Observation #2

FHS 1500-400
Elyssa Erickson

Background Information
Fictitious name: Ryker
Location: Murray High School Daycare
Age: 4
Brief Description: it was outside on the playground with other children at Murray High daycare.

Physical Development
Anyone can observe a big difference between 3 years of age, and 5 years of age. Three year olds
are growing out of their cute baby chub. While when you see a five year old they are skinny with
long skinny legs, which is normal. Preschool age children have developed their motor skills well
and go from barely walking to sprinting and skipping. With Ryker you could still tell he had
some of his baby chub but he seemed to be physically developed the same as other children his
age. He isn't noticeably taller or shorter than any other children there, he seems to be average,
and that's why I chose him. I was also drawn to Ryker because he seemed to be enthusiastic and
all around a happy kid. He was running and climbing around the playground. His motor skills
seemed to be well developed. Our book states that as the body gains strength, children develop
motor skills, both gross motor skills (such as skipping) and fine motor skills (such as drawing)
(Berger, 2014, of 167). Ryker exhibited well advanced gross motor skills for his age. I wasn't
able to observe many fine motor skills, but he had no problem zipping up his jacket. Grasping his
zipper and connecting them can be considered average within his age group. I would consider his
gross motor skills advanced for his age. I noticed he enjoyed jumping, he could jump on both
feet and a single foot, demonstrating a mastery of his gross motor skill for a four year old
(Berger, 2014, pg 171). Ryker was a happy energetic little boy. He would climb on anything and
show his skills off and leap off and do a cool tumble. All around he was well developed for his
age with both fine and motor skills, and his body and muscles were developed as well.

Cognitive development
While observing Ryker I considered him to be on track with his cognitive development for his
age. I would consider Ryker to be extremely impulsive, a result of prefrontal cortex that is too
immature to check activation or halt inhibition( Berger, 2014, pg 182). He was waiting for a
turn on the bike then his attention would be redirected to something else and he would run to
play with that instead. Scenarios like this happened more than once. Ryker would be playing
with the shovel, enjoying himself and then something else would draw his attention and would
run over to check it out. I would consider his attention span for the different activities on the
playground to be no longer than 3-4 minutes. Ryker also showed egocentrism when he spun
around and around until he hit another child( Berger, 2014, pg 182). Instead of saying sorry for
hitting him, he said you shulda watched out!. In the book it says that one of the valuable and
sometimes frustrating traits of young children is that they talk a lot to adults, to each other, to
themselves, to their toys, unfazed by misuse, mispronunciation, stuttering, or other impediments
to fluency (Berger, 2014, pg 189). Ryker represented this statement well, he would randomly
say things that weren't applicable or appropriate to the situation. I heard him once tell another kid
that his underwear was the same color as the other kids shirt. I realized this with other children
too, they would just run up to us and say the most random thing and we would just smile and
laugh. Ryker showed that he is well developed for his age and shows most of the same examples
as the book showed. With emotions and the brain Ryker showed anger, excitement, and self-
esteem. The book talked about how most preschoolers gain their self-esteem and think they are
the best at everything. Ryker showed this when he was riding his bike, he passed me and I smiled
and he said watch this Im the fastest and showed off how fast he could ride his bike. These
actions are completely normal for four year olds.

Psychosocial development
At this age most kids grow out of temper tantrums. They learn to cope with their emotions (most
of the time). Children gradually learn when and how to express emotions, becoming more
capable in every aspect of their lives ( Berger, 2014, of 206). Ryker showed that he was socially
developed with this statement. He understood that he had to share with other kids and showed
socially that he was able to react and play with them well. He didn't have a temper tantrum or cry
about silly things. He was just ready to play, race, and destroy things like most boys. Play is
timeless and universal..many developmentalists believe that play is the most productive as well
as most enjoyable activity that children undertake 212 pg . Ryker was happy to be playing and
spending time with other kids his age. He would run from one place to another. At one point he
was dragging his friend across the grass. Ryker showed great social skills and interacted with the
other boys very well. I only heard him talk to his friends or the worker a couple of times. In the
book it showed a study about culture and emotional control. Nonetheless, parents everywhere
teach emotional regulation as their context expects( Berger, 2014, pg. 209). The book showed
that united states teach not to be afraid of anything. Ryker showed that his parents emphasize this
or he just followed his friends. Ryker would climb up on top of the slide and show no fear and
leap off and tumble on the ground. He would be doing this extrinsically because he would get up
with a big smile to see if anyone watched him or would praise him. Extrinsic motivation comes
from outside the person, when people do something to gain praise( Berger, 2014, pg 207). In
conclusion, Ryker did show he was well developed in all three aspects of growth for his age.

Reference List
Berger, K. S. (2014). Invitation to the life span (2nd ed). New York. NY: Worth Publishers