking. For example, I asked whether it is good to steal drugs from a chemist and take them to their sick parent who has financial problems and the child said yes but could not offer a good reason. This means that the child view things through actual events but lacks common sense to interpret the answer.
Physical development
First, this child is developing physically in terms of height, weight and so forth. For example, there are signs of breasts; she is growing taller and wider. Through observation, I have noted that the child is uncomfortable with physiological differences and that is why she requires peer interaction and understand the physical changes. The child has sensory development and her sensory system is matured. For example, the child uses her senses to explore the world. Briefly, the child has fully developed her processing skills and she is able to respond to sensory information. She has self-regulation and through understanding the sensory information, she understands the world and herself as well. Child has a high level of sensitivity to stimulation due to her sensory input. She has strong reactions to a setting which is highly stimulating. In area of sensorimotor coordination, the child has sensory and motor systems which are well developed. She is well coordinated and she poses motor activities such as bilateral coordination, dominance, hand-eye coordination and so forth. The child has also developed fine motor skills in that I observed a clear handwriting and great in artwork. Since the child is active, fine motor coordination ahs influenced by commitment of child in different activities.
Emotional Development
First and foremost, the child’s facial expressions speak more than words. In other words, the child is happy, active and has a sense of belonging. During the observation, I noticed that the child like being involved with adults. What I noticed is substitutions as the child could maintain eye contact and I could captor a vivid message which she is trying to convey. The child expressed joy and it is obvious that the child is joyful when interaction with people. The quality of conversation clearly winds up that the child developed a self-worth and sense of responsibility through interaction with an adult. In actual fact, I felt invigorated due to the strong interaction with the child. Since I had positive emotions while interacting with child, my conversation and observation as well was influenced and it was effective. The child was active and contributed to the conversation and made it vivacious.
Relationship/attachment
During the observation, the child formed a strong relationship. She achieved this through developing a sense of ease and interest, happiness and contentment. Other point is that the child is adventurous as she really enjoyed having a good time with an adult. Actually, the child had the willingness to learn new things and she has high endeavor in social interaction. She adores and felt comfortable beings in presence of an adult. The most interesting thing is that the child could maintain eye contact and listened carefully so that she can make comments to show that she is able to make logical reasoning. During observation, I noticed that the child treat others in a positive manner as she is loving and like interacting with peer groups or else she like being involved in social setting. Since the child is demonstrative, other people interacting with this child. I personally had a great time with the child and I was invigorated. Since I was cooperative, cheerful, playful and affectionate, I belief that these personality traits influenced the child in making a strong relationship.
Child’s interaction with the setting
From the way the child interacts with the setting, I can say that the child has fully developed and has passed through the stages of development. For example, the child could not misbehave or go to toilet without permission. In addition, she could not touch things on the table without asking for permission. The child has a positive interaction with the setting in that she could also ask questions and this is an indication that she likes trying new things. Though she was active, she waited until she was told to do something. I also understood the child’s inner life and learnt that the child is curious. She is interested in learning new things. The child likes asking many questions and she could maintain eye contact to get everything. I can say that her curiosity strengthened the relationship and helped the child overcome the anxiety. In addition, curiosity created happiness and urge to learn new things.
Conclusion
Assessment on child development is very important as I was able to gain critical information on child’s development. Through observation, I understood the stage of development which the child aged 9years 2months was in as well as her cognitive, emotional and physical development. The child has developed cognitive skills and she is able to reason, write and read. She has also developed physically in that weight, height and other physical changes are observed. She has developed social-emotional skills and emotional regulations and these skills help her to adopt the culture of different social settings. The child is brave, pays attention and she shows humor and civility. She observation concludes that the child is at three stages of development namely; industry vs. Inferiority, latency stage and concrete operational stage.
