Childhood Observation In The Classroom

The aim of the study is to observe children aged 4 having a music lesson conducted by their class teacher. It is focusing on two aspects of development: social and emotional, and physical. The class has 30 children and is divided into 3 color groups of 10: red, yellow and blue. Materials needed in the activity were hula hoops: 3 big red hula hoops, 3 big blue hula hoops, 3 big yellow hula hoops; and a small hula hoop in each color. Each hula hoop represented a home. The big one could contain a maximum of 3 people, and small one could only contain 1 person. When the music plays, children spread out and walk around. When the music stops, children stand inside a hoop based on their color group. There were enough hoops for everyone.

Few social

One motivation for prosocial behavior is empathy. As they strengthen self-awareness, they begin to understand and share others’ feelings. In the second round, a few of them cannot find a home. Two girls from the yellow hoop genuinely invited one child to join them as they noticed there was room for one more person. Besides empathy, Kostelnik et al. (1988) placed it into two categories: cooperation and helpfulness. Helpfulness include the acts of kindness and removing distress. A girl was willing to walk out of the hoop that she was in when she noticed there were an extra person in the group. At that moment, when none was willing to leave, her action removed distress from

To foster cooperation through play, the teacher can add a few rules to the game. Since children were divided into 3 color groups, everyone in the same color needs to have a home. The game is now focusing on cooperation whether than an individual’s ability. They work together to reach the same goal, which is to have all the teammates standing inside a hoop. Thus, the teacher can encourage them to invite others when they still have space in the hoops. While the teacher explains the rules, she can also raise a question that is “what if some students cannot find a home?” This is to stimulate their thinking on social problem solving skills. Teacher can guide them by asking questions or invite a few to be the “little teachers”. Instead of having the class teacher to help the left out ones, the “little teachers” can look for available hoops together with them. Therefore, children without home will not be alone and have bad feeling. At the same time, it enhances empathy on those who voluntary care for others. As for physical development, the teacher can alternate between running, jumping and skipping. Children begin to develop these gross motor skills between 3-5 years-old. Hence, reinforcement on something that a child has already accomplished can increase his or