Observation Of Early Child Development

Early childhood is considered the most important developmental phase throughout the lifespan. In early childhood, the physical, cognitive, language and psychosocial domains of development are equally important (WHO). For these reasons, the observer would analyze normal growth and development of early childhood using various development theories in this observation paper. For observing the subject’s behaviors and social interaction with others, the observer went to one of Jewish friends’ house to have dinner in Passover holiday, is one of the best known Jewish holidays for seven-days. The house has two floors and grass garden. Almost 30 people attended at the celebration. Most people were family and friends. There were roughly 13 children stayed in the house with their parents. Most of children were 5 to 10-year-olds. For exploring growth and development in early childhood, the observer chose one of girl, is a six-years-olds, whose name is IL. The observer monitored her behavior for 5 hours before and after dinner, was able estimate IL’s age, height, weight, physical appearance, actions, verbalizations, emotions, type of play/activity and interaction with others. First of all, her physical appearances were observed that her height and weight seemed like 120-125cm and 20 kg. She looked like taller and skinner compared to other peers in that house. She did not have two upper front teeth. The observer assumed her level of physical development using by the growth chart. Following the curve in the chart, IL’s rate of growth is normal, and also her height and weight are in balance. Also, gross motor skills were observed during that time. In addition, when she was showing her magic to peers, she pretended as magician. During this time, t...

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...her smile and praise. Maslow stated that the positive attention such as smile and compliments can help the child to raise the child’s self-esteem. Children in preschool age want recognition and rewards. They look for ways to fill the need for positive attention and self-respect. This includes feelings of confidence, competence, achievement, mastery, independence and freedom. A child from this type of environment will have no difficulty in becoming self-actualized. Self-actualization is the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Preschool age children are just starting to grasp the "self-concept". They are getting a feeling of who they are and their abilities. However, their concept of self is not often accurate. Children this age usually over estimate their capabilities. IL might have felt belongingness and also self-esteem through this social interaction.