Childhood Observation

Introduction Childhood is a journey, not a race. Every individual mature and develop uniquely at different pace and meet milestones in domains such as physical, cognitive and emotional-social. The observable milestones act as an assessment tool of the child’s immerging and emerged developments and thus creates a channel for the educator to plan objectives and goals according to the needs of the child. As children actively explore and perceive their surroundings, they constantly reflect, retain and add new knowledge to their schemas through trial and error and free play (Berk, 2013). Therefore, this observation focuses and serves as a guide to recognise and understand the observed child’s physical and cognitive responses that influence her

Physically, she appeared well nourished and has good stamina and strength, evident through daily observations. As pre-schoolers actively explore and learn with their various body parts, his or her motor development is based on his or her ability to move around and control the various parts of their body (Ahola and Kovacik, 2007). Likewise, child LP is perceived to have good control of her body as she ran, jumped, hopped, kicked and walked freely without falls. For example, she displayed good control and coordination while getting off the tricycle, using her left foot for stability. Child LP is developing well in her gross motor skills as she is observed to have good balance and body coordination as evident in her ability to participate well in outdoors with skills and enthusiasm. For someone of three years of age, she has met her physical milestones of walking with agility and steady gait, running smoothly, riding and steering the tricycle smoothly (Berk, 2013). Speed and fast agility were evident as she pedalled speedily and smoothly (AR 1, line 20) and great power while hopping on both feet continuously (AR 1, line

Similarly, educating the demands of the hopscotch game to the child and placing cones alone the line could be implemented. This prevents injuries to the lower body and cultivates the appropriate hopping style. Lastly, warming up and stretching exercises that require body control could be conducted in schools weekly to create awareness of body control, flexibility and movement stability. The use of pencil grip is suggested to enhance child LP’s configuration of pencil grip. As children as young as three-year old are yet to develop the tripod grip, supporting the proper development of pencil grip will cultivate the appropriate grip habit over time. To improve dexterity and skill in her dominant hand, activities such as engagement in scribbles, finger plays, puppetry, tearing apart paper, gluing and use of manipulative toys could be carried out during free periods or planned for learning centre corners. As she is still exploring in the first and second stage of pencil grip, it is essential to highlight to her parents the importance of proper pencil grip which prevents future finger injuries and competence in drawing, colouring and writing skills. Similarly, suggesting tracing activities or sensory activities such as sand or flour tracing to parents is