Essay on Preschool Child Observation

For my child observation assignment, I observed my friend’s kid. His name is Santiago and he is turning 3 in two months. Santiago is about 2 ½ feet tall and weighs around 30 pounds which is pretty average for his age. Santiago is half Salvadorian and half Mexican. He has curly brown hair and fairly tan skin. He also has big brown eyes and a big smile. For my observation, I spent the afternoon with Santiago and his parents at a local skatepark in Sunnyvale. I spent my time observing Santi’s physical development aspects while he played around the park, his cognitive development as he roamed around within the setting, and his socioemotional development as he interacted with the other people that were there as well as his parents.

First of all, I observed different aspects of the physical development of Santiago.

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When we got to the park Santiago was excited and was running around everywhere with really good coordination which is pretty appropriate for his age’s gross motor skills. I did notice that Santiago was able to run up and down the deep bowls in the skatepark by himself with no issue which I feel is a little advanced for his gross motor skills since he isn’t quite 3 years old yet. I also observed Santiago being able to balance on a nonmoving skateboard by himself, as well as a moving skateboard while his mom held his hand. This also seemed like an ability that is more age-appropriate for a child who is already 3 years old. However, since his father is a skateboarding instructor, Santiago has been in the skatepark experimenting with his balance since he first started walking so it is possible he just has had more opportunities to perfect this than a typical 2-year-old. I also made a few observations regarding Santiago’s fine motor skills. I noticed Santiago was able to feed himself Cheetos out of a cup. This is a fine motor skill that corresponds to a 3 year old so it is pretty age appropriate for him to be able to do that already. I also observed Santiago filling up his water bottle at a water fountain while his mom held him up. Santiago was able to coordinate the water stream with the small opening in the water bottle by himself. This is a fine motor skill typical for a 3-year-old child. I was a little surprised at this since he is still two years old and was already very good at hitting small targets like that. I also observed Santiago putting on his jacket by himself which is appropriate for the fine motor skills a 2-year-old should have. Overall I think Santiago is meeting the appropriate milestones for his age group, he is even exceeding in some motor skills that are more appropriate for a child who is already 3.

Next, I observed different aspects of Santiago’s cognitive development. As soon as we got there, Santiago saw the skatepark and yelled “daddy” before even having seen his dad. Santiago was able to use the skatepark as a symbol for his father who was not present in his line of sight yet. This is something corresponding to Piaget’s preoperational stage, more specifically the symbolic function substage. This is something fairly appropriate for Santiago’s age where children begin to be able to use symbols to represent ideas or subjects that are not present. I also observed that while Santiago was watching people skating around he kept running into the bowls they were skating in and sitting right in the middle to get a better view. The skaters did not want to risk crashing into Santiago so they kept moving to different bowls to skate and Santiago kept following them not realizing they were trying to avoid him. This is an example of egocentrism which is where children typically this age have a hard time seeing things from other people’s point of view. Santiago was only trying to get closer to get a better view not realizing that by doing so he was getting in the way of the skaters he was trying to watch. I also observed Santiago talking to himself while he played with his toy cars. This is an example of what Piaget calls egocentric speech which is when children have conversations with themselves. This is something children his age typically do because they aren’t quite capable yet of understanding other people’s points of view and therefore don’t require others to hold a conversation. I also observed a conversation between Santiago and his mom where she asked him if he wanted carrots and he responded no. His mom then asked again, if he wanted “zanahoria” which is the Spanish word for carrot and Santiago responded yes. Santiago is bilingual and his parents speak to him mostly in Spanish. This conversation demonstrated that Santiago is more receptive and expressive in Spanish than in English. Santiago seems to be developing his perception and vocabulary at a pretty average pace for his age.

Lastly, I observed Santiago’s interactions with the people around him and the different emotions he showed to assess his socio-emotional development. I observed Santiago’s mom telling him that he needed to stop eating Cheetos otherwise she wasn’t going to buy him pizza later. Santiago refused to stop eating the Cheetos even after his mom told him this. This interaction shows that Santiago hasn’t quite mastered his self-control yet and hasn’t developed yet in the delayed gratification area which is where children can choose a larger delayed reward over a smaller immediate one which in his case was the pizza vs. the Cheetos. This, however, is normal since Santiago is still in the early stages of childhood. I also observed Santiago engage in cooperative play with a girl who was at the park as well. Santiago and this girl were rolling a skateboard back and forth between them, working together to keep it in a straight line between them which is a play skill that is more typical in kids that are older than Santiago. I also observed Santiago throw a fit because his mom stopped him from going inside the skating bowls. His dad told him if he managed to calm down he would give him a ride on the skateboard and Santiago calmed himself down. This interaction corresponds to the social cognitive learning theory because through reinforcement Santiago was able to realize if he self-regulated his emotions that he would be able to get what he wanted. I also observed Santiago cheering and clapping for himself saying “Yay Santi '', after he successfully rolled on top of a skateboard for a few inches. This shows his development of his self-esteem as he felt good about his accomplishment. Santiago is developing his emotions and social skills at a pretty average pace although his play skills seem pretty advanced for his age perhaps because all his cousins are a few years older than him and he learns from them.

In summary, I learned about Santiago and how he is developing his physical aspects. I learned about his motor skills such as his balance when he was navigating through the bowls and riding the skateboard. I also observed his development of fine motor skills such as his ability to get dressed, feed himself, and fill up a water bottle through a small opening. I learned Santiago was meeting all his milestones for his age group in this area. I also observed Santiago's cognitive development, specifically his vocabulary and perception. I observed egocentrism in Santiago when he talked to himself and failed to see he was in the way of the skaters and I observed Santiago's ability to represent his dad who was not there yet. I also observed Santiago’s reception and expression in English and Spanish. I learned Paget’s ideas were more relevant to Santiago in this area. Last, I learned about how Santiago is doing with his socio-emotional development. I learned Santiago is exceeding in his ability to engage in cooperative play at the age of 2. I learned about how he is doing in the area of self-control regarding delayed gratification and regulation of his emotions. I also learned Santiago’s self-esteem boosts as he succeeds at skateboarding, which is something he learned to admire as he watches his father. Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory of Cognitive Development is what I think is reflected most in Santiago's socioemotional development as he is highly influenced by his parents and others around him in this area. One concept that surprised me was the concept of gender socialization. I observed this when Santiago cried because his mother wouldn’t let him wear the fairy wings the girl at the park had because according to her they were only for girls. This interaction showed me how his parents are already shaping his beliefs and stereotypes of what is socially acceptable for him to do as a boy. It surprised me that his mother would rather him cry than wear something that was “only for girls.” Overall Santiago is developing at an average pace for a child in his age group.