Madison Aaron

EDEC 332

Prof L. Pritchard

November 27, 2017

Clinical Observation

Over the past semester I had the opportunity to be placed in a three-year-old classroom at

Green Sea Headstart. While out in the field, I learned a lot about myself, the way I want to run

my classroom one day, and the importance of the relationships you develop with your students.

One of the major things I learned was that every child’s milestone accomplishment level is

completely different. I began to notice this when I started observing a male student, Child A, and

a female student, Child B, during my time in this classroom. I observed these children and their

milestones in a physical, cognitive, and social/emotional sense. Before this experience, I never

fully realized just how important these developmental milestones impact each one of these

children. This paper will discuss the specific milestones for each child I observed while being

there.

Child A

Child A is a male, African American who is 4 years old and a resident of Conway, SC.

When I first learned about this clinical observation, I automatically knew I wanted to observe

this student. I began observing Child A in physical, cognitive, and social categories. I could tell

early on that he wasn’t as developed socially as the other students, but after looking at the

developmental checklists, I realized that he was 2 ages below where he should have been.

In the physical category of development, I observed Child A feed himself with a spoon,

experiment with touch and taste, scribble vigorously, walk backwards, and also toss and roll
large balls. In the beginning of my observation of Child A, he could maneuver his spoon to come

toward his mouth, but he dropped food off of the spoon every time he tried to eat with it. As time

progressed he was able to move his spoon to his mouth successfully with solid foods but liquid

or soft foods are still quite a struggle for this student. While observing Child A experiment with

taste and touch I was surprised to see that he used his mouth more in the beginning when

figuring out what new objects were and then later on only used his hands. It was almost as if

there was a tiny milestone in between progressing from taste to touch with this student. He

seemed to understand how objects worked better when he had the opportunity to physically

touch them. While observing Child A while in the writing or art center, it was very evident how

little his fine motor skills were developed. He would only scribble vigorously or draw lines

straight up and down when coloring or writing with crayons and markers. Child A stumbled

while walking in general at the beginning of this field experience. As time progressed, he was

getting steadier walking backwards and on his tip toes. Even now when I’m nearing the end of

my time at Green Sea, Child A is still stumbling around when walking normally, but can

successfully walk on his tip toes and is balanced while walking backwards. The final physical

aspect I observed while observing Child A was his ability to toss and roll large balls. In the

beginning of this field experience, he would only roll balls back and forth with his peers or with

me. At the end of my time with him, he began to toss the ball to me, but wouldn’t toss the ball

with his peers or other teachers.

In the cognitive category of development, I observed Child A use two to three word

sentences, say names of toys, hum or try to sing, enjoy looking at books, and repeat words. Child

A would only mumble and say “umm” when I first began field experience. A few weeks into my

time there, he began to respond to questions with one or two word responses. At the end of my
time at Green Sea, he would speak two to three word sentences with me and the other Coastal

student placed in my classroom, without it being a response to a question he would be asked.

When I first met Child A he would only point at toys. Occasionally he would mumble something

that sounded like what the toy should be called, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying.

Now Child A will name toys by the correct name and speaks in a clear and concise way when

talking about his toys. Child A has always liked to hum since I became a guest in his classroom.

As my time there progressed, he started to sing along with the teacher aide in my classroom

during music time. He eventually began to sing out loud when playing by himself during center

time and looked so incredibly happy while doing this. While observing Child A, I also noticed he

would use books as an outlet for his frustration and nightmares during naptime. He would sit in

my lap during naptime after having a nightmare and I would read to him. Child A mainly enjoyed

looking through the pictures of the books and seeing the different animals on the pages. As time

went on, he started to enjoy listening to the story and not so much the pictures when we would

do this together. At the beginning of my time observing Child A he would barely make any

noises or repeat words. After a few weeks at head start, he began to say things back to me when

we would work one on one during center time and with close friends outside. Now Child A will

repeat words back to his teachers, friends, and during whole group instruction without hesitation.

In the social emotional development category, I observed Child A play alongside others

more than with them, be affectionate, be destructive when frustrated, have fears, and be

demanding. Child A originally only played alone when I first started coming to his classroom. He

started to become more comfortable with me as time went on and would let me play with him

during center time. During those times he would play with me and other students in the class

would come up to me and play with us. Child A was comfortable with it for a few seconds and
then would get up and walk away. Now Child A will play with me and other students in his class

during center time and is more involved in play with his peers than with me. I witnessed Child A

be affectionate with multiple people during my first day at the center. As time went on, Child A

went through a phase where he wouldn’t hug or kiss anyone in the hallways or goodbye at the

end of the day. Eventually, he went back to his old self and hugged everyone going down the

hallways and when he would leave school at the end of the day. Even though Child A is very

affectionate, he can also be extremely frustrated, which can lead to him being destructive. Child

A would become very possessive of certain toys around the classroom and eventually possessive

of me. He would get extremely frustrated when someone had a specific toy he wanted or if I was

giving attention to another student. When he would get frustrated, he would begin to lash out.

These scenarios would include him throwing toys at other students, screaming, and running

around the room uncontrollably. As the semester progressed, these episodes became less and less

frequent but were still happening when I would give attention to other students. He is no longer

being aggressive about his frustration when others were playing with his favorite toys, but

mainly when I give attention to other students in his class. Child A is also a very demanding

child. He will get very demanding and aggressive when he wants something. He will yell at you

or one of his peers until he gets what he wants. He has become less aggressive when asking for

something, but he is still very demanding about asking for things. Child A is a very fearful child.

He had multiple night terrors during my time in his classroom. He would wake up screaming and

crying 15 minutes into naptime almost every day I was there. These night terrors still happen

daily, but his reaction is becoming less severe every time he wakes up.

Child B
 Child B is a female, African American, who is 3-years-old and resides in Conway, SC.

Child B is a spunky, sweet, and attention seeking 3-year-old. She loves Frozen and sings it all

day long, however, she has a little bit of a sad side. She becomes very withdrawn and gets very

upset easily in class. I believe this has a lot to do with her home life after observing her

physically, cognitively, and socially.

In the physical development category, I observed Child B put on shoes without tying

them, dress herself with some help, throw a ball overhead, kick a ball, and walk a short distance

on her tiptoes. Child B only wore slide on shoes at the beginning of the semester. She could slide

her foot in, but could not pull the back part over her heel. Later on in the semester she was able

to slide the back of the left shoe over her heel, but her right hand wouldn’t move the way she

needed to use her fine motor skills to lift the back of the shoe. Eventually, she was able to do

both sides once her fine motor skills developed. On the other hand, she learned how to dress

herself with some help fairly quickly. When she came to Green Sea, her first day there was my

first day. She didn’t know how to pull up her underwear or her pants after using the restroom.

Ms. Wilson and I had to help her for about three weeks until she understood the importance of it.

She got to the point where she would pull up her underwear but still needed help with her jeans

and buttons. Now Child B is to the point where the only thing she needs assist with is buttoning

her pants. Child B loves to play outside. She loved when we were able to bring toys out, but

especially excited about the balls. She loves to throw and kick them with me. When we first

started playing with the balls, she wasn’t able to throw the ball overhead. She would just kind of

push it out from her chest awkwardly. Gradually, she was able to bend her elbows to give it a

bigger push towards me. Finally, she just picked up the ball one day and raised it above her head

and threw it. Kicking the ball was a more challenging task for Child B. When we began playing
with the ball, she would make the kicking motion, but never make contact with the ball.

Gradually she was able to kick the ball but only with a little bit of force behind the kick so it

would only move a few inches. During my full week at Green Sea, Child B finally was able to

make direct contact with the ball and kick it with the full force behind the kick. Child B was so

excited about this accomplishment that she ran over and hugged me. The final physical

characteristic I observed about Child B was her ability to walk on her tiptoes for a short distance.

On my first day of observing this characteristic for Child B, all she could do was stand on tiptoes

for just a few seconds. She became more comfortable with it over time and was able to hold it for

a while when we had music time on the carpet. Child B finally accomplished this task and would

run across the carpet on her tiptoes during music time.

In the cognitive development category, I observed Child B talk in three to five word

sentences, listen attentively to short books, identify common colors, tell me how old she is, and

draw a circle. When I started at Green Sea, Child B didn’t talk very much and if she did, it would

the occasional one word. As she became more comfortable with me, she would say two to three

word simple sentences that didn’t really make any sense. Child B and I finally became

comfortable enough with each other that she would talk to me in three to five words sentences

that were relevant to the conversation we were having. Even though in the beginning Child B

wasn’t very verbal, she was always extremely attentive. She focused most of her attention on

short books that were read aloud in class. She enjoyed story time most during the day spent at

Green Sea. In the beginning, Child B would only listen at the beginning of the story. She started

to ask questions about things going on in the book the more we read together. Child B began to

pay attention to the entire book and ask to read more when they were over. I believe these books

helped make Child B feel safe and loved in her classroom and that is why she paid so much
attention to them. Even though Child B is very attentive to books, she can’t distinguish between

common colors. The first week we went Child B couldn’t distinguish between the colors red,

blue, or green. She finally knew the color blue about halfway through the semester and because

she was praised for knowing that, she said everything was blue. Finally, Child B was able to

distinguish between red and blue but still struggles with is identifying the color green. Another

thing that Child B struggled with over the semester is telling someone how old she is. In the

beginning, she never would tell anyone how old she was when she was asked. When she became

more comfortable with people, she would hold up the number two with her fingers. Child B is

now able to tell you verbally and with her fingers that she is three-years-old. The last cognitive

element I observed for Child B was her ability to draw a circle. Child B could only scribble with

a crayon in the beginning. Child B progressed to being able to draw a curved line later on in the

semester after doing some fine motor skilled activities. At the end of the semester, Child B was

able to draw a circle. The circle was very unsteady, but Child B was able to rotate her wrist fully

in the circular motion.

In the social emotional development category, I observed Child B seek approval from

adults, make a choice between two options, make others laugh, answer that she is a girl, and

spend time watching and observing. Seeking adult approval is necessary for Child B. At the

beginning of my observation, Child B would act out so that she would have adult attention in

some form even if it was negative. She began to realize that positive attention from her teachers

was better for her than the negative attention she was receiving. Child B began to seek approval

and positive reinforcement from her teachers instead of negative attention. Coinciding with that,

Child B began to develop the ability to choose between two different options throughout the day.

At the beginning of the semester, when given two options, Child B would look blankly at both
options and stare at you for help with making the decision. The more comfortable she became

with herself, she would chose an option without hesitation or looking for guidance. Child B was

a very shy and reserved child in the beginning. She would stick to herself and not really talk to

her peers in the class. The more time she spent with her peers, the more she would begin talking

to them. These conversations became more personal and light hearted as they progressed. She

would make all of her friends laugh and try to make them laugh multiple times a day. A strong

social characteristic Child B has is understanding that she is a girl and she is very passionate

about everyone knowing that. At the beginning, she wouldn’t associate with boys because she

only wanted to spend time with the other girls in the classroom. She began to yell at boys for

standing in the “girl line” and would hit them to make them move into the correct line. She

started to be less hostile about it as time progressed throughout the semester, but she still only

likes to be surrounded by other girls in the classroom. Another strong social characteristic Child

B has is the ability watch and observe. This characteristic is very evident when Child B is on the

playground with other classes. Child B will stand off to the side and stare at other children with

her mouth open for a long time. She would then turn and come tell me everything they talked

about and did while she was watching them. She knew who she wanted to spend time with and

who she didn’t based off of these observations she would make. This is a social skill that I

struggle with as an adult, and Child B has a good grasp on it at three years old.

Theorists

I saw many of the theories we discussed in class portrayed in the classroom. The three

theories I saw most in this specific classroom were Watson’s theory of classical conditioning,

Erikson’s Eight Stages of Human Development, and Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs.
 According to Watson, “Children are passive beings which can be molded by controlling

the stimulus response associations” (Wittmer). In other words, children react to things the way

they are taught to react to them. For example, Child A originally woke up from his nightmares

screaming and sobbing at the beginning of the semester. After about four or five times of me

calming him down and making him feel safe by reading to him in those moments, he began to

look for me when he woke up and we would read together. He would walk over to me and

immediately sit in my lap without a second thought. Child A had learned to react to that scary

situation by looking for me to comfort him because there wasn’t anyone else to be that person for

him. Eventually he would only wake up crying and then just come sit beside me with a book

already in hand. He knew in those scary moments the best way to respond was by reading a book

in a calm way. I believe this was such a big coping mechanism for him because he doesn’t have

that kind of comfort available to him at home. His mother had children back to back so she never

really had time to give Child A the full attention that he needed. We could even use Erik

Erikson’s Eight Stages of Human Development theory and reference trust vs. mistrust. Child A

never trusted that someone would be there for him when he needed comfort so his reaction was

fear and the unknown of who to go to. These were not the only theories I saw put into practice

during this practicum.

According to Abraham Maslow, “Self-actualization is the process of having basic

physical and social/emotional needs met so that outcomes for the individual lead to positive self-

regard and make them a creative, contributing member of society” (Wittmer). This is referring to

how human beings need their physiological and safety needs need to be met in order to feel

loved and like they belong. This is something that Child B struggled with daily. Child B comes

from a background where she comes to school hungry almost every day. She would constantly
misbehave and lash out by hitting other children and adults in the center. Because her

physiological and safety needs were not being met at home, she couldn’t feel like she was loved

or belonged in our classroom. I began to catch on every week when she would come in wearing

dirty clothes, always ask for more food in the cafeteria, and when she began to tell me she was

hungry every morning. After realizing how much she needed from me every week I was there, I

began to try even harder to connect with her. She loved playing with my hair so that’s what we

did. She played with my hair and talked to me about anything. Doing this would make her feel

safe and loved through something so simple. It became an everyday activity that we would do.

Eventually the hitting became less and less. I think that all she really needed to control her

temper was someone to show her how much they cared and how important she is.

Environment

The environment that both children are in is an environment that I feel doesn’t fully

support their development in a physical, social, and cognitive way. Having a classroom of

seventeen three and four year olds is overwhelming to say the least, but I believe making it an

environment where every student feels loved and appreciated makes it a much happier place for

both the students and the teachers. During my time at Green Sea, I didn’t feel like the teachers

there really took the time to connect with their students on a personal level and get to know them

in a supportive way. I noticed that to be detrimental for the students because when they needed

someone, it seemed like they didn’t know who to turn to or where to go. In my classroom, I want

to be the kind of teacher that has that special personal bond with each one of my students. Being

that person for Child A and Child B during the past few weeks has made such an impact on my

life and I have seen such growth from the two of them because they finally had that supportive

person in their lives. Creating a safe and loving environment is such an important role in your job
as a teacher for your students. It is the foundation of the type of relationship you will have with

your students and their parents during their time in your classroom. Making it a place they feel

welcomed, encouraged, safe, and loved can make a world of difference in their lives and yours.

Conclusion

In conclusion, throughout the course of this field experience, significant milestones were

accomplished in physical, cognitive, and social/emotional development for both child A and

Child B. IT was determined that outside social factors influenced their behaviors in the

classroom. Receiving positive reinforcement and allowed both Child A and Child B to

progressively eliminate negative behaviors. Having the capability to gain exposure to early

childhood behaviors under varying conditions has already strengthened my knowledge or

handling situations. This will enhance my teaching abilities to be the most effective and

supportive teacher I can be in my own future classroom.

 Works Cited

Wittmer. The Young Child Development from Prebirth Through Age Eight, Books a La
Carte Edition. Pearson College Div, 2016.