Observation Description

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Child Growth and Development

Yohana Mangiafico

Houston Community College

TECA 1354: Child Growth and Development

Linda Jones

March 26, 2022

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My neighbor’s son is a seven-year-old child who has progressed to second grade and is

becoming less reliant on his parents. He is a bright and athletic child who can ride a bike, roller

skate, and play badminton and table tennis. The child is attentive and can read, recount stories,

and do puzzles with ease. He is physically fit, standing 3 feet 12 inches tall and weighing 24

pounds. The body of a child grows and changes as it prepares to become an adult (Papalia &

Martorell, 2018). Seven years is a remarkable age, especially for boys, because it marks the end

of the newborn years and the beginnings of adulthood. He is, nevertheless, going through a

seven-year crisis, a period of change in which the child gains a new perspective on the world. It

enables him to advance to the next stage of his growth. Both at home and on the playground, the

observation was made. This case study is based on observing and analyzing changes in a seven-

year-old boy's physical, psychosocial, emotional, and cognitive development.

The boy spends roughly an hour and a half every day on the playground. He interacts

with the kids, runs with them, jumps, plays the ball, and hangs from the crossbar. The muscles of

the legs, arms, chest, and back are all actively developed, according to the findings. He grows

tough and robust, and he can walk for several kilometers. He can change the speed of his

movement by running slowly or swiftly. He can hop over minor barriers and shift direction

without slowing down while in motion. He can jump forward, up, to the sides, and over tiny

obstacles on one foot. He climbs up and down the stairwell and the rope ladder with ease. The

child has no developmental limitations and can readily hang from the crossbar. He also has no

trouble socializing and communicating with his classmates and other youngsters on the

playground.

Observing him on the playground, it is apparent that the child has reached a high degree

of physical development. He develops strength, endurance, and dexterity needs constant

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exercise. While participating in sports, he understands and respects the rules of team games as

well as the coach's needs.There is also active growth of tiny hand muscles, as well as phalange

ossification in the thumb and index fingers. This process is aided by the added tension placed on

the fingers at school since the boy has complained of wrist aches on multiple occasions.

The boy's cognitive and intellectual abilities have also changed, according to the

observation made. The most apparent of these is his fascination with new, unfamiliar words. Not

only does the youngster try to repeat them, but he also strives to comprehend their significance.

As can be seen, the boy has developed imaginative thinking. He can not only recall the name of

the unknown object, but he can also see it in great detail. The toddler may create experiments

and solve complex issues in his imagination. He can readily discriminate between distinct sounds

and detect differences between two words that appear to be identical. Parents encourage him to

play a variety of word games in order to improve his talent. He can focus on a single task for 25-

30 minutes and complete it. He reads and writes well as a second grader, and he draws and paints

geometric forms appropriately. He can repeat a long story, count to 100 in both directions, and

answer logical issues with ease. While acquiring more complicated terms and reading a variety

of genres of literature, he continues to improve his literacy and reading comprehension skills.

In terms of his psychosocial development, he appears to adjust quickly to new situations.

The boy requests adult assistance with some duties and indicates a desire to assist his parents. He

has analytical skills, according to the observations, because he can successfully comprehend the

presented assignment, evaluate the situation, and reach a conclusion based on his knowledge. Of

course, this isn't fully developed logic and reasoning, but the earliest attempts to evaluate are

crucial for critical thinking development. He can easily engage in educational activities and can

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even complete things that he finds uninteresting without being distracted by a play or other

distractions.

However, such drastic changes in a child's mentality have an impact on his conduct and

perspective on life. The observer notices that the boy is going through a seven-year-old crisis,

which is linked to the shift from childlike to conscious adult behavior. He imitates and copies

grownups around him from time to time. It indicates that he is experimenting with different

social roles. As a result, he has mood swings and is easily irritated. His age group desires

autonomy and independence, as well as a level playing field with adults and the freedom to make

significant decisions on their own. The observer also saw that the youngster is terrified of

rejection and that being liked and accepted is essential to him. To gain favorable attention, he

tries to please adults and children at school and on the playground. This is especially noticeable

when he brings a variety of intriguing items and toys to the playground to get his peers to have a

good attitude toward him. However, such behavior has detrimental implications because other

youngsters tend to love the boy's possessions rather than the boy himself.

A seven-year-old kid has a fully formed personality who attends school and can learn and

assimilate a substantial amount of information in a methodical manner. At the same time, he is

still a child who requires playtime. He also wants his parents' and peers' affection and approval.

He has become fragile by the age of seven, and he keenly perceives his failures and parental

criticism. These changes are accompanied by a seven-year crisis, as well as an outpouring of

obstinacy, impatience, and capriciousness. The youngster retains many childish characteristics,

such as playfulness and naivety, but his behavior is already losing its childish spontaneity. He

thinks and perceives information in a different way. Most importantly, he begins to comprehend

his position in society.

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References

Malik, M. (2018). Play and cognitive development: Formal operational perspective of Piaget’s

theory.Journal of Education and Practice.

Desmet, P, & Fokkinga, S. (2020). Beyond Maslow’s pyramid: Introducing a typology of thirteen

fundamental needs for human-centered design. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction.

Knight, G. (2017). A proposed model of psychodynamic psychotherapy linked to Erik Erikson’s eight

stages of psychosocial development. Clinical Psychology & Psychotheray.

Papalia, D, & Martorell, G. (2018). Experience human development. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.