Child Observation: Needs and Stages of Development

A detailed Summary of Child Observation: Needs and Stages of Development

Kalia is a four year old child who has blond hair and blue eyes. She is short in stature when compared to other children her age and appears to be of average weight. Kalia initially presents herself to be a confident child who has a solid grasp on the world around her, but upon closer observation I realized that she has several insecurities when it comes to how she relates to the world.

I had not met Kalia except briefly before doing this observation assignment. She lives in my apartment complex and her mother has been an acquaintance of mine for the past few months.

One of the first things that I noted was that Kalia has an extensive vocabulary that is far more advanced than the vocabularies of other children her age. When I spoke with her she commonly used multi syllable words to make her point or to get her needs met. The adults who came into contact with her in my presence commonly commented on her intelligence and her ability to speak like an adult but I noted through the observations that Kalia related to adults much more easily than she related to peers.

On the first day Kalia was at preschool. She started the day playing in the kitchen area with two other girls about her age. I noted that Kalia seemed to get along we

When I spoke with Kalia later that day she related to me that she had lots of best friends but she only had one special best friend and her name was Sarah.

At the party when gifts were being opened most of the party guests were running around and playing. Kalia was watching intently as each gift was opened and it got closer to the time the party girl would open the one Kalia brought. When that time came Kalia looked extremely nervous. She kept glancing down and then back upo as the wrapping paper came off. When the girl saw the book that Kalia had bought her she was excited and Kalia looked visibly relieved.

In the Sunday School class she seemed unsure of how to handle the teaching by her classmates. She insulted them in return, which is typical behavior for a child of this age but contradicts the seemingly mature mindset that she usually displays.

In addition when the class was chaotic she didn't know how to react. She instead sat by herself worked on a worksheet and made eye contact with noone.

During the party it also appears in the surface that she is a confident little girl but in observing her apparent concern that she had not picked a likeable gift for the birthday girl it became obvious that Kalia is not as confident as her extensive vocabulary and willingness to converse with adults initially appears.

When her friends asked her to join them on the playground Kalia looked proud and ran off to play but was soon back with the teacher. I observed that while playing with the others it became obvious that she was far less skilled at things like jumping rope, running, climbing and other physical activities than her peers where and she quickly appeared to become saddened when she could not keep up.

ll with the girls as they prepared a pretend dinner and served it to their friends. Kalia was able to interact positively with her peers at this time. One of the girls became upset and started to cry and Kalia immediately reasoned with her to discover why she was upset and helped the girl problem solve until a solution was reached.

Some common words found in the essay are:
, children age, party kalia, birthday party, kalia looked, skills comes, solving skills comes, birthday party kalia, unsure handle, noted kalia, extensive vocabulary, vocabulary advanced, motor skills,

Approximate Word count = 1450
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous