Motor Development Observation for Preschoolers

Motor Development Observation for Preschoolers

For this assignment, you will need:

-A child between the ages of 3-5 years (not your own child)

-Running Record form

-Developmental Range form

-Permission to Observe/Confidentiality form (use if you need to make arrangements)

-Download and save a copy of NC Foundations for Learning and Development -- For this particular assignment, students will use pgs. 75-76 Goal HPD-4 or HPD-5 (Print out the pages you will be using –see below)

*Help: It may be helpful to review or take with you a copy of pages 75/76 to give you an idea of the types of activities you could observe.

1. For this assignment, choose a child between the ages of 3 to 5 years. You may use a child in your family or ask someone to let you observe their child at play or visit a motor specific play area where you discreetly choose a child (no permission form required) playing based on the goal you choose. You do not need to use the real name of the child for this assignment.

2. Choose a goal: small muscle HPD-5 or large muscle HPD-4 and document this goal at the top of the Running Record form.

3. Observe the child for at least 15 minutes and record your observations on the running record form (a copy is also located in Blackboard). You will want to observe the child doing something that requires them to use either their large motor or small motor skills, depending on the goal you have chosen. For example, if you are watching a child run and climb on the playground, you will be observing for the large motor skills development. If you are watching a child cut with scissors and draw, you are observing the fine motor skills.

4. After the observation, complete the Range Indicator (shade in all the spaces up to the observed skill level of the child).

Summary and Reflection (please see the supporting documents on reflections and summaries provided in Blackboard):

Summary paragraph:

· *Describe why you chose the child in the observation? (use developmental vocabulary)

· Which motor skill did you choose to observe? Large or small? Why?

· Where did the child fall on the range indicator sheet, (beginning, middle, end or between two ages)? Explain with elaboration.

· Which of the behaviors (actions of the child) you observed gave you evidence as to where the child was developmentally? Describe the behaviors.

Reflection paragraph:

· *Describe what you learned from this observation assignment. Did you find it helpful, easy, or difficult, etc.? Explain.

· What do you wonder about the child’s future development, long-term and short term? List and describe in detail at least two (2) thoughts that you have for what you wonder (elaborate on one long-term thought and one short-term thought).

*Describe: I am looking for you to exhaust your thoughts into details that include the use of vocabulary from the text along with: what you see and hear, what happened, what was important about your observations, why you chose this child, event, place, etc., final thoughts, feelings, the connections you can make to your own life or the life of someone else close/important to you, connections to what was learned in the text.