Reference no: EM133195195
Review: Child Observation Assignment Instructions
For this assignment, you will either:
1) Observe a young child in your household. You may only choose this option if you live with the child and are sheltering in place with them.
OR
2) Choose a YouTube video of you choice with a child you can observe for several minutes. The child should be between the ages of 2-5
OR
3) Choose a child from a book, television show, or movie. The character should be between the ages of 2-5.
For option 1, complete the following steps:
- Discuss this assignment with the child's parent (unless it is your own child)
- Inform the parent that you are not observing the child from the position of an expert.
- Explain that you are a Lifespan Development student and are merely observing the child for a class assignment.
- Tell the parent that you will not be using the child's name in the report
- Observe the child for at least 30 minutes
For option 2:
- Find a video of a child interacting with other children, if possible. Otherwise, the child needs to be interacting with at least one other person.
- Try to find a video that is at least 7-10 minutes long
For option 3:
- Pretend like you observed the character
- Describe the setting and circumstances in which you "observed" the character
For all options, record (or pretend that you recorded) any data related to the following domains:
- Physical development
- Estimate weight/height
- Gross motor skills
- Fine motor skills
- Other physical characteristics or activities
- Cognitive Development
- Language use
- Creativity
- Decision making
- Judgment
- Social Emotional Development
- Emotions (positive/negative and how handled)
- Psychosocial stage (you must include this for full credit in this area)
- Social interactions
- Self-Concept
- Temperament
- Cultural Influences
- Parenting practices
- Multiple languages
- Gender roles
4) Write a narrative report of what you observed of the child. Use complete sentences and paragraphs. In your report:
- Introduction with child's demographic information (age, gender, family arrangement - if known, and/or identify primary caregivers)
- State that you received permission to complete the observation, if applicable
- Discuss observations and divide into sections based on
- Physical domains
- Cognitive domains
- Social/emotional domains
- Cultural influences
Be sure to use formal, clinical, development language in your report. You must incorporate vocabulary from the textbook into your report.