Observing Physical & Cognitive Milestones in 5-Year-Old Lisa

Abstract

Course name Instructor’s name Assignment due date Physical and Cognitive Development Observation Paper Introduction Observation research on development provides information on how children successfully navigate each stage of development and the need for intervention to facilitate the achievement of desired milestones. Studies can demonstrate areas of physical and cognitive development in which a child has portrayed delays and inform teachers, parents, and caregivers on how to provide additional support. The current observation paper is for a child named Lisa (name changed) who was 61 months old at the beginning of the observation. It was conducted in the child’s kindergarten classroom and during field activities with the permission of the school administrator and her teacher. Lisa is female, white, and does not have any physical or cognitive disorder. She is the second and las child in her family and lives with her older brother and parents in their home. Her brother is ten years old and she did not present any significant health issue from birth that could affect her physical or cognitive development. Lisa and the members of her family speak English as the primary and only language both at home and outside their home. The observation study results demonstrated that Lisa had achieved most of the physical and cognitive developmental milestones for a child aged 60 months. She was able to complete math and language tests with some assistance from her teacher and demonstrated emotional connections with the students at her classroom. Lisa was active in class activities and in field tasks where she interacted with her peers and teacher with little individual supervision. Observation Techniques During an observational study of the development of a child, the techniques a researcher uses determines the kind of data they collect and the information provided by the research. One of the methods used to observe the child in this study was recording anecdotal notes of observations during the period of data collection. To determine the physical and cognitive development of the child, the observation included interactions with the teacher and peers, completed activities, and participation in group and individual tasks. The anecdotal notes contain the observations made during the study that are significant to the developmental data and application of theories on development. Additionally, the developmental milestone checklist provided data on the successful achievement of goals for a child at five years. The study used the checklist for children at the age of 60 months that shows the milestones the child should achieve at five years. The techniques included checking boxes for each milestone and calculating the percentage of milestones achieved from the observation. The frequency count technique involves observing the number of instances that a child portrays specific behaviors indicating development and growth. The frequency table shows the number of observations made during each day of the observation and the total for the observation period. Physical Development By completing an assessment of Lisa’s physical development in this observation, the study seeks to provide insights based on theory that parents and teachers could use to provide a better physical and social environment for the child. Lisa is of average height and weight compared to other children in her classroom and a child around 60 months of age. The observation study showed that the child’s diet and social environment did not have a negative effect on her physical development. The home and school environment can significantly affect growth in children and influence their attainment of physical development milestones. It is critical that parents are able to provide the appropriate diet for children between 0 and eight years old to ensure they attain optimal development at early staged of growth. Dietary issues and a socially unstable environment could have long-lasting impact on the physical development and wellbeing of children from an early age. The observation study demonstrated that Lisa was fairly active in the classroom and in the playground and this contributed to her wellbeing and physical growth. From the findings, there were no indication that the child under observation faced any significant challenges that could affect her physical growth outcome. Moreover, the development milestone showed that Lisa had achieved 100% of the physical soft and gross motor milestones for children her age. By five years old, a child should be able to button some buttons and hop on one foot. The observations were made in and outside the classroom especially during monitored play activities when Lisa interacted with her peers. She participated in play activities where she was expected to use her gross and soft motor skills in the playground. Additionally, her learning activities in the classroom involved practicing physical development skills such as holding markers and painting. The observation study showed that for a child aged five years old, Lisa had achieved the milestones for development based on the activities she completed during the research. According to Sutapa (2021), teachers can significantly influence the development of a child through goal-oriented play activities and in the classroom. Lisa played in a controlled environment where activities involved using both gross and soft motor skills to participate in play. She demonstrated the achievement of milestones appropriate for her age as indicated by the observation of play activities. The directed and goal oriented play activities that her teacher provided had contributed to her physical development in the areas under observation. Classroom activities are essential in guiding children to practice soft motor skills as indicated by the observation study. In various activities under observation, the teacher’s guided activities offered an opportunity to observe how Lisa was able to use her hands and fingers in the classroom. For instance, she was able to stack five blocks to complete an activity when asked by the teacher. Soft motor skills are an aspect of physical development that can facilitate or hinder learning outcomes in the classroom. Children are expected to use their fingers to complete project-approach learning where they use the skills learnt in the classroom in the real world. In one activity, the teacher asked her students to arrange objects based on their similarities and stack them in a single block. By using her soft motor skills, Lisa was able to complete the activity successfully and was congratulated by the teacher for the exercise (Huang et al., 2022). The learning environment at the kindergarten level affects how students use various skills to complete learning activities in the classroom. Teaching using a holistic approach empowers students to learn and use diverse skills that contribute to their overall development in the classroom. At the time a child attains 60 months or five years of age, they should demonstrate advanced gross motor skills including balancing, coordination, and overall body strength. Observations in the playground provided insights on the child’s development at this age and showed achievement of milestones in play activities. Lisa engaged in play activities that involved climbing, hoping, and balancing objects that showed optimal physical development for a child her age. The observations indicated the interaction of favorable home and school environments that made the child active and socially aware during play activities. By designing child play, teachers can influence a child’s wellbeing and encourage the use of targeted skills for development at a particular stage of growth (Alharbi, 2022). Consequently, it is important that teachers are aware of the skills and levels of development that children should attain at a particular stage to facilitate their development. In the class under observation, the teacher included climbing and hopping as part of play activities that encouraged students to use various skills in the playground. The observation study should that the child had coordination, balance, and strength as indicated by her engagement in child-play activities. Additionally, one of the play activities involved skipping among groups of students in the classroom. Lisa participated in the play activities and demonstrated optimal development in these areas of physical growth. The sociocultural theory demonstrates that children’s physical development can be influenced by the nature of their social environment and upbringing. Through game development, teachers and parents can facilitate a social environment that encourages children to engage with their peers in activities that encourage physical growth (Sánchez Ríos et al., 2021). Observations during the study showed that Lisa was in a social environment that promoted engagement with her peers pleading to increased physical activity in the classroom and during play activities. Lisa related well with her friends and demonstrated eagerness to engage in the play activities that her teacher designed outside their classroom. She showed paired well with several of her peers in her classroom and engaged in group play activities that increased her physical involvement in learning. According to Sánchez Ríos et al. (2021), Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory shows that designing play activities can influence how children participate in physically beneficial activities. The teacher managed play activities in individual, peer, and group levels that encouraged the use of gross and motor skills of development in the playground. For children at Lisa’s age, developing soft motor skills is critical in completing learning activities that involve drawing and shading. Children at the kindergarten level should be able to draw a person with key physical features such as arms, the legs, and a head. During an exercise in the classroom, Lisa was able to copy a circle from that the teacher had drawn, complete the image of a person, and use a marker to shade objects. Soft motor skills at this age show the capacity of a child to coordinate their hand movements during drawing exercises. Lisa was able to hold pencils and markers steadily during drawing and shading to complete assigned individual activities in the classroom. The precision of drawing and writing for children aged five years should have developed so that they are able to write perform tasks easily and clearly. The classroom activities provided Lisa the opportunity to practice and portray these skills clearly. Additionally, soft motor skills observed during the study contributed to the child’s independence such as dressing herself, tying shoe laces, and buttoning her own clothes. Physical development is a critical aspect of overall growth that improves the child’s wellbeing and independence during learning and play activities. Cognitive Development Cognitive development in kindergarten equips children with the skills to learn more complex concepts in higher levels of primary education. Since it is the main purpose of education, designing a curriculum that promotes cognitive development is critical for the achievement of a child’s growth goals. The observation study focused on the achievement of cognitive development milestones and the application of theories that can provide insights on how activities in school affected the successful achievement of milestones. One area of cognitive development that teachers should focus on is language since it affects other aspects of learning in and outside the classroom. Lisa demonstrated the use of language to communicate with her peers and the teacher during interactive learning activities. She had developed bonds with students in her class and was able to express herself clearly to the teacher during learning activities. Lisa engaged in 8 initiated and 16 responsive social interactions that involved the use of language to communicate with her peers. The observation checklist showed that Lisa completed 75% of the milestones in language development for children aged 60 months. Matching cognitive development with developmental milestones at a particular age provides teachers with insights on areas that they should address for a particular child. In this case, a child aged 60 months should be able to tell a well-crafted story that has a beginning, middle, and end. In a learning activity in the classroom, the teacher introduced the concept of a story and asked some of the students to relay what they learnt by telling their own stories. Lisa was able to participate in this exercise by telling...