Luz Renteria Gomez

Observation of Social Development

ED 231

Childs Name: Will

Age in Years & Months: 5 years old, 6 months (I believe his birthday is Aug 2008)

Date: The day I am using for this observation was on 2/20/14

Complete the observation in the following way. Watch the child without interacting for the first 10 minutes. It is certainly helpful if the child is interacting
with another child during this observation. After the first 10 minutes, you may interact with the child for the remaining 10 minutes. You will be focusing on
social development. Be aware of using detail and looking objectively. Record your observation notes as you observe.
When you have FINISHED, use the list below to locate indicators of development that match your observations. After locating the appropriate indicators, record
each indicator in the first column. Use the 2nd column to record the observation that provides evidence of each indicator. It is very likely you will have more than
one observation that provides evidence of an indicator. In the 3rd column, record your impressions of the childs interactions.
Your goal is to use your observations as evidence of the indicators of social growth.
Developmental Indicators

Observation Evidence
Be sure to record all observations that support each indicator.

Expresses curiosity about a new adult in

the classroom

When I first arrived to do my observation, all of the kids were still

napping. It wasnt until about ten minutes after my arrival that Will
started to stir in his sleeping bag. He woke up because of the louder
kids that were already awake.
He laid in his sleeping bag for a while after waking up and looked
around. He noticed me and just watched me for a minute before
getting off of his sleeping bag and heading straight for a table full of
kids.
While Will was playing at the table with the magnatiles, he would
also turn around to look at me a lot. When I waved hello, he just
turned back around to what he was doing.

Describe how your observations

relate to Social skills, Socialization,
and Social responsibility, as
described in Chapter 14 of your
Kostelnik text. Make sure to
address all three.

Meeting new people is an

important part of life and by
showing interest in new people
coming into his environment,
Will is showing a certain part of
his social skills.
This indicator shows how Will is
beginning to learn how to interact
with new people.

Luz Renteria Gomez

Later, when I sat next to him, and asked him questions, he answered
me with short sentences. When I asked what he was making, he just
told me, a rocketship. When I asked what for, he just told me, I
dont know yet.
Even though he was not fully into conversing with me, he did aske
me about my note taking and what it was for. When I responded that
it was homework, he just said, oh and continued building with his
tiles.
Asks politely to borrow materials
Says please and thank you

When Will got to the table with the three other boys, he
automatically picked out some magnatile pieces to play with. He
began making a pyramid shape right away with the triagles he had
picked out. He looked around for a square piece for his base but
couldnt find one.
He turned to the kid next to him and asked him for a piece, Can I
have that piece? I need it for my house When the kid said no, Will
moved around to the next kid at the table and asked him if he could
borrow a piece, Brayden, can I use one of your square pieces
please? I need it for my house.
When he got the piece, he took it and went back to his own area.
He also asked for pieces a few more times throughout the time that
they played with the tiles. _____, when youre done with those
pieces, can I use them? please? If no one responded to his question,
he continued asking until someone responded with either a yes or a
no.

Interacts with adults in the school who

are not in the classroom
Interacts easily with familiar adults

Will did that in a few other contexts as well. While he was playing
with the tiles, one of the daycare workers was in the room since
Diana was still on her break. Will was telling her about his batman
glasses that he had at home. If for whatever reason Nicole had
looked elsewhere or answered another kids question, Will would
repeat what he said until she responded to it. Other than that, he
talked to her just fine. He spoke in fluent sentences and was very
expressive when he got excited about something. The other times I
have seen him, Will has been pretty quiet, but while talking to
Nicole about his batman glasses, his voice was heard over the other
kids.

Asking politerly to borrow tings

or saying please and thank you
are both important parts of
learning socialization and social
responsibility.
Becoming a part of our society
means being able to interact with
people within these communities.
To do so, there is a set system that
includes having manners and
asking politely if you want things
rather than just taking them. By
showing these indicators, it shows
that Will is well on his way to
being a polite and empathetic
member of society.

Luz Renteria Gomez

Interacts easily with one or more
children

While Will was playing with his tiles, he was mostly building by
himself. If he made a rocket ship, he would fly it over to where
another kid was playing and they played together for about a minute
before Will decided to fly the rocketship back to his area and
create something new.
Also, while he was working with his tiles, Will would randomly
start laughing at something Brayden said or would comment on
what the others were talking about.
Even though it seemed like he wasnt paying much attention to
them, Will would randomly start talking to the other kids or laugh at
something they said, then tell me or Nicole ______ is funny

Helps clean up, even in areas where

he/she did not play
Follows directions

After some time building, breaking down, and rebuilding his own
things, Will asked Dianawho had returned from her breakwhere
the magnatiles went. After Diana said that they went in the white
bucket, Will threw his tiles into the bucket. He told his friends,
guysput your mangatiles in the white bucket, as he was walking
around the table.

Takes part in group activities

He walked over to a small pile of colorful linking people, picked

one out, and walked over to the other three boys that were playing
on a large magnatile creation and asked, Can I play with you?
When oen of the boys said yeah, Will put his linking person on a
large triangle that was on a downward slope and said, wheee as he
slid it down the slide.
One of the boys told him that the traigle wasnt a slide, so Will
moved his piece into the inside of the building and accidentally
broke one of the pieces inside. When he got told that he couldnt go
inside the building anymore, Will continued trying to fix the piece
hed taken apart. He fixed it, then asked, Is that how it goed?
Will continued to play with the other boys and at one point, one of
the boys told Will that he couldnt go into a certain tower because it
was only for fly people. He repeated, I'm a fly people until he
got a response from Gabriel.

Plays cooperatively with a group of

children
Follows suggestions made by friends
Wants to please

Social SkillsWill is learning to

create relationships with one
person closely as well as with a
whoel group of people.

This indicator is very closely

related to Socialization. Children
are continuously learning what
the rules are and how to act with
accordance to them.

Luz Renteria Gomez

After playing with the boys for a little longer, Will gathered his
pieces together again and went back to his own space to play with
the tiles. He once again asked all the boys if he could have tiles to
build his own thing because they had a lot of them. He counted out
how many pieces he needed and which kind he needed before he
asked them.
He got a few more pieces and improvised on what he was going to
do. Ill just change it a little
On my way out, it was clean up time and before I left, I turned
around to see Will putting his pieces and other peoples pieces in the
bucket and singing, Tiles in the white box, White box, white box,
white box.

Luz Renteria Gomez

Social Development Indicators

Age 3
Cooperates/plays with other children
Interacts with one or more children
Plays side-by side with other children
Talks with other children
Begins to share toys with other children
Interacts with familiar adults
Greets teacher in the morning
Responds to questions asked by teachers
Tells adults about events that happened at home
Pays attention to class signals
Plays group games with adult help
Shares with the class
Shows empathy and caring for others
Seeka adult help when needed to resolve conflicts
Age 4
Wants to please
Interacts easily with familiar adults
Responds when adults say hello
Asks for attention by raising hand
Listens to and talks with adults
Interacts easily with one or more children
Prefers to be with friends
Works cooperatively with another child
Begins to make decisions with other children
Notices when a friend needs help
Recognizes when someone is absent and asks about that child
Suggests silly and funny ideas
Plays simple games
Shows empathy and caring for others
Seeks adult help when needed to resolve conflicts

Age 5
Expresses curiosity about a new adult in the classroom
Follows directions
Interacts with adults in the school who are not in the classroom
Takes part in group activities
Able to be part of an audience
Helps clean up, even in areas where he/she did not play
Follows rules for simple games
Waits for turn
Wants to please
Interacts easily with familiar adults
Prefers to be with friends
Interacts easily with one or more children
Plays cooperatively with a group of children
Follows suggestions made by friends
Asks politely to borrow materials
Says please and thank you
Helps peers
Shows empathy and caring for others
Seeks adult help when needed to resolve conflicts