Part A

1. The child was a young boy around the age of one and a half to two years old (18-24
months). He was just getting dropped off by his father in a classroom filled with around sev-
en kids the same age range as he is. I stayed and observed the young boy for about an
hour and a half.
2. The boy and his father came in to the classroom as I have been there for about five minutes.
Both the boy and the dad was fairly quiet coming in the classroom as I did not even notice
them come in until I saw the dad walking to the cubbies to put his son’s backpack away. As I
thought things were going well, when the dad put the boy down and started heading out, the
boy let out a howling scream. I looked at the teacher in charge as well as at the dad as I
nearly jumped out of my skin from the sound. The father just kept walking out the door while
the kid cried and tried to follow his dad outside. The teacher then carried him away from the
door, trying to coo him. I believe that the boy cried for at least twenty minutes while he was
being held by a teacher sitting on a chair.

Part B

3. According to ITC on page 98, the child might probably be experiencing “separation anxiety”.
Although the child seems older and should not be experiencing that certain type of attach-
ment in a very strong sense all children are the same. The child seemed to not be able to let
go of his dad for various reasons. It could be that he is in a room full of strangers despite
seeing these kids several times a week or maybe that he thinks his dad has left him for
good.
4. The father did not say or do anything despite the loud cries of his son. I do believe that it
was due to his son doing this every single time he is being dropped off according to his
teacher, so the father must have been used to it.
5. The teacher that was attending the boy was flustered and exhausted. She has been running
around, trying to watch, teach, clean everyone and her room while the boy follows her and
cry every now and then. The teacher then put on a music through the speakers and gave
the boy and the other children pieces of string, paper, and a dollop of glue. This kept the
children busy including the little boy. He stopped following the teacher and stopped crying as
well.
6. Since the dad left as soon as he could, I could not tell anything else about him besides that
he knew what his son will do as soon as his father leaves.

Part C

7. Once the boy finished crying, he would not leave the teacher that was clutching onto him the
whole time he was crying. He would either cry again if the teacher does not give him atten-
tion or would push other children and yell “My teacher!” to the other students the teacher
would be attending to. He would also follow the teacher around just to make sure she would
not go anywhere.
8. The boy was extremely attached to whomever would give him the love and attention he
craves. After crying over his dad leaving, the boy turned to his teacher who hugged him until
he stopped crying as someone who will give him the attention he wanted. He noticed that
the teacher had the patience to wait until he will finally stop crying and probably thought of
the teacher as a temporary mother/father at that moment.
Part D

9. I learned many things during this short observation. Every child is different and most of
those children who are being cared for by other people that are not their parents are usually
at loss of attention. I learned that those children who would cry and are often “bad” for a lack
of a better term tend to be extremely attached to their parents yet those parents are often
too busy for the children and forget that these kids need and crave love and attention.
10. From reading ITC, I learned and would recommend to parents that sneaking away from their
attached children may not be the best solution. It is always better to teach the children that
saying good-bye is not a permanent thing and it would hopefully give them some closure
(ITC, 98). For the caregiver, it is often unavoidable that a kid will be attached to them for a
remainder of the time but despite probably making the children cry, it would be great for the
teacher to sit down and talk to the attached child that he is in a safe place, he will and is
fine, and she/he (the teacher) is everyone else’s teacher and that he should learn how to
share.