Groom Observation Essay

Easton’s gross motor skill abilities have advanced this semester. He has demonstrated the ability to catch a bean bag with his hands. During Dinosaur week, Easton played a game called “Catch the Dinosaur Egg.” The dinosaur eggs were represented by bean bags. Each child had a partner and they both practiced tossing the bean bags back and forth. Easton enjoys bean bag tosses so much. During Spring week, he played another bean bag toss game, except the bean bags represented butterflies. The children had to make the butterfly fly through the air. Easton had a great time playing this game as well. Being able to catch a bean bag is an example of good hand-eye coordination. Easton is showing signs of having excellent hand-eye coordination. Another

example of Easton’s hand-eye coordination abilities and gross motor skills are that he can throw, kick, bounce, and catch a ball. Whenever the preschoolers are playing a game that includes balls, Easton loves to kick them around. He is also good at throwing and catching a ball with a partner. He does not throw too hard at his partner, and he doesn’t get that upset if his partner accidently hits him or throws the ball the wrong way.
Easton is great at running, jumping, and galloping.

A lot of the time during gym time, the preschoolers are supposed to gallop to one side of the gym, and run to the other. Easton loves times like these, when he can have a little freedom and let out some of his sometimes-hidden energy. Sometimes when Easton is told to skip, he ends up galloping instead. But with a little more practice, he will be able to understand the difference between the two. Another gym activity that the students played during Spring week was pretending to be frogs. The students had to hop from one lillipad to another on both of their feet. Easton did extremely well with this. He would hop on both feet with a huge smile on his face. Easton really loves to participate in obstacle courses. Usually the obstacle courses include walking on a balance beam. On a balance beam, the children are supposed to walk heel to toe. This is a milestone for a four year old. However, Easton takes steps when he’s walking across a balance beam, so his heel of one foot and toe of the other are not connected. But once again, the more Easton practices this motor skill, the better he will become. In my opinion, the ability to even maintain balance while on a balance beam is incredible. Easton is doing great for his age

group.
Easton has mastered the milestone of being able to control his body movements. In particular, he “stops” or “freezes” while playing a game. During Safety week, the preschoolers played Red Light, Green Light, and Easton had so much fun. He was always paying attention to when the color of the light changed, and when it did he would do the appropriate action (stop or go). Another example of controlling body movements is that Easton can bend, stretch, turn, and twist his body. Easton loves to have a teacher hold on to his arms and then he will lean back so his back is arching backwards. He finds this extremely entertaining. Easton loves to just jump around and have fun. It is obvious that Easton is in a good mood when he does these things. In addition to controlling his body movements, Easton builds elaborate structures with blocks, which is milestone for his age group. Everyday during centers, Easton builds his own hotel using the wooden blocks in the classroom. Easton’s gross motor skill abilities are outstanding, and he will continue to improve with the more opportunities he is given to practice them.
A fine motor skill milestone Easton exceeds in is painting and drawing freely. Easton loves to paint during art lessons. He always has a fun time being creative and expressing himself through his pictures. I think art will be Easton’s favorite school subject. I also think it helps to distract him from his stress. It is a calming activity for him. Unless he gets it on his hands, then he doesn’t like that very much. Easton knows how to hold a paintbrush properly, which is how he holds a pencil. He also works well with scissors. Easton is able to hold whatever he is cutting in one hand, while the other hand cuts. During Safety week, the students all made their own stoplights. Everyone had to cut out the red, yellow, and green circles, and glue them onto their construction paper. Easton’s stop light turned out to be very good. He cut everything out on his own, with few corrections.
The ability to print your own first name is a milestone for a five year old, which is above Easton’s age level. But he is working hard at this milestone. He can print his own name, and although it may not be perfect, you can still tell that it says “Easton.” One day during class, I found a paper with Easton’s name on it written in dashed lines. I asked him if he wanted to trace it, and he said yes. I have included a picture of his attempt at tracing his name. When Easton writes his own name, his lines are often crooked and/or curvy. Easton traces his name as if he’s writing it without the dashed lines, which means he is simply using the dashed lines as a guide to write his name. Easton has not grasped the idea that he can directly trace the lines provided for him. But, in my opinion, this is actually causing him to push himself. He is continuing to write his name on his own, without relying on the guide.
Easton can fasten buttons and zip his own zippers, which is one of his milestones. Easton does not ask for help to undo his pants when he uses the restroom. In fact, he will ask you to leave the bathroom so you don’t help him. This is not only a fine motor skill, but a self help skill. His ability to take care of his own bathroom needs demonstrates maturity for his age, as well as his independence. He strives to be independent at the things he is 100 percent sure he can do on his own. In one of the pictures, Easton is holding his paintbrush in the middle, versus towards the bottom like he’s supposed to. That picture was taken during first semester, and since then he has started holding his utensils correctly. This is an important milestone that Easton has mastered. I have never had to remind Easton to hold his pencil differently or to use his dominant hand, which seems to be his right hand. Easton’s progress this semester for fine motor skills has been significant, and I am very proud of him.