Introduction
This observation involves a child’s parents, two siblings, one of them slightly younger and the other one slightly older than the child, and a child who appear to be around 7-8 years of age. The family is relaxing in a playing ground that is within the home compound. The ground is well kept and is green all through over. There are flowers at the corner of the ground and next to the house. Apart from the three children who are shouting while playing, the atmosphere is cool. He children are playing joyfully. The playing ground is located few meters from home. The child under study is a boy wearing black pair of shorts, blue shirt, black pair of shoes, and grey pair of socks. His younger sibling is wearing grey dress while his older one is wearing khaki pair of shorts, white shirt and a pair of black shoes. This is a Hispanic family, and the observation is taking place in a home. The name of the child under observation is John.
The couple is Mr. and Mr. Clarke. They reside in New York City. The length of observation is 45 minutes. The couple happens to be family friend and I had gone there for a visit. The child under study is of medium height; about 100m, light skinned, and has and appears to be weighing about 20kg. According to the parents, the child has no health problem, and both his bladder and bowel are functioning well. The child is expected to have 24 teeth. The three children are playing with toys. Both parents are located few meters from where the children are playing from. They are speaking in a soft tone while observing their children playing. They appear to be happy. It is summer season and the weather is sunny though it is not hot as it is morning hours, around 9.30 am. While playing, the children are engaging in shouting and singing. They are running to and from their parents Both parents are however engaging themselves in conversations. About ten minutes later, the father leaves his sitting position and at that time, the boy stops playing with other kids, and ran to her mother. The other children continue playing for a short time period before breaking, and joining the boy and the mother. The children appears very happy while speaking with the mother alone than when his father was round. They appear more attached to the mother. There is proper coordination of his motor function. He picks the toys with no difficulties. He is able to walk and jump with ease and has no difficulties while running
The child is in the stage of competence versus inferiority. This is the stage where children perform various tasks. Some of these tasks are taught by the teacher while others are learnt from the peer group which they use. The child’s self-esteem is also gained in this stage. Gaining approval is common at this stage and the children do this by relying on adults for that. Boys appear to lean on their mothers for much of the approval unlike girls who lean on their fathers. Any encouragement makes the child feel confident to perfect his skills. As observed, the child kept on telling the mother about how he is playing and how he is winning over his siblings. This is a clear indication that the child wanted to be approved. While playing, the child at time argued with his sibling. He would report them to the mother wherever that happened. There are times when he was happy and joyful. During this time, the child participated fully in the play and was seen cooperating. The relationship between the child and his siblings is both positive and negative. It was observed that the relationship was good wherever none of the children took his toy. As indicated earlier on, the child appeared to have fear wherever relating with the father. However, he is relating well with the mother.
As Piaget puts it, play development takes place in the child. The child has already mastered all objects he requires to play with (Meggitt 2007). Play at this stage occurs in a repeated manner. The focus of the play is first at end but this change to means as the play goes on. Through play, there is change of distress meaning. At this stage, the unfulfilled desires of the child are the ones motivate the child to play. The child is especially has games obsession. There is also satisfaction that the children gain from playing (Child development 2007).
At this stage, the child has insight observation as well as depth thinking about things he experiences or learns at school or at home. Communication can be set through conversation between the child and adults, for example at school or at home. There is development of money interest at this age (Child development 2007). The child under observation was at one time asking for money from the mother to buy sweets. There is increased attention by the child and the concentration level is also high. There is also opinion expression by the children at this stage. From the observation, the child expressed his dissatisfaction with his older sibling taking all the toys with himself.
It is expected that the child is making an effort in reading. There is a switch by the child to reading from learning (Child development 2007). The child however enjoys reading his favorite book. The child also becomes obsessed with certain books. The child too is expected to have developed writing skills with logical beginning. There is also development of a vocabulary which is sophisticated. The child at this stage wills also able to come up with solution for problems which are simple and this is through thinking. There is also development of curiosity among them.
Communication is well developed and the child is able to express his views in well-constructed statements. The child is expected to speak effortlessly as well as clearly in home used language. He is expected to have developed the ability to tell riddles and jokes. The child is also expected to enjoying using tongue twister and metaphors. There is confidence in them while using telephone (Child development 2007). The child is also expected to have developed the ability to use suffix and prefix. There is word combination to form passive and active sentences. There is difficulty when it comes to understanding sentences which are passive (Meggitt 2007). When it comes to narrations as well as story there is great improvement. They are also expected to have developed the ability to use linking words such as now, then, when among others. Pronoun use is also expected to have improved. The main cultural observation is there are no children from the neighborhood to play with the boy. This leaves him to play with the siblings alone
Among the challenges I encountered include lack of enough time as the family was in a hurry to leave for a party. There was continuous interruption from the children.
Summary
In summary, the child in observation is expected to have developed various skills. There are a number of changes that the child does experience in this stage. At this stage, there is object mastery by the child. Any encouragement makes the child feel confident to perfect his skills (Meggitt 2007). As observed, the child kept on telling the mother about how he is playing and how he is winning over his siblings. This is a clear indication that the child wanted to be approved (Child development 2007). The relationship between the child and his siblings is both positive and negative. It was observed that the relationship was good wherever none of the children took his toy. As indicated earlier on, the child appeared to have fear wherever relating with the father (Meggitt 2007). However, he is relating well with the mother. Wherever the boy is talking to the mother, there is relaxation unlike while talking to the father (Child development 2007). He shy off wherever he makes and eye contact with the father and he appears afraid. The same is true with the other children.
While playing, the child at time argued with his sibling. He would report them to the mother wherever that happened. There are times when he was happy and joyful. During this time, the child participated fully in the play and was seen cooperating. The relationship between the child and his siblings is both positive and negative. It was observed that the relationship was good wherever none of the children took his toy. As indicated earlier on, the child appeared to have fear wherever relating with the father. However, he is relating well with the mother.
