Naturalistic Observation of the Child's Development Progress

Purpose of Observation

The Purpose of this observation is to document Sally’s development and learning skills. The area I will be focusing on more is on physical (fine and gross) motor skills.

Background Information

Sally lives at home with her mother, father, and two older sisters. Her sisters named are Riley and Ava and there are nine and 6 years old. Sally’s mom works as a part-time Radiology nurse at Wyckoff Hospital and her dad works as a lawyer.

When I arrived at the house Sally, she was in the living watch, her favorite TV show Wonder Pets. Only Sally and her mom was home at that time, her sisters were in afterschool program and her dad was at work. Sally’s mom told me that she just started school. Her mom also stated that she loves school and didn’t even cry her first day. She has already made some friends and enjoys playing her classmates.

Behavioral Observation

The naturalistic observation took place in Sally’s house. While Sally was watching Wonder Pets, she was smiling and pointing at the TV and repeating certain frances. She looked at me few times for me to acknowledge what she was pointing to or said. I was Halloween episode of Wonder Pets and Ducky was dressed as a Bumble Bee. Then, she pointed to the television and said, “Ducky is a Bumble Bee”, “I be a Bumble for Oloween”. I asked her where her costume and she repeatly jump off the couch with a smile on her face and ran upstrais. She brought me her costume to me and showed me the zipper and wings. I asked her put it back because we don’t want to be ruined.

On her way back she picked her iPod Touch and sits back on the couch. It amazes me how she opens the iPod Touch and quickly starts flipping through the screens to find the games she wanted to play. When finishes with the iPod, I asked her if she to play with Lego’s. she ran to get the blocks and dumped them on the floor. I watched as she changed from her right to left hand as she stacked the Lego’s. she kept switching hands then putting the other hand on the floor. It seems like she trying to balance herself. She stacked about three or four blocks and then knocked them down. Sally asked me “What you making?” I answered her “I’m making a bridge,” and I asked if she wanted to help. She took a few Lego’s and put them on the bridge. Then, Sally went back to building on her own. She counted the Lego’s and said each color as well. Later that day when her sisters came from school and Leah pointed to every car and said the color also, her mom said this was a new phase. She played with the Lego’s for a while and I watched as she stacked the Lego’s with ease and knocked them down. Sometimes the Lego’s fell on their own because she stacked them too high. She laughed when they fell and looked at me with big eyes and an open mouth.

Summary

For the observation I didn’t have a specific area of development to focus on. I wanted to see if Sally would guide me to a certain area of development. When she picked up the iPod I immediately thought of fine and gross motor skills. I quickly looked around the room and saw that there were Lego’s available. The iPod and Lego’s gave me the opportunity to observe her fine motor skills. While Leah jumped on and off the couch it allowed me to observe her gross motor skills. Sally is interesting and smart child.

Her little fingers carefully slide across the iPod screen and picked which game or application she wanted to play. Watching her play with this sophisticated piece of equipment like it was a baby doll made me think about the article Canella handout and how culture affects development. Children growing up now have more opportunity to learn and absorb information in a variety of ways. Technology has opened a new pathway for learning and has added new teaching styles.

Recommendations

Sally D. is a 3 years girl with great fine and gross motor skills. She is very intelence and I can tell she interacts great with people. The recommendations I will often will if she could get less time of the television and iPod Touch. I know the world is evolving and things are changing and technology is