Brewster 1

Megan Brewster

Professor Beryl Yudkin

ECS 107

29 March 2018

Observation Paper 1

Upon walking into the Branford Family Resource Center I met the head teacher Miss

Danielle. She walked me to her preschool classroom of three, four, and five year olds. Before

walking into the room I looked at the bulletin board posted outside the classroom for the parents

which included the daily schedule, any upcoming events (i.e. field trips, class parties, etc.),

flyers, and also the show and tell schedule for the month. They do a very good job at keeping the

parents informed in what is going on in the classroom and what their kids are doing each day.

First, I was introduced to her assistant teacher Miss Barbara. After being introduced to

the class I took a seat and looked around the classroom and noticed how open, inviting, and

bright the environment was for the kids, parents, teachers, and other visitors. Every center in the

classroom was labeled according to what it was (i.e. Reading Center, Computer Center, Math

Center, etc.). They also label each bin or container that toys and supplies are kept in so that the

children know what is in each. After observing each child for a few minutes I decided to observe

a four year old girl named Vanessa who is an English Language Learner. She came off as very

shy and quiet because instead of playing with other kids she decided to play alone and was being

very quiet.
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During my observation I got the opportunity to see her interact with her father and

younger brother on my last day of observation. I observed her speak fluent Spanish to her

brother and father and then switch immediately to English to respond to her peers. Throughout

my entire observation this was the only time I got to witness her speak Spanish and I believe

getting to hear it and hear her consciously know when to use which language gave me a better

understanding of how advanced she was will her English Language Learning. As I look through

all of the Dual Language Development domains she seems to line up perfectly with each domain

in the “Later Increasing use of second Language” category.

During my observation of her I am able to conclude that she is very interested in play

dough and slime. I say this because each time they have options of what to do that is always her

choice. It seems as though she likes to do activities that allow her to create things. While

playing with playdough she looks at me and says “I’m making you something, its cooking”.

Another activity she seems to be interested in from my observation is puzzles. She worked on

them multiple times during my observation and although they are sometimes difficult for her to

complete she never gives up until she completes the entire puzzle with no help from anyone else.

During my observation she seemed to be hesitant to interact with me at first but after the

first day she seemed to act like I was just another teacher in the classroom. After a few days in

the classroom she would ask me for help opening something, to help her tie her shoes, she would

even hold my hand when walking down the hallway. This lines up with the domain SE.48.01

which says that children three to four years old should be able to “engage in interactions with

less familiar adults” (CT ELDS).

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Throughout my observation Vanessa proved to be on track with physical development in

multiple areas. The first domain that can be compared to my observation of her is PH.60.08.

This domain states that four to five year old children should be able to “Typically manage own

dressing, toileting and basic hygiene” (CDELDS). Before every meal time she independently

washes her hands and finds her name tag. She also is able to use the bathroom multiple times per

day without any assistance from her teachers.

Another area of physical development that I related to my observation of Vanessa was

PH.60.6 which states that at four to five years old children should be able to “Open most

containers to remove food” (CTELDS). She showed many examples of this throughout my

observation including opening containers that her lunch is packed in, helping a friend open a bag

of Cheez-Its and helping another friend open a cheese stick. However, she also shows that she is

still growing in this domain because she has trouble peeling her orange so she asks for help. A

few days later when she has an orange again she is able to open it and says to Miss Barbara

“Look! I can open my orange now!” She also is able to pour water from a small pitcher into a

small cup without spilling anything on the table.

She also shows to be on track in the domain PH.60.02 which states that children four to

five years old should be able to “Coordinate more complex movements with increasing control,

balance and accuracy” (CTELDS). This is shown when observed climbing on the jungle gym

and pumping the swing at recess. Another example is when the class chooses to ride tricycles as

their indoor recess on a rainy day. She is able to follow the obstacle course going between cones

and taking turns around signs without hesitation or difficulty. This domain is also shown when

they do the hokey pokey during circle time as a whole-group activity.

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Another two whole-group activities that showed this domain were morning yoga and

parachute. When the class participated in yoga Vanessa is able to follow along to the music

which tells them what positions to be in (i.e. downward dog, sun salutation). During parachute

Vanessa was able to make waves with the parachute to keep a ball from falling out, pull it up

over her head and bring it back down to create a pocket of air in the center so that people could

run underneath, and she was able to herself run underneath, dance in the center of the circle, and

then run back out before the parachute fell down.

Vanessa also showed to be on track with physical domains PH.60.03 and PH.60.04 which

say that children four to five years old should be able to manipulate materials while using proper

hand positions, have control over writing implements, copy simple forms and geometric shapes

and write some letters. I observed her manipulating playdough to form shapes and objects,

putting together puzzles by manipulating the pieces to see which ones fit where and to see how

they matched up with the other pieces. Almost every day during my observation Vanessa would

at some point throughout the day do a puzzle. Although it seems to be difficult for her at times

she likes to do them on her own. She will manipulate the pieces by turning them, moving them,

and attempting to put two together until she gets the correct pieces. She continues this process

until the entire puzzle is completed. This is also an example of Vanessa thinking of and using

alternative strategies when a first attempt at solving a problem is unsuccessful which is what

domain C.48.09 says children should be able to do by ages three to four years old.

Another example of her using domains PH.60.03 and PH.60.04 is that she is able to write

letters. This is shown when in small groups they do letter of the week worksheets. They are told

to trace the letter and then copy it multiple times so that Miss Danielle could see that they are
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able to do it and that they know the letter. They also have to circle the two pictures out of three

on the worksheet that begin with the letter they are working on.

During my observation of Vanessa she showed examples of being toward the lower end

of her age range for Language and Literacy. The first example of this is that she does not quite

line up with domain L.60.01 instead she seems to still line up with domain L.48.01. This means

she can understand words and signs for objects, actions, and attributes found in real and

symbolic context. This is apparent when after reading a book during circle time about the Easter

bunny she is able to relate a bunny to Easter. Another example of this is when she is able to

relate a shamrock to St. Patrick’s Day after they create shamrock wands in small groups as part

of their indoor recess activities.

At snack time one of the days I was observing I watch Vanessa struggle to open her

orange. After attempting to open it multiple times she finally asks a friend for help. Not only

does she know when to ask for help from peers but she also often offers to help her peers when

they are struggling. For example, when one of her classmates cannot get a granola bar open she

notices and asks if they need help. She successfully opens the bar and hands it back to her

classmate. These are prime examples of domain SE.60.18.

Throughout my observation Vanessa seemed to be on par with almost every domain that I

looked at and compared to my observation of her. The only domain she seems to struggle in is

her Language and Literacy domains. However, this delay makes sense because English is not

her first language Spanish is, which is also the language she speaks at home with her parents and

her brother.