Observation Of A Child Observation

Student Observation #2
Age: 6
Race: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Grade: Kindergarten
Location: Observation took place in the student’s home after school.

Conversation with mother: Single mom, left child’s father just after her turned 1. Child’s father still sees his son, but has had some problems with drugs so visited are limited and with the supervision of mother of paternal grandmother. Mother works 50 hours a week to support her small family. She was attending college until the last semester, at which time she took off to accept a promotion. She is midway through the Bachelors program. She plans to go back to major in Anthropology and possibly teach. She struggles with the guilt she feels for not getting to spend as much time with her son as
As a result they do most assignments in class and leave very little homework. Compared to the older students I observed, much less time was spent on homework in this household. The only assignment was to review sight words. He struggled with this in the beginning of the year, because 50 words at once was too much for him at once. His mother started showing him just 10 a day and gradually building to the 50 within a week. She now adds two to three each day and he has begun to excel. The student has difficulty sitting still while doing homework, and during most tasks the mother tells me. He hops from one side of the sofa to the other, at one point spinning on the floor. He is so excited to tell her all about his day that he is unable to
As they prepare dinner the student tells his mother all about his day. He had a child on the playground that called him a girl because his toes were painted. His mother asks what her thinks, and he replies “I’m a boy.” “I just like to have my toes painted.” The mother laughs and agrees that the other boy is silly. While dinner cooks they read the book the student has chosen from the library, as they do most every night. Today 's choice is “Pete the Cat,” a repeat the mother points out, and one of his favorites. While the mother reads he is focused but still has trouble sitting still. He moves his hands around each other constantly shuffling them. He is beginning to recognize many words, and has been working on reading on his own.
Before leaving I thank the student for allowing me to observe and tell him how smart he is to know so many sight words and be getting so close to reading on his own. He tells me he can count to 100, and demonstrates before I leave. The mother tells me the requirement for the end of the year is to be able to count to 20, and he is already at 100. She explains that he loves all things Math, and is always excited to show off what he has