Analysis Of Child Observation Of A Child

The child observation lab took place at a relative of mine, specifically my uncles home. Also, the observation took place on February 3, 2017 from 5pm to 7pm. Mainly, the observation and tests I used took place in the kitchen where the child’s father was present half of the time and the child had an older cousin present majority of the time. Further, the child’s name is Gavin; he is 4 years old male and weighs 45 pounds and is 3 feet and 6 inches tall. Gavin is in a healthy physically and mentally. To begin with, the observation was focused on the physical, social/emotional, intellectual and moral development of the child compared to the normative data in the literature. In addition, I chose to use a variety of examples from Human Development,

According to Arnett (2012) a typical three year old is about 35 inches tall and weighs about 30 pounds while a typical six year old is around 45 inches tall and weighs about 45 pounds (p. 234). Therefore, Gavin is highly developed physically since Gavin is 42 inches and weights 45 pounds, which is closer to the normative values of a six year old while Gavin is only four years old. In addition, Gavin had a full set of 20 teeth, which is a normal value since a child gets a full set of 20 teeth around the age of three (Arnett, 2012, p. 235). Finally, the last aspect of physical development I chose to focus on were the gross and fine motor skills Gavin had. For example, he was able to draw shapes and even his own name. According to Arnett (2012), a child usually learns to draw shapes such as a circle or triangle and some short words or letters by age six (p. 241). However, Gavin was able to draw shapes and even his own name while he is only four years old. On the other hand, Gavin had trouble hopping on one foot, he was only able to sustain hopping on one foot for a short period of time and used support majority of the time. Also, Gavin was able to catch a ball with ease, but was not able to throw a ball as well. Not only was physical development a focus, but also social and emotional observations are another key aspect during early

For example, when Gavin was offered ice cream late at night, he rejected to eat the treat since it was so late and he understood that it was wrong to eat sweets at such a late time. This may be due to the parent of the child, who stated that he “takes the approach of talking to the child to tell them why he is mad at the child for any wrong doing.” (Personal communication, February 3, 2017). Therefore, Gavin has a great understanding of morality when considering what is wrong and what is right in the household. Arnett would agree with the finding because in early childhood, moral development advances further as children gain a more detailed and complex understanding of the rules and expectations of their culture (Arnett, 2012, p. 261). Also, Gavin proved Arnett stance on children modeling a behavior of an older adult. Throughout the observation process, Gavin’s older cousin was present and lightly chuckled whenever Gavin was not able to understand a concept or answered a question wrong. Therefore, when the older cousin was asked a question and she answered it wrong, Gavin began to laugh at her because he knew the answer was wrong. Arnett (2012) claims that young children tend to model their behavior after the behavior of others they observe (p.