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Kathleen Kelly

Rosemarie Dugi

EDU221

10/24/2020

FIELD EXPERIENCE #1 (DESCRIPTION OF STUDENT)

Let me introduce you to a 5-year-old kindergartener. We will call her Samantha (identity

protected). Samantha is the daughter of a friend of a friend of a family member. Samantha’s

birthday is coming up in December. She will turn 6 years old. Samantha is a beautiful young girl

with curly black hair and dark skin. Her mom is African American and Her dad is Hispanic. She

is average height but is very lanky.

Samantha’s family is a part of the working class. They are comfortable but work hard to

make a living. Mom is currently in school to become a RN while dad makes minimum wage at a

pharmacy. They are a family of four: Mom, Dad, Samantha (5), and D’Artagnan (1). Samantha

says she loves her younger brother. She enjoys playing with him and telling him about what she

learned. Samantha also said that is was hard when her little brother came home. She lost all the

attention she was used to and had a hard time adjusting.

Samantha loves to make art projects with her mom. Her mom paints when she has time

and is teaching Samantha how to use fingerpaints! Samantha also loves to play games with her

dad. She said that her dad plays a lot of games on the tv and she likes when he shares them with

her. Sometimes she feels he likes games more. Samantha’s mom describes her as stubborn and
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generous but she has a tendency to get jealous easy. Especially when her little brother is being

needy!

Samantha spends a lot of time with her Aunt and Uncle (Dad’s sister and brother in law).

When her parents have a busy week, he spends the week with her Aunt and Uncle in Surprise.

Her mom and Aunt work together to homeschool Samantha. They partner together to make sure

her education is seamless.

Her learning environment is a hybrid (she uses the computer as well as a physical

environment). She starts her day at 8AM and ends it at 4PM. Her day starts with lessons at her

desk. Then Her Mom or Aunt will transition her onto the computer in the afternoon. The

computer is primarily used as supplementation. However, they also teach her about the basics of

the computer. They also take field trips to the museum, zoo, aquarium, etc. to help her learn by

experiencing. This however has changed since the pandemic began. They now look for museums

that offer online exhibits or tours instead.

While I was observing, I noticed that she really enjoyed the process of learning. Having

her family being hands-on and the demonstrations or physical interactions with the subject

matter really seemed to keep her attention. I did notice though, that she has a hard time sitting

still. When she’s sitting for lessons, Samantha is either fidgeting or bouncing in her seat. Her

attention is also easily diverted. Does this affect how she learns and comprehend her lessons?

This will be one of the things I will pay special attention to during my observations.

Samantha expressed her love of learning new things. She says she likes exploring. She

also said that she doesn’t like homework. She would rather go somewhere or do something else.

I noticed, throughout my observation, that when Samantha first meets someone she is very shy
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almost socially awkward. Once She got used to my presence, She began to open up and move

about more freely. She showed my her artwork and modules. Samantha keeps them as her prized

possessions. They were beautiful! It looked like she put a lot of work into the pieces. They also

showed me that she has a good imagination. She used bright colors and unique shapes to create

visuals of her environment. Paintings of mom hung next to playdoh sculptures of her dog.

Samantha takes a two hour break from 12PM-2PM. This time is allotted for “free” time

and Lunch. During that time, I noticed that she was very energetic still. She was almost bouncing

off the walls. I wonder if being in the home more often due to the pandemic is causing her to

retain more energy? I noticed that a big part of her schooling focused on vocal training. Her mom

expressed that Samantha has speech issues. In fact, I noticed she would struggle to get words or

sentences out when we were talking.

During my first observation I noticed that Her strengths are Her creativity, imagination,

and love of learning new things. Her weaknesses include excess energy and not sitting still as

well as speech issues. I find that I am very awkward at first when observing her. I do not want to

invade her personal space but I need to be able to watch her habits as well.

Sometimes I worry that me watching will cause her to be uncomfortable or feel judged.

Samantha’s socially awkward stages come out when I observe her for long amounts of time. She

begins to get awkward and has a hard time focusing on what she is doing. I am enjoying getting

to know Samantha and her family. There is a necessary balance that I am working on when

observing her.

In conclusion, I still have a few questions concerning Samantha and her learning

environment. They are as follows. What subject does she struggle with and why? What is her
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homework support structure? What subject does she excel in and why? What does she like when

her mom teaches her? And when Her Aunt teaches her? How has the lack of socialization due to

the pandemic affect her? Does being homeschooled affect her socialization? How do her parents

fix the socialization deficit caused by these factors?