Section 1

My observations were done here at Richard Daley Child Development

Center in the West Room. There are two teachers, Ms. Ortega and Ms. Nancy

and they are so great with the children. As I was observing on September 14,

2016, I was able to look at the classroom throughout the glass windows. The

classroom is very warm and inviting for children and families. Childrens work

is display throughout the class to their eye level and an information center

for parents which is very important. The classroom is licensed to serve 20

children, and the age range is 3 years old- 5 years old. They have different

areas such as an art, writing, literacy, science block. My favorite part of the

classroom is the dramatic area, this area is good for children to take roles

and to pretend play with the usage different props and toys. They are able to

develop their language and social skills, while playing in the dramatic area.

Children are in different areas water table, sand table which I cant complain

because I used to play that too.

I noticed a boy with short hair about 45 inches tall and about 45

pounds. He has a medium tan skin tone and brownish eyes. It seems he has

a serious facial expression. As I kept observing I noticed that he was playing

with the traffic sign toys and thats when I decided to observed him for this

assignment. At that time, I was studying the signs myself to get my drivers

license and I thought it was a coincidence. As I continue to observe, I noticed

he went over to play with the blocks and played with small cars toys. He

seemed really happy to be there. Kevin is raised by his two parents and both

currently work. This is the first time Kevin is in a child care setting and he has

one sibling. A 6 year old sister who is in Kindergarten, which means there
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about two years apart. Kevin is only 4 years old and at the beginning I

thought he was 3 years old. Kevin is a bilingual student, he speaks Spanish

and does understand English. At home the majority of the language they use

is Spanish. He always wears neutral colors and loves superheroes which a lot

of young boys do.

Section 2

Through the semester, I continue to observe Kevin and I was able to

learn more about him and his strengths as a four year old child in the West

Room. Kevin is a very independent, shy and quite child. He loves to plays in

the farm house, and in the block area. Every time he is dropped off, he is

ready to start his day. He dont throw any fits when mom leaves or when he

dont get his way. On September 26, 2016, Kevin was dropped off by mom

and she gave him a kiss and a big hug. Kevin felt great afterwards, he kept

smiling. He prefers to play alone and wouldnt mind parallel playing with

others. One example that proves this, September 26, 2016, he approached

children and showed them a picture of an animal. However, a little kid

wanted to play with him, but Kevin ignore him.

According to Mrs. Ortega, Kevin uses his large motor really good. He

loves to run and play in the slides when they go outside. Kevin has a routine,

for the most part he plays in the same area daily and here and there might

play in different ones. Kevin is really good at keeping calm in difficult

situations. One particular day there was a tornado drill and he dealt with it

with no problems, some of the children were nervous, but he seemed

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relaxed. After that I left since the children werent coming back till further

notice.

Kevin is a child who uses his fine motors realty well, On September he

was using plastic tangs to pick up small toys from a box container. On

October 24, 2016, the children were eating bagels (egg, cheese, ham) milk,

mandarins. Kevin was very happy to be there and he kept on smiling. He

went over the farm house and he actually got a haircut. He looked really nice

and well presented. They had a visitor who was doing math activities with

the children. During circle time, Ms. Nancy asked Kevin what lives in a tree,

and Kevin said a monkey. I believed that Kevin said a monkey since the rest

of the children were saying the same thing.

Kevin is aware of how to keep friends which was asked during circle

time and his responds was No pelean, which means no fighting. This shows

that Kevin is able to show emotion towards being at school and able to give

one-single word answers. As the time passed by the children were playing a

math game. Kevin was counting cars and putting a number in each one. This

is showing cognitive skills of Kevin he is able to place objects in a series and

he understands the concept of counting.

Section 3

Kevin is a child that I believed that he needs a lot of guidance from the

teachers and his parents. He is a 4 year old child, who has a hard time

socializing with other children and he is still developing his language and

thats something that he needs to improve. Majority of the time I have been

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observing Kevin, I would say he does participate some activities, but always

seems to get distracted. Kevin at the beginning couldnt share toys with

others and now he does. He has difficulty managing his feelings, he is

somewhat aggressive at times. Kevin needs to participate in conversations

with teachers and students, to tell stories to others, and to ask questions.

The words he uses arent understandable when he expresses himself or

respond to questions and phrases.

As I gather Kevins classwork, I noticed that he can only count up to 6

and according to Mrs. Ortega he has a hard time sorting objects by shape

and colors. I had a conversation with Mrs. Ortega one day and she explained

how she was doing assessments with the class, she had asked Kevin to say

the colors of the objects and the response was that they were green. He

needs more help identify the colors and object names.

On October 5, 2016, Kevin was wearing a superman shirt and he was

really hungry. That day the children were eating pancakes, milk and oranges.

He was playing in the farm house and with his car toys too. As I observe,

Kevin was fighting with a little girl. He didnt want to share his toys at all with

her.

Additionally, on November 7, 2016 Ms. Nancy was not there and there

was a substitute teacher named Mr. Tommy. The classroom was out of

control, children were acting out and not following the classroom rules. I was

able to notice several children fighting for the toys and pushing each other.

Kevin was at school really early and I thought that maybe mom was in a
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hurry. It turned out that Mrs. Ortega had asked mom to come in early and

discuss some issues about Kevin. She mentioned that Kevin is doing okay,

but her main concern is that Kevin needs help speaking. He has a hard time

saying some words and that mom agreed. The mom used an example with

the phrase a la fiesta which means to the party. She said that Kevin is

using it the wrong way to express his thoughts about a party they had over

the weekend.

Mrs. Ortega addressed the example and agreed with her. She

suggested that she will give her a worksheet of words that she can practice

at home with Kevin. Then something happen that Ive been wanting to hear,

speech therapy. Mrs. Ortega talk to mom about how she thinks this will help

Kevin, she will refer Kevin to a specialist and take it from there. The mothers

expression was a bit nervous, but she seemed relief about the problem.

Despite the areas that Kevin need helped in, he is a bright and

intelligent child who wants to learn. I created a lesson plan that is based on

something he loves to play with, which is the farm house. This lesson plan

includes activities that will help him with his cognitive, language, social and

emotional skills. I made sure to use books that he will enjoyed and I picked

out two books that were in Spanish. The teachers are doing their part too,

spending more time with him and reminding him to participate with other

children. Another thing will be the parents, its understandable that both

work they just need to find a time that is given to Kevin. They can make

more conversations with Kevin while he is being taken to school, when he

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gets ready for dinner he can help mom out. Making small changes at home

will make a difference in Kevins development especially when he will attend

Kindergarten in the upcoming year.

According to beliefs and theories that were discovered Kevin fits into

those categories. For example, Vygotsky belief that social interactions of

children are important. He created the term zone of proximal developmental,

to refer to the conditions thought which childrens comprehension is

furthered as a result of social interactions (Janince J. Beaty 105). This is

something that Kevin needs help in, he has to get used of socializing with

other children. Kevin is a child who fits into the onlook behavior and solitary

independent play. Kevin is in the Preoperational Stage (Ages 2-7), according

to Piagets Stages of Cognitive Development.

In others words, Kevin still has time to be guided and help into the right

direction.

In conclusion, I enjoyed observing a child for this course it helped me

understand the development of a 4 year old child. I was able to find both

strengths and weakens in all the areas of development. Children are always

curious about different subjects and its up to teachers and parents to find

that to make it easier to teach a child and give him the support he/she

needs. Kevin is a child that will improve his language, cognitive and social

skills. I see him making new friends and taking part into group conversations

and always asking questions.

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