Developmental summary

Developmental summary

• 1.
  February 18, 2009 ObservationAssignment Developmental Summary Piper is a four-year-old girl who is a part of a full day/full year preschool program at the Head Start Center on the Westside. She has been a part of this program for the entire school year, and will attend kindergarten next year. Piper knows her role in the classroom; she is able to make her own choices, she is confident in her self-identity, and seeks others to play. Piper asked another child in the classroom, “Hey you, can you play with me?” she continues to instigate play with others daily. Piper would benefit from larger group play, allowing her to take on different roles and focus more on the group rather than being the leader of the play. Piper is able to express herself emotionally to her peers and the teachers; she also instigates and encourages hugs with others, and is continuously smiling in the classroom. Piper has been documented telling friends, “Stop it,” when they are invading her space or making her sad. She could benefit from more second step curriculum at circle times, this will encourage her to expand her feeling vocabulary and steer away from just using sad, mad, and happy to express herself. Piper is able to join play, instigate play, and observe others in different play situations. She seems to enjoy socializing with the children, the visitors, the parents, and the teachers in the classroom. She also shows concern for others and is able to ask, “Are you okay.” She was observed asking a friend, “Do you want to make a pumpkin with me?” in a very positive manner. She would benefit from playing with others who like to take the lead in the play, allowing Piper to focus on following someone else’s script.
• 2.
  Piper has welldeveloped large motor skills. She is confident in running, jumping, riding bikes, and climbing big toys. She was observed running around an oval path and jumping up and down repeatedly while waiting in line. She would benefit from large motor games outside, giving her an opportunity to continue developing her muscles while focusing on following directions, watching her body movements, and watching cues from others. Piper has very strong small motor muscles. She is able to write her name, make different creations with play dough, and pick small objects up with control. She stated that she writes with her right hand and showed through observations that she is able to pour her own water and write letters that aren’t in her name. She would benefit from more opportunities to write and explore with letters; she seems to enjoy doing this and often seeks out ways in the classroom to focus on her literacy development. Piper is definitely cognitively aware of what is happening in the classroom, and she knows how to verbalize this to others. When the clean-up bell rang she was the first child to yell, “Clean-up, five minutes.” She would benefit from more opportunities to focus on serration and sequencing, she enjoys being challenged and asks the teachers to pull down certain developmental activities that are designed to encourage critical thinking. Piper is developmentally advanced when it comes to her pre-writing and pre- reading skills. She is able to recognize every letter in the alphabet, (they don’t have to be in order), write them with ease, and is now working on writing her friend’s names. She also understands that reading takes place from left to right, for example: while
• 3.
  she was readingthe ladybug story she moved her finger across the page from left to right. She would benefit from opportunities where she would be able to tell stories while looking at the pictures to her peers, allowing her to focus on more pre-reading skills in a very powerful way. Piper is very creative with her art and the different types of imaginative play that she engages in. She is able to draw different shapes, create many scripts and roles for her friends and herself, and uses objects in the classroom creatively. She was observed using a keyboard to write down the jobs for her pretend kitties in the classroom. She would benefit from opportunities where other children can give her pretend roles, allowing her to follow someone else’s script and watch other children be the leaders in play. Piper’s overall development is on a very positive track, with progression that can be observed and documented. She seems to enjoy all of the aspects that the preschool program has to offer.