This document provides observations of 5-year-old Cecilia in her kindergarten classroom. It summarizes her physical, motor, cognitive, language, emotional, and social development. Cecilia is described as being of average height and weight for her age with some unique physical features like birthmarks. She displays age-appropriate gross and fine motor skills. Cecilia shows advanced cognitive abilities like counting and categorizing numbers. She is very talkative and social. Cecilia interacts well with both children and adults and seems to enjoy cooperative pretend play the most. The classroom environment and teacher interactions appear beneficial to Cecilia's development.

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Cecilia
Age 5
A. PHYSICAL CHARACTERIZATIONS OF THE CHILD
1. What is the approximate height in inches?
About how tall are they compared to you (e.g., do they come up to your waist,
hip, knee?)? Is this within the normal range as noted in your text?
Cecilia comes up between my waste and the beginning of my rib bone. She
appears to be in perfect proportion with the other children in the class. She is a
smaller girl but not the smallest. Seems to be on par with the national statistics
for height for a child that just turned 5.
2. Consider the child’s weight. Do they appear to be lighter, heavier or similar to
others in the school?
Cecilia appears to be average in weight. Although she is on the smaller side, she
is very athletic in build and her weight is above the 25% on the national weight
chart. Most of the girls in the class are smaller than the boys in weight-but not in
height. Cecilia is not the thinnest child but is very thin.
3. Describe two or three unique physical features that you could use to instantly
identify this child as a preschooler (Hint – This is not superficial characteristics
such as hair color or eye color; consult the textbook for appropriate
characteristics).
Cecilia has a birthmark on her ankle. She also has freckles on her nose and a
mole on the right side of her neck that she has had since she was born.
4. Describe their general state of health. What characteristics helped you
determined this?
Cecilia is in excellent health. Her coloring is perfect-her skin is pale with a
peachy hue on her cheeks and her lips are red as rubies. She is active, and has

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an excellent disposition. Her appetite is tremendous and she uses the bathroom
in normal increment-when the class has bathroom breaks-not more or less
frequently.
B. MOTOR DEVELOPMENT:
Gross Motor Skills
1. List three gross motor skills you observed the child perform and discuss how well the
child performed each skill. Make your comparison based on what you have read in
the chapters relating to early childhood development in your text.
Cecilia moves easily on the playground between the slide and the swings. She
dances, jumps, and skips during circle time while the class is participating in group
number songs! Cecilia really moves and shakes her little self during the song.
2. Discuss how your expectations of the child’s gross motor development compared
with what you observed.
I expected Cecilia to have excellent gross motor at school because I have observed
her at my house on many occasions jumping on my trampoline and swimming in our
above ground pool with my daughter. Cecilia has always been active but not hyper.
She can also play quietly without showing any signs of being uncomfortable or
fidgety.
3. Did you observe anything remarkable about this child's physical ability that set them
apart from the rest of the group? If so, to what do you credit this?
There were several things that Cecilia did that I thought was extremely bright for her
age and different than the other Children. First, while singing the alphabet sound
song, Cecilia did not simply look straight ahead at the teacher who stood in front of
the students. Instead, she looked to the side wall of the classroomand was pointing
to each letter while making the letter sound-while all the other students were simply
copying the teacher! Cecilia was also able say the entire date back to the teacher
(Friday, October 24, 2014) while all of the other kids seemed a little bit confused
about what to do. Cecilia has is the youngest of 6 siblings-and they have all worked
with her on learning numbers, days of the week, the months and so on. I think that

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she has so many people in her household to aide in her education, pushes Cecilia to
a different level than the other children in the class.
4. Were there any conditions present that limited the child’s opportunity to
demonstrate their gross motor skills?
No. They had play time from 11:55-12:25, and Cecilia slipped easily down the slide
and from one activity on the playground to another. When we came inside for circle
time, the children had another 30 minutes of physical activity before moving to
centers and then the craft of the day.
Fine Motor Skills:
1. List three fine motor/eye-hand skills you observed and discuss how well the child
performed each skill. Make your comparison based on what you have read in the
chapters relating to early childhood development in your text.
During stations, Cecilia had computer time and she used the mouse like it was an old
friend. During craft time, Cecilia used a q-tip and dipped one end in paint and then
made little yellow and green dots on her letter “D”.
2. Discuss how your expectations for the child’s fine motor skill compared with what
you observed.
Cecilia had been writing her full name (first and last) since she turned four. While at
my house she often plays on my laptop with my daughter Chloe and I have watched
her complete many learning games on ABC mouse.com.
3. What was the child’s preferred handedness? That is, did they tend to use their right
or left hand to do most tasks? What observations allowed you to determine this?
Now it gets a little complicated with Cecilia. She can write well and draw with both
hands. She is being encourage to pick a hand and has begun to write with her write
hand while she operates a mouse and eats with her left hand!

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4. Did you observe anything remarkable about this child's fine motor ability that set
them apart from the rest of the group? If so, describe it and discuss to what do you
credit this?
Cecilia’s ability to hold a pencil correctly is totally different than the other 5 year olds
in the class. Again, I think Cecilia is modeling her behavior after the older siblings in
the house and this had made Cecilia very aware of the correct way to hold a pencil-
to write, color and draw.
C. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT:
1. What did you see that illustrated the child's ability to think and reason about the
world in general? (This might include their questioning something or an explanation
they may have offered about an event that occurred in the classroom.)
While I was watching Cecilia at the puzzle station, and writing down her
accomplishments in finding the accurate letters to fill the puzzle, she looked up at
me and asked “Are you a teacher yet?” I said that I was not and had 2 more years
until I received my bachelors in education. Cecilia said “Well, you look like a
teacher.” I asked her why she thought that. Cecilia replied “Because you’re always
watching what I am doing and writing stuff down.” I almost fell out of my little
chair! She is so observant that she is aware that teachers are documenting her
behavior and since I was documenting her day-she associated that experience with
one of her teachers.
2. Describe the child's attention span. On average, about how long did they attend to a
task? How closely did this match your expectations?
Cecilia has an excellent attention span. She was patient when it was not her turn
and listened attentively to instructions. I have always known Cecilia to be a great
listener and to have any problems with being hyper active or ADHD. She listens and
follows instructions.

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3. Did you observe any egocentric reasoning? Describe what you saw
No. Cecilia seems to be very aware of the way others feel.
4. Did you notice the child’s ability to categorize? What evidence did you see of the
child’s ability to categorize into basic-level, general, and subcategories?
Cecilia was singing a song and while she was doing this she was counting to 100 by
5’s. Then, when she was finished, she did it by 10’s. She did all of this quietly under
her breath so I could barely hear her. But the rest of the class was listening to the
lesson by Miss Hess on how to group numbers by 5’s. Not only could Cecilia
understand this concept but had already mastered this.
D. LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION BEHAVIORS
1. Describe the child’s language development. Did he/she appear to be talkative or
mostly quiet as compared with the other children?
Both Miss Hess and her aid Mrs. Jones, said that Cecilia is their most socially adapted
student. They said she loves to introduce herself to older children she does not
know, and when they pass her in the hall she frequently says “Hi, I’m Cecilia, I am5
years old, what’s your name and number?” She has no problem expressing her
wants or needs!
2. Rate their articulation on a scale of 1-5 with 1 the lowest and 5 the highest. In other
words, how well could you understand what they had to say?
Cecilia is a 5. The only thing she still says like a baby is the letter “R”. But I have
noticed a drastic improvement in that over the last few month and Miss Hess said
that in school she usually says her “R’s” correctly in group but on the playground
sometimes she forgets and still says them like a baby. I think it’s cute and it will be
sad when she turns into a big girls and says her “R’s” correctly all the time.
3. About how long were the child’s sentences? How would you rate the child’s ability
to communicate as compared to the other children?
Cecilia speaks in complete sentences and is very articulate. Most of the children in
the class spoke very clearly. They all seemed to communicate well with each other
and Miss Hess and Mrs. Jones.

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4. Did you hear the child say anything that fits the definition of overregulation? If so,
what was it? If not, what would be an example of this?
Cecilia still uses overregulation in her speech, as did the other children in the class.
She said “Me thinks your picture is so pretty” and I also heard her say “Not talk right
now, you have to work.” Her use to use overregulation in the middle of her
sentences, even over the summer I heard her say “I like pizza more better than
spaghetti.” But since she has been in kindergarten, I notice her doing this less and
less. Now, when she does it, it is not often and is usually in the beginning of the
sentence. She works out the kinks of any overregulation, during the course of
forming her sentences now. This is definitely something new that I have noticed
about her language.
5. Did the child usually initiate conversation or was their talking limited to responding
after others spoke?
Cecilia is very talkative and I was surprised that she was not at all disruptive in the
class. Meaning, she like to talk and socialize and I was surprised she did not talk
when she was supposed to be quiet. Instead, she spoke and participated only when
she was allowed to.
6. How did the child’s communication with other children compare to their
communication with an adult?
Cecilia talks to everyone the same. She is not shy or timid around adults and does
not speak to the children differently than she does the adults. She is a very social,
happy, well-adjusted littler girl. I imagine she will grow-up to be a well-rounded
member of the community,
E. EMOTIONAL and SOCIAL LIFE
1. What emotion seemed to dominate the hour?
Happy and helpful. Cecilia wants to be in the middle of everything, she doesn’t want
to miss a beat!

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2. Were there any signs of aggression, and hostility? What provoked it? How was it
resolved?
No. Cecilia got along well with all of her classmates.
3. Were there any signs of empathy, affection, or caring? What provoked this? How
was it displayed?
On the playground, one of the other little girls was sitting by herself and Cecilia
stopped what she was doing and walked over and asked her what was wrong. The
little girl told Cecilia she didn’t have anyone to play with and Cecilia said “Yes you do,
come play with me!” And off they went to the swings!
4. How might have the environment facilitated this emotional response?
Cecilia’s teacher is always giving the children reminders (prior to switching activities)
that we want to remember to be nice to all of our friends, meaning the entire class.
Having a caring teacher that is on top of the children’s actions, is imperative to
showing the children the correct way to treat others.
5. Did the child show any preference to members of their own gender? Did they act
differently to the opposite sex?
Cecilia played with both girls and boys. She did seemto gravitate toward the girls in
the class.
6. How did this child seem to regard your presence? Did the child interact in any way
with you? If so how?
She couldn’t wait for her and I to read the story she had picked out with me at the
library to the class. She was so proud to have me there and introduced me to all the
children as “Krista” because to her that is who I am. The children have had me in
the class on previous Fridays to read to them, so they all greeted me with hugs and
then went off to play and do their work. I think since I have been in their class
several time this year, it was not disruptive to have me observe and they all left me
alone after a few minutes to play with each other.

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7. What type of social play did your child spend the largest amount of time in? The
least amount of time in? Answer the following after reviewing the categories of play
listed on pages 160-161 of your text:
Cecilia and her friend Destiny (who is also one of my neighbor’s children!) spent
most of their free time in Cooperative social pretend play.
They really didn’t do much parallel play with the exception of computer time during
stations. Cecilia and Destiny say beside each other (as they usually do) but they did
not interact too much. Cecilia did remove her head phones several times and then
she and Destiny would chat about the computer activity but Cecilia was also the first
one to replace her head phones and get back to work.
8. In what type of play did the child spend the largest amount of time?
Cooperative social pretend play
9. In what type of play did the child spend the least amount of time?
Parallel Play
10. Considering what you have observed about this child’s cognitive, physical and social
development and propose an explanation for the type of play you observed this
child engage in most.
Cecilia is extremely intuitive for her age and I think that being the youngest of 6
children has made her into an observer. She watches the situation and thinks about
it and then joins in with some fantastic idea on how to make it all come together.
F. ORGANIZATION and CURRICULUM:
1. Briefly describe the main activity that was taking place during the time you
observed.
I was at school for the entire afternoon. So I was fortunate to have an opportunity
to eat lunch with my daughter and then move on to Cecilia’s class for my project. I
was able to observe their play time, circle time, station time, craft time and I was
able to read the class a story.

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2. Describe an adult/child interaction that you observed that appeared to be
beneficial to the child you observed. What is a possible effect of this interaction?
Cecilia is a child that has to share her parent’s attention with her numerous
siblings. She enjoyed being the center of attention and that is another reason I
think she is so happy when she is at my house playing with my girls. She likes the
one on one attention because it builds her self-confidence and makes her feel
important. She was beside herself that I took her to the library to pick a special
book for her and I to read to the class. We had practice reading the book at my
house so she knew when to turn the pages and helped with the questions we
devised to ask the children. She picked the story “The Firekeeper’s Son” by Linda
Sue Parks. Neither Cecilia nor I had ever read this story before and we really
enjoyed teaching the lesson the story held to the other children.
G. REFLECTION
The experience that I had in Miss Hess’s kindergarten class was very unique from
a normal volunteering situation. It gave me the opportunity to sit back and watch how
Miss Hess moves effortlessly between activities. It also gave me the opportunity to just
watch Cecilia interact with the other children because I was not busy helping with
activities. I have also really learned to enjoy other people’s children. I think this is
extremely important because as a mother, I would not want to show my child special
privileges over another child. It helped to bridge the gap between being a mom and
being on the educator’s side of the spectrum. This is also important because I need to
learn to separate myself in some ways from other children so that when I become a
teacher I can look at the situation objectively and not be so sensitive. This is so difficult
for me to do because I always want to save every child that I feel might be in a less than
perfect situation. The sad reality of this is that even the less than perfect home
situations are still better than the alternative of the broken foster care situation in this
state and the country. Being able to just watch the teacher and student interaction and
then having the chance to imitate Miss Hess and do my own lesson with the children was
priceless. Everything that we have learned so far this semester, made complete sense
after spending the afternoon in an actual classroom with twenty-three 5 year olds. It
has also made me reconsider teaching history, as I really enjoy this age group. Each
child was unique and special in their own way and each child added their own
personality to the class to form a fantastic scholastic environment.

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ECED 105 Preschool Observation – FALL 2014
Student Name:
Cecilia Bryson
Observation Date/Time:
October 24, 11:55am-1:45pm
Parent/Guardian/Present Adult Signature:
Print name:___________________________Sign Name/Date:
Time:
11:55 a.m.-1:45 p.m.
The child’s actions or words Comments My notes from the experience:
Please see my notes-they are attached and hand written from my visit.