Observation #2: Preschooler (3-5)

Marisa Maldonado
FHS 1500
July 5th, 2015

As a dance teacher, I observe a lot of different behavior. I teach

girls five to seven, so I observed a different class that is on the
opposite day as me. Now these girls are not in a classroom setting
where they might act different. They are in a fun environment where
they actually want to be there. Since the environment is different, I got
to see a lot of different behaviors and saw them grow physically even
in this one class.
Physical Development: Since these girls are dancing, they are
using a lot of gross and fine motor skills. (Berger 2010, 94) I really got
to observe how these girls learn from what there teacher was teaching
them. I had a girl in my class who has cerebral palsy. I felt like I really
saw this little girls body change just in the 30 minutes of observation.
In these 30 minutes I really saw her focusing on really trying to extend.
Now this extending wasnt because her teacher was telling her, she
would look at the girls around her, see how they were moving, and try
and fix her body to look like theirs. I notice that a lot with dancing, girls
will try and change their bodies because of how someone else is doing
it. I had another little girl who would practice and practice. Just in the
30 minutes she had a new concept down because she went in the
corner and practiced until she had the correct move down. I had
another little girl who was very timid; she used her body language to
show how uncomfortable she was with some of the moves. Than when
she figured them out, she would relax her shoulders and shine like a
star.
Cognitive Development: Dance takes a lot of thinking from
these little ones. They have to memorize a dance through out the
season. Now these girls are a little bit older than from what we read in
our textbook Invitation to the Life Span in chapter three, but they
follow the same concept. Their teacher was giving these young 4 year
olds complex sequences that they must memorize. For some, it is a
challenge but for others it is quite natural. I had a little girl whose mom
was probably more into dancing than she was, but her mother asked
the teacher while I was observing if she could record her doing the
dance so her daughter could go home and practice. She told her that
would be a great idea. I bet by next week she will come back with a
little more of a clear instruction on what to do. I had another girl, who
doesnt listen enough to memorize the routine, I believe she has
behavioral problems that I will get into later. Another little girl, had a
lot of issues memorizing the dance. As the teacher was going over the
dance, I really noticed how big of a struggle she was having. I can see
that there has been a corruption in her toddler memory. She would get
very confused with the moves and become very angry than frustration.
I see these girls grow cognitively, but this observation makes me
realize the difference in development between these little girlies.
(Berger 2010, 111)

Social/Emotional Development: This area of development is

something that is struggle with. I see these little girls socialize and
sometimes it just makes me laugh. I noticed that how these girls act
and behave really has an affect of the other girls and the teacher as
well. I had this one little nugget that was developmentally behind the
rest of my class. Most of the girls were four and I had a few five year
olds but this little girl was included in the five-year-old category. She
could speak very well, she still slurred her words together and it really
seemed like she couldnt form complete sentences. I felt like she used
holophrases even at the age of five. (Berger 2010, 115) She would
throw tantrums and become very angry when she didnt get her way.
She showed signs of separation anxiety when her mom dropped her
off. She had a very difficult personality according to the New York
Longitudinal Study. (Berger 2010, 135). I also had very sweet and
kindhearted little girls who loved everyone. They were also so helpful
to their classmates and to their teacher. I also had those little bossy
girls. They loved talking about themselves and being the teachers
pet. Besides all their different personalities, they are all sweet girls
who will be so successful in their future. It was very informational to
observe this dance class. I learned so much from them and it will be so
helpful to go back to my dance class and really observe their different
behaviors.
Work Cited

Berger, Kathleen Stassen. Invitation to the Life Span. New York: Worth,
2010.