Kara Blevins

ECD 160

11/12/18
School Age Observation

For this observation, I observed a school-age boy. The first thing I noticed was that he

was definitely shorter than all of the boys, and even most of the girls. When he first came off the

school bus he immediately ran through every puddle outside, then ran up to me to ask my name.

The boy continued to ask my name throughout the time I observed him. The first thing the

teacher had the children do was to line up to use the restroom. The boy I observed would not

stand in line, but instead would try and open the exit door at the back of the classroom. When he

tried to enter the classroom after using the restroom, his teacher wouldn’t allow him until he was

quiet. After he finally quieted down he could then join the others for snack time. He sat very still

at snack time for the beginning, and even said please and thank you when asking and receiving

more snack. The teacher praised him every time he used his manners. After a while he began

playing with the chair next to him by pulling it out and in, he claimed he was using “the force.”

He cleaned up after himself when he finished his snack, but forgot to push his chair in, which his

teacher reminded him to do next time. He was supposed to go sit on the carpet and read a book

until the other had finished their snack, but instead of following his teachers instructions he just

wandered around the room. Eventually, his teacher saw what he was doing and told him he had

to go find a book to read. He chose a chapter book to read that was a little too advanced. Instead

of reading the book he repeated, “I am reading a chapter book!” The other children told him

there was no way he was able to read the book, which made him stay very quiet for the rest of

the reading time. A while later he played ball on the carpet with three other children. The other

children were not including him in their game because he wouldn’t sit still and would take a

long time to throw the ball. The boy I observed told his teacher they weren’t playing with him, so
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ECD 160

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she said she would come over and monitor the game. They all played nicely for a few minutes

until the boy I was observing started sitting in the middle of the circle. The teacher told him

multiple times to move from the center of the circle but he did not move. She gave him the

option of sitting on the left or right, or he could just sit out completely. He chose to move from

the center and sit on the right almost immediately. The teacher told him he had made a smart

choice. The boy I observed also said he felt like his dad was never going to pick him up and that

he would be stuck there forever. After his teacher assured him his dad would pick him up he

decided to go and draw. His drawing consisted of multiple squiggly lines with a circle that has an

X in the middle. To finish out the day the boy and I played Candyland at the end of class. During

the game, he followed all the rules and played very well!

The boy I observed was in the preoperational stage. His language development was great,

he formed grammatically correct sentences and began asking many questions. He also showed

egocentrism as he was playing ball and holding onto it, rather than having a game with his

friends. By holding onto the ball and not playing with the others, it showed he was unable to see

the situation from his friends point of view. Though he was close in age to the concrete

observational stage, I believe this child was still in the preoperational stage considering he lacked

logic, reversibility, and conservation. For his age, this child had great motor skills. He was

constantly walking, jumping, catching, crawling, and reaching for objects. With the artwork he

did, he seemed slightly behind. I would say he was in Kellog’s design stage. This stage is defined

as when children take two basic shapes and combine them into a more complex design

(Santrock, 230). The age range for this stage is usually 3-4, except the boy I observed was a bit
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ECD 160

11/12/18
older. The drawing he drew was very much in the design stage as it was a circle with an X shape

in the middle.

Overall, this was the first observation where the child I observed was behind either

cognitively or physically. He was not only smaller than all of the other boys, but he also acted in

the preoperational stage while the rest of the children could be considered to be in the concrete

operational stage. He was able to follow directions to some extent but was constantly acting out.

I noticed when the teacher was giving him praise or very strict options on what he could do, like

sitting on the right or left, he was able to make better decisions. Another example was when the

boy and I played Candyland and he was able to follow the rules of the game, he did very well

with one-on-one instruction and help. However, his motor skills seemed to be perfect. I also

believe he portrayed a low-self-confidence. A lot of times he would not try to read or try to

understand the game his friends had made up. I think it is possible he believed he wasn’t able to

do it and didn’t even give these things a chance. Whenever the other children would point out

that he was “misbehaving” or wasn’t playing correctly he would get very quiet and not speak for

a few minutes. For the first school age interview question I asked the boy what animal would he

want to be and why. He said he wanted to be a bird because they can fly, eat bird food from a

feeder, and lay eggs. For the second question I asked him what his favorite thing about being a

kid was. He responded by saying he gets to play and is able to fit in smaller places than adults.

For the third question I asked him what the nicest thing he did for someone was. He said he gave

his family hugs. I was hoping to see if he was able to read during the time his teacher sent him to

get a book, but he chose one that was way too advanced and never ended up reading it. I
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definitely feel as if this child was behind in some aspects and that possibly had to do with how

much he acted out throughout the time I observed.

Reference:
Santrock, John H. (2019). Children. Dallas, TX: McGraw-Hill Education.