Evaluating Language and Social-Emotional Development in Kindergarteners

Language and Social/Emotional Development Observation Paper Name Institutional Affiliation Course name Instructor’s name Assignment due date Language and Social/Emotional Development Observation Paper Purpose of the Study The observation study provides an assessment of the language and social/emotional development of a child to facilitate support and intervention from her teacher and caregivers. The study involved the observation of the child using various techniques to determine her current state of development and offer insights on potential support systems. By evaluating the child’s performance and behavior in the classroom and interaction with peers, the study provides an overview of her ability to communicate her needs and feelings (Alharbi, 2022). Language development plays an important role in a child’s wellbeing, interaction with peers, and overall growth from a young age. Through the ability to communicate and process information, children learn to acquire and process information from their social environment. It is a fundamental domain in learning that affects the child’s participation in classroom activities and the ability to express their feelings clearly to other people. On the other hand, social/emotional development during early childhood years facilitates the development of healthy child and adult relationships. The domain affects how children play with their peers and gradually develop independence from their teachers and parents. The current study evaluates the language and social/emotional development of a child in line with theories of childhood development and the findings will inform teachers and parents on how to best provide support for their child. Child Introduction The study is for a 61 month old child called Lisa (name changed for the purpose of the study) and was conducted in her kindergarten classroom and school environment. The location of the observation study was in a suburban public school that is close to the child’s family home. Lisa is female, white, and lives with her two parents and ten-year old brother. She does not have any physical or emotional development challenges and her parents reported that she is generally an active child at home. Lisa and other members of her family speak only English at home and both of her parents reported that they provide their children with school work support at home. She is able to communicate with full sentences at home when interacting with her parents and brother. Lisa’s parents organize supervised play dates with the child’s friends at their home and at the friends’ home. Observation Techniques During an observation study for a child, the techniques of choice should provide sufficient information to determine their progress and potential support systems. The current study used anecdotal notes, the 60-month development checklist, and a frequency table to collect data during the observation period. The anecdotal notes list important moments during the study when the Lisa demonstrated her language and social/emotional skills. They include instances that the child’s interaction with peers, behavior, and participation in learning and play activities demonstrated her level of development in the domains of interest. The notes list the child’s ability to complete tasks and shows the level of support she needed from her teacher and peers. On the other hand, the developmental milestone checklist provides the percentage of the goals the child had achieved compared to expectations for a five-year-old child (Alharbi, 2022). The frequency count provides a count of the instances that Lisa engaged in activities and behavior that demonstrated language and social/emotional development. Each of the techniques used in this study provide information on the development of the child to facilitate analysis on her language development and social/emotional growth at the time of the study. Developmental Analysis Language Development Language development is an important part of learning during early childhood years since it affects how children receive and process information. Determining the level of development in this domain shows the potential support systems a teacher or parent can provide a child to facilitate learning and general growth. Additionally, language defines how effectively a child participate in individual and group learning activities in the classroom. Children with language development challenges may be reluctant to volunteer in classroom tasks and be silent during small group activities (Rivero et al., 2023). Teachers should identify the role of language development in a child’s overall performance to determine the need for individualized support in the classroom. Children who achieve optimal language development during early childhood are able to communicate their needs and receive the support they needs from their teachers. Aspects of language for a five-year-old child include vocabulary use, sentence structure, grammar, listening, communication, and literary skills (Alharbi, 2022). The observation study showed that Lisa’s l