Observation Paper #3

Class/section: FHS 1500-001

Your Name: Katherine Herrera
Assignment: Observation 3

Background Information
Childs age: School Aged Child (6-12 years)
Fictitious name: Kayla
Location: Kaylas Home
Brief Observation of Kayla as she played in her room with her siblings and cousin
Description: and interacted with objects around her room.

Biological Development

As I observed Kayla, there were many things I noticed in regards to her biological development.
She seemed as though she was about average when it comes to her size and weight. Compared to the
cousin, who is her same age, she was about the same height and size as her. It did seem as though there
was a slight maturity difference between her and cousin, but this could be because she was in an
environment she knew and felt comfortable in. Her cousin was on a little more controlled and mature
level compared to Kayla.
It seems as though Kayla is very well developed. As she would stand and move around, she had
a good sense of balance and relationship with her environment. As they would climb the ladder on her
bed, she was well stable and had good strength as she hung on the bars. She was able to run around
without getting tired which could be sure to the fact that at her age, muscles, including the heart and
lungs, become strong. With each passing year, children run faster and exercise longer (Berger, 2014, p.
244).
Another thing that was noticed was Kayla seems to have a good grasp on her fine motor skills. A
majority of the time they were playing house and school. As they did so, she would write math problems
on the board and work on teaching her students the information. Her handwriting was well developed
and very legible. She was able to multi-task and work on multiple problems at once. It seemed as though
she has a good development in her myelination. Myelin is a fatty coating on the axons that speeds
signals between neuron this becomes pivotal when several thoughts and actions must occur in rapid
succession (Berger, 2014, p. 178). She was able to change roles, move from one idea to another, and
complete multiple tasks very quickly.

Cognitive Development

Kayla is an example of a child who has a good grasp on language. She is able to communicate
very well and express herself in very proper terms. She also is able to write and read words very well.
As they were playing school, she began reading a story to the other kids and did so with emotion and
excitement. Another thing that I noticed is what her cousin would say something that she was unfamiliar
with, she would repeat her. They began using similar phrases to express themselves. This is an example
of Kayla being the learning sponge as identified by Berger. (Berger, 2014, p. 189).
 According to Berger, Piaget called the cognition of middle childhood concrete operational
thought, characterized by concepts that enable children to use logic the 6-11-year-old school-age
child, no longer limited by egocentrism and static reasoning, performs logical operations (Berger, 2014,
p. 253). Kayla showed many signs of this development. It was seen as she worked through math
problems while they were playing school and the way she was able to problem solve to ensure all of
her siblings were happy. Another way this was seen was as she divided candy amongst her siblings, she
was able to do so evenly.
Going along with cognitive development, Kayla has a good sense of how patterns work. At one
point, they were making beaded bracelets. As they did so, they were able to make patterns with the
beads based on colors, sizes and types of beads. This shows her knowledge of logical operations.

Psychosocial Development

From what I could see, I feel as though Kayla had good development of her social/emotional
skills. Kayla was very observant and aware of others around her. She was very focused on involving
everyone in what was going on and giving each of her siblings and cousins a role. She wanted to ensure
that everyone felt important and wanted. For her age, she seemed to have very strong leadership
qualities. She seemed to take the lead and decide what would happen and her siblings would follow what
was said. She was also willing to compromise if they didnt want to accept the given role. She was
constantly engaged in cooperative play, which is [when] children play together, creating dramas, or
taking turns (Berger, 2014, p. 213).
Going along with the activities of Kayla and her sibling and cousins, Kayla was constantly
demonstrating sociodramatic play, which is when children act out various roles and plots (Berger,
2014, p. 214). The kids were doing role plays, taking on roles of people other than themselves, and
changing their emotions based on their character.
Kayla seems to have good control over her emotions. There was never a time here she was acting
out and showing negative emotions (unless it was part of the character she was playing). I did notice that
anytime something was done that she didnt agree with, she would tend to tattle to try and get someone
in trouble. It is something that her cousin (who was her same age) did a lot as well. She was also able to
help others improve their emotions. If she saw someone was sad or upset, she would work to console
them and try to help them solve any issues that were occurring.

Reference List

Berger, K. S. (2014). Invitation to the life span (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.