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Child Observation - Get to Know a Child!

Miriam Sanchez

University of Massachusetts Global

ECED 302: Social and Emotional Competence in Early Childhood Education

Professor Stacy Silva

November 21, 2021

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Background.

The child I chose is N. He is a 12-month-old boy whose race is Asian and his ethnicity is

Vietnamese. Their home language is Vietnamese and English. He started at the center at 8.5

months which he had more exposure to the English language. N lives with his mom, dad, and his

grandparents. The reason why I chose Noah is that he is so sweet and loving. His mother is so

sweet as well, we get along really well. Since I have a positive relationship with the mother I

wanted to observe her child which was perfect for this assignment. He’s from a different culture

from me and he’s the only Asain boy in the center he’s at.

Learning Story:

a. Write a story of what the child is doing, adding your perspective

N crawls to the trash can and holds on to it to help him stand up. He then bends down and crawls

to the door. He smiles. One of his teachers walks out and N begins to cry and lays on the floor. A

friend comes up to him and touches his back. N begins to cry again. N’s other teacher comes and

picks him up. They began dancing and his teacher sings to him. She puts him down and she

continued to sing and dance. N looks at her and smiles.

b. Read the story to the child, listening for his or her comments and feedback

When I read the story to N he smiled

c. Plan how you would extend the play

The way I would extend the play is by telling N “It’s your turn to dance” and encouraging him to

keep dancing.
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d. Share the story with the child’s family when you conduct the family interview,

and listen for their feedback

When I shared the story to his mother she said “Aww how cute”. She’s so thankful that his

teachers are always interacting with her baby and to continue doing so.

Analysis and Planning Reflection:

e. What two of the six life skills would you most like to support for this child? After

choosing two skills, answer the following questions (this is the beginning of your

planning)

Two of the life skills I’d like to support this child is self-regulation and collaboration.

i. Based on your observations, why did you choose these two skills?

I chose these two skills because I feel it’s what he needs more support on. The self-regulation

skills take time to develop. He also needs more support on collaboration skills because he tends

to play solo.

ii. Which interaction strategies would you use to support these two life

skills?

A strategy I would use to support self-regulation is to be responsive in a timely manner.

A strategy I would use to support collaboration is to encourage playing with or by another child.

iii. Which classroom culture strategies would you use to help develop these

life skills?

For self-regulation, a classroom culture strategy to support this skill would be to have them bring

something meaningful to them to the classroom so they can use it to self-soothe.

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For collaboration, a strategy would be to model collaboration skills by co-teaching the class. This

will encourage the child to collaborate with his peers.

iv. Which classroom environmental strategies would you use to help develop

these skills?

Fo self-regulation, a classroom environmental strategy would be to expose the child to a wide

range of self-soothing materials like a blanket or his favorite toy in the classroom. Another

would be to read a book about feelings.

For collaboration, a classroom environmental strategy would be to encourage the child to stay in

the play area to interact with his peers.

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Observation Notes: Getting to Know You Form

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