1.

1 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of physical, social, intellectual

development and characteristics of students and how these may affect
learning.

K.D 5 years old in May 2014

Physically, socially and intellectually K.D is at the expected standard for her age,
according to Developmental Milestones (n.d.). During my time at the McArthur Park
Kindergarten K.D has demonstrated her ability to feed and toilet herself, cut various
shapes as required and hold a texta/pencil in the correct manner to allow herself to write
her name. K.D has shown her strong physical development in her skipping during Mrs.
Walkers visits and running, jumping Etc during her play. Also during play, K.D has
demonstrated her love for playing with other children and is able to engage them with her
imaginative/pretend play, such as playing babies/families with C.S. K.D was able to
explain what character she was going to be (sister) and who she suggested C.D should be
(brother) to re-enact the concept she obviously had in her mind. During the particular play
mentioned, K.D has demonstrated her enforcement of gender-role norms. I have viewed
K.Ds empathy but also happiness towards/for other students through her facial
expression and keen interest in others achievements such as C.Ds dancing. Intellectually,
K.D is displaying a keen interest in literacy as she copies letters and begins to write
notes to her family and friends. Her ability to recall events and retell stories has been
evident in her retelling of Where the Wild Things Are. Rhyming words and syllable
recognition has been demonstrated along with her ability to problem solve as required.
K.D touches objects to assist with her counting and does so in a confident manner. K.D
conducts herself in a quiet and confident way during most of her time at Kindy. She is
able to initiate conversation with the teachers and her peers and does so in a respectful
manner.

As K.D is developing physically, socially and intellectually at the expected standard, I

do not see how these developmental aspects could disturb her learning. On a
characteristic point of view, I see this as the only potential disruption for her learning as
she engages with play or conversation with her close friends, T.G and C.S, during times
when the teacher is providing content and/or instruction. K.Ds happy and social
personality does lead her down the wrong path at times as she gets caught up in the
wrong types of play/actions of her friends.

D.S- 5 years old in August 2014

During my time at the McArthur Park Kindergarten I have seen D.S struggle to meet the
physical, social and intellectual milestones required for a child who will be transitioning
to school soon. According to Developmental Milestones (n.d.) for a child aged 3-5 the
following should be viewed by now.
Self-toileting
Independent use of scissors
Exhibits hand preference
Hold pencil/text between thumb and first 2 fingers
Although D.S has been diagnosed with autism, the classification of highly functioning does
alter the expectation of his behaviour from other children with autism. D.S does engage in
play with other children, although not pretend play, as expected with an autistic child, he
will show affection to his mum and he is verbal in his communication. D.S lives in alternative
care and studies show children in this type of care perform at a below average range and
below their capacity. This may or may not be the case with D.S but it does need to be

will show affection to his mum and he is verbal in his communication. D.S lives in alternative
care and studies show children in this type of care perform at a below average range and
below their capacity. This may or may not be the case with D.S but it does need to be
considered with the information below.
D.S has required assistance for toileting on numerous occasions and is yet to display his
ability to use a pencil to write his name. D.S is requiring much assistance to use scissors for
basic cutting, such as a straight line. Socially, D.S enjoys playing with his friends, including
indoor with the trucks and outdoors in the sandpit or in the cubby house. He is able to
contribute to the play in a positive manner and provide input for the direction. The concern
for D.Ss enjoyment in play is if the play changes in a manner he disagrees with or a child
who he does not wish to enter the play does so. I have heard D.S make comments such as
girls cannot play with us and no, you cannot play here as they attempt to enter his play.
The negotiation of his terms rarely end without teacher intervention. He is unable to label
his emotions and finds himself confused in how he is feeling in comparison to what he is
saying. Quite often Dexter will say sorry Im too tired or sorry I feel a bit too sick in the
tummy as a strategy to get out of following the teachers direction but can then get up and go
play in his desired activity. Intellectually, D.S has demonstrated an ability to count and retell.
For our focus story, Where the Wild Things Are, D.S could recall many lines from the book
and retold many parts in great detail. His engagement in make believe play, drawing or
categorising for example has not really been evident during my time at McArthur Park,
demonstrating a lack of reaching some milestone according to the book, Child Development
(Berk, 2013). Although, it is expected of a child with autism not to engage in make believe
play.
D.Ss character is quite complex to define and I have to assume that is because of his autism.
D.S is often happy and excited to see his friends and family but can be quite moody. He can
become quite angry and/or frustrated quite quickly at teachers when he is asked to do things
that he either does not want to, such as eating fruit, or things that interrupt his play.
In my opinion, D.Ss physical and social development is what is and will affect his learning
now and as he starts school. His inability to hold scissors and pencils in the correct manner is
a reflection of him not doing what he does not want to do. Teachers continually try to engage
D.S in activities that will assist the development of his fine motor skills but because he prefers
to be in the sandpit or playing trucks he struggles to persist with these activities for an
extended period. Toileting for D.S takes a great deal of time as most often this involves
changing his clothes. The issues D.S has been having with constipation and medication has
not helped this issue as it is hard for him to understand what his body needs to do and when.
As children learn through play and through interactions with other people I believe D.S is
limiting his potential learning opportunities by only playing with certain children and certain
sexes. His characteristics are also affecting his learning as the strategies he has developed for
getting out of tasks he does not wish to participate in is limiting his potential learning and
understanding of instruction.