Preschool Observation at CCLC Daycare Case Study

Preschool Observation at CCLC Daycare - Case Study Example He dislikes arts and crafts. I chose Tomi to observe because of his reaction when I dropped my pencil at the beginning of the observation. Tomi was the only child who looked over at the sound; he picked it up and handed it to me, getting my attention with that gesture of kindness. I could tell with that one action that Tomi was both observant and sociable, and the observation that followed confirmed this instinct. It was just after naptime when I arrived, and the children were picking up their rest things. Tomi was doing so very neatly, gently placing his blanket on the table and handing his rest mat to his teacher. When he was finished with this, he walked over to another child who was still sleeping. He knelt down and woke her up, saying "Hey, it's a wake-up time, wake up!† His friend stirred and woke up, and as soon as her eyes were open, he asked her if she needed his help. This showed me that Tomi is able to identify with others' needs, which places him at an advanced leve l within the context of Piaget's theories. At the pre-operational level, most children have difficulty identifying with others, but Tomi's tendency to be helpful without prompting shows that perhaps he is beginning to be able to take on others' perspectives. When Tomi began wandering around the room again, he found a few friends who were already awake and packed up, and started talking with them. The subject of Ninja Turtles came up, and Tomi talked about them animatedly. I was able to observe a great deal about his speech and language development during this time. Tomi uses full sentences of about 5 to 6 words each. He uses past tense correctly, talking about what one of the Ninja Turtles did during an episode of the cartoon. He is able to tell a simple story, using a two-sentence description of what one of the Turtles did in the same episode. In speech and language, Tomi appears to be at a normal developmental level. Snack time followed rest. Cheese and crackers were served, but T omi asked his teacher for only cheese because he didn't want the cracker. He made this request very politely, and his teacher was happy to oblige. This showed an ability to make requests to meet his needs and use polite terms like â€Å"please,† which he did, placing him at a developmentally appropriate level. When Tomi finished his snack, he found a cube of cheese on the floor and he ate it. He did this without seeming to perceive that anyone might not think it an appropriate thing to do; he didn't check to see if the teacher was looking or act secretive. Without knowing whether or not he has been told not to eat things off the floor, it is difficult to infer cognitive ability from this action. However, it does show an ability to reason logically: Cheese is tasty, that cheese is there, I will eat it. As the children cleaned up their snack, Christmas songs were playing in the background. When Tomi was finished cleaning, he started dancing around the room to the music. When hi s teacher noticed, she asked him to go back to his place. I couldn't help wishing she had complimented his dancing or remarked that he must be enjoying the music before she asked him to stop dancing. He seemed very free and excited, and I wanted someone to share his joy.