Physical Observations SLO1: You will relate child observations to the four doma

Physical Observations
SLO1: You will relate child observations to the four domains of development (physical, social, emotional, cognitive). (assessed through observation written reports assignments)
Before you do your observations please read the sections on How to do a Running Record,Running Record Information
IF YOU NEED MORE INFORMATION ABOUT A RUNNING RECORD PLEASE SEE ME
The goal of a running record is to capture a student’s activity as it happens, gauging both their performance and behavior in any given task. Objectivity is crucial here, as an observer must write down exactly what is happening. To do so takes focus and some practice.
Running records are most often used to assess reading skills, but they can have a wide range of different applications. Regardless of the purpose of a running record, there will be a conclusion at the end of the document in which the observer can draw inferences about the behaviors they have just observed.
A running record is a detailed, objective, sequential recording written while the event is happening. It is generally short, often only 10 minutes or less. The observer writes down everything possible that the child says and does during a specified length of time or during a designated activity. Record all observed behavior, in great detail: actions, body and verbal language, facial expressions, etc. Remember, this is only what is directly observed!
Writing a running record requires the educator to act like a video camera, recording all significant behaviors’ and interactions as they happen. Running records are written as the action is unfolding.
The camera makes no judgement. Your expertise then enables you to give objective meanings to the observed behaviors
Record just the facts; what does the child say or do?
Write in present tense, the conclusion can shift to past tense
Record the behaviors in sequence and leave room for notes
Column 1:
Write down what you actually see
Column 2:
What are the meanings of observed behaviors
Example
col1:
Jenny speaking “nonono i no want that”
col2:
expressive language, stage of development, etc
PreviousNextPhysical Development, The first domain of development we will explore is physical development. Physical development is often the domain that we notice first in very young children. Their growth is so rapid and new skills so evident, that we tend to see these pieces of development quite clearly. As we stated before, physical development refers to the ways in which children’s bodies are growing and changing and the gross and fine motor skills they are acquiring. With the increased incidence of childhood obesity, it is important that caregivers work to give all children opportunities to engage in physical activity throughout the time they spend in care.
Cephalocaudal development – starts from the head and works down the body. A new baby cannot hold up his or her head alone. Yet, within a few months, the baby will be able to sit alone. This is because control of the spine and central nervous system develops from the top of the head down to the base of the spine. You can see this control developing in a baby as he or she starts to hold the head without support. Similarly, a new-born baby waves his or her arms around vaguely, yet in nine months time will find the tiniest crumb or piece of Lego easy to pick up with the thumb and finger. This is because the nervous system also develops from the spinal cord out to the extremities (hands and feet), which is Proximodistal development. All development happens in the same order, but can occur at different rates. A baby has to hold his or her head up, learn to sit with support, and then without support, before he or she can stand by holding on to furniture and then eventually walk alone. No baby can learn to walk before sitting up. But it is perfectly normal for one baby to walk at ten months and another not to learn this skill until the age of 18 months.
Milestones
Child development experts have carried out a lot of research on young children to work out what most children can do at different ages and the rate at which they grow. From this research, milestones of development have been identified. A ‘milestone of development’ refers to the age at which most children should have reached a certain stage of development, for example, walking alone by 18 months, or smiling at six weeks. Many children will have reached that stage of development much earlier, but what matters is whether a child has reached it by the milestone age.
*see handout at bottom of the page
Motor Skills
Gross motor (large muscle) development refers to improvement of skills and control of the large muscles of the legs, arms, back and shoulders which are used in walking, sitting, running, jumping, climbing, and riding a bike.
The development of gross motor skills is one of the most obvious changes that occur as infants mature. During the first year and a half of life, most infants go from being unable to support their own heads to fully mobile walkers. While these changes happen gradually, gross motor skills emerge relatively quickly. For example:
• A 4-month-old can probably roll from side to side, and may be able to roll over entirely • A 5-month-old can probably sit without support
• A 7-month-old can probably sit straight up without assistance, and bounce up and down when you hold her in a standing position
• An 8-month-old can probably stand while leaning against something, and is probably starting to pull up
• A 9-month-old can probably crawl quickly, and may start taking steps
• A 10-month-old can probably “cruise” – taking sideways steps while holding onto furniture
• By 12 months old, a baby is probably able to stand alone, and may be starting to walk more often than she crawls
• Between 12 and 17 months old, infants learn to move more quickly and use their large muscles in a variety of ways (including dancing!).
Fine motor (small muscle) development refers to use of the small muscles of the fingers and hands for activities such as grasping objects, holding, cutting, drawing, buttoning, or writing. Physical Development: Infants Children experience more physical changes in infancy than in any other stage of life. Babies’ bodies are growing rapidly and their skills are expanding at an astounding rate. Infants’ bodies are growing and changing in a number of ways.
Fine motor skills also develop quickly during infancy. Newborns will start to work toward bringing their hands into their field of vision. Very young infants engage in “pre-reaching,” which is when they swipe toward an object. While they rarely connect with the object of interest, they are learning about the process of reaching.
• By three to four months old, most babies will be able to regularly connect with the object they are reaching for, and they will usually grab objects with both hands.
• Five-month-olds can typically reach, grab, and hold onto objects they find interesting.
• By six months old, babies are especially adept at grabbing and pulling objects including caregivers’ hair and jewelry! They may also be able to move a toy from one hand to the other. As their depth perception improves, their capacity for reaching improves as well.
• By seven months, many children can reach with one arm rather than both. Over the next several months, they will be able to reach for objects that are moving or spinning. Older infants can typically hold things while crawling, drop and throw items, successfully manage finger foods, and use a cup and simple utensils. One-year-olds use their developing fine motor skills to begin to scribble with purpose, build with manipulatives (such as blocks), and use art materials like paintbrushes or molding dough.
Embryonic skeletons are made of cartilage, which gradually hardens to bone – a process that continues throughout childhood and even into adolescence. By the end of the first year, most babies’ heights are 50 percent greater than at birth, and they may weigh three times their birth weight. Infants have what is commonly called “baby fat.” This layer of fat helps to keep their body temperature constant. Toward the end of the first year, this will begin to dissipate and children will begin to slim. Their body shapes will change to become more adult-like, though they will still be top-heavy throughout toddlerhood. By the end of infancy, children may have several teeth (with new ones erupting regularly), may have transitioned entirely from breast milk or formula to table food, and may begin to gain some awareness of their bladder and bowel functions. While they may not actually be able to control bowel and bladder functions for many more months, being aware of their bodies’ cues is the first step to successful toilet learning.
SIDS
Due to the awareness created by the “Back to Sleep” and “Safe Sleep” campaigns, young infants are now spending a great deal of time on their backs to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, also called SIDS. Because of this, it is important for young infants to spend regular time on their stomachs when they are awake. This is known as “tummy time.” Without this time, infants may be delayed in some areas of gross motor development, such as rolling over, sitting, and crawling.
Physical factors associated with SIDS include:
Brain defects. Some infants are born with problems that make them more likely to die of SIDS. In many of these babies, the portion of the brain that controls breathing and arousal from sleep hasn’t matured enough to work properly.
Low birth weight. Premature birth or being part of a multiple birth increases the likelihood that a baby’s brain hasn’t matured completely, so he or she has less control over such automatic processes as breathing and heart rate.
Respiratory infection. Many infants who died of SIDS had recently had a cold, which might contribute to breathing problems.
Sleep environmental factors
The items in a baby’s crib and his or her sleeping position can combine with a baby’s physical problems to increase the risk of SIDS. Examples include:
Sleeping on the stomach or side. Babies placed in these positions to sleep might have more difficulty breathing than those placed on their backs.
Sleeping on a soft surface. Lying face down on a fluffy comforter, a soft mattress or a waterbed can block an infant’s airway.
Sharing a bed. While the risk of SIDS is lowered if an infant sleeps in the same room as his or her parents, the risk increases if the baby sleeps in the same bed with parents, siblings or pets.
Overheating. Being too warm while sleeping can increase a baby’s risk of SIDS.
Risk factors
Although sudden infant death syndrome can strike any infant, researchers have identified several factors that might increase a baby’s risk. They include:
Sex: Boys are slightly more likely to die of SIDS.
Age: Infants are most vulnerable between the second and fourth months of life.
Race: For reasons that aren’t well-understood, nonwhite infants are more likely to develop SIDS.
Family history: Babies who’ve had siblings or cousins die of SIDS are at higher risk of SIDS.
Secondhand smoke: Babies who live with smokers have a higher risk of SIDS.
Being premature: Both being born early and having a low birth weight increase your baby’s chances of SIDS.
Maternal risk factors
During pregnancy, the mother also affects her baby’s risk of SIDS, especially if she:
Is younger than 20
Smokes cigarettes
Uses drugs or alcohol
Has inadequate prenatal care
Prevention
There’s no guaranteed way to prevent SIDS, but you can help your baby sleep more safely by following these tips:
Back to sleep. Place your baby to sleep on his or her back, rather than on the stomach or side, every time you — or anyone else — put the baby to sleep for the first year of life. This isn’t necessary when your baby’s awake or able to roll over both ways without help.
Don’t assume that others will place your baby to sleep in the correct position — insist on it. Advise sitters and child care providers not to use the stomach position to calm an upset baby.
Keep the crib as bare as possible. Use a firm mattress and avoid placing your baby on thick, fluffy padding, such as lambskin or a thick quilt. Don’t leave pillows, fluffy toys or stuffed animals in the crib. These can interfere with breathing if your baby’s face presses against them.
Don’t overheat your baby. To keep your baby warm, try a sleep sack or other sleep clothing that doesn’t require additional covers. Don’t cover your baby’s head.
Have your baby sleep in in your room. Ideally, your baby should sleep in your room with you, but alone in a crib, bassinet or other structure designed for infant sleep, for at least six months, and, if possible, up to a year.
Adult beds aren’t safe for infants. A baby can become trapped and suffocate between the headboard slats, the space between the mattress and the bed frame, or the space between the mattress and the wall. A baby can also suffocate if a sleeping parent accidentally rolls over and covers the baby’s nose and mouth.
Breast-feed your baby, if possible. Breast-feeding for at least six months lowers the risk of SIDS.
Don’t use baby monitors and other commercial devices that claim to reduce the risk of SIDS. The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages the use of monitors and other devices because of ineffectiveness and safety issues.
Offer a pacifier. Sucking on a pacifier without a strap or string at naptime and bedtime might reduce the risk of SIDS. One caveat — if you’re breast-feeding, wait to offer a pacifier until your baby is 3 to 4 weeks old and you’ve settled into a nursing routine.
If your baby’s not interested in the pacifier, don’t force it. Try again another day. If the pacifier falls out of your baby’s mouth while he or she is sleeping, don’t pop it back in.
Immunize your baby. There’s no evidence that routine immunizations increase SIDS risk. Some evidence indicates immunizations can help prevent SIDS.
Vision
At birth, an infant’s vision is blurry. The infant appears to focus in a center visual field during the first few weeks after birth. In infants, near vision is better developed than far vision. They focus on objects held 8 to 15 inches in front of them.
As their vision develops, infants show preference for certain objects and will gaze longer at patterned objects (disks) of checks and stripes than disks of one solid color. Studies also show that infants prefer bold colors to soft pastel colors. They also show visual preference for faces more than objects.
By two months of age, an infant will show preference (gaze longer) at a smiling face than at a face without expression. As infants grow older they are more interested in certain parts of the face. At one month of age, their gaze is on the hairline of a parent or other caregiver. By two months of age, infants show more interest in the eyes of a face.
At three months of age, the infant seems very interested in the facial expression of adults. These changes in the infant’s interest in facial parts indicate that children give thought to certain areas of the face that interest them.
Hearing
Hearing also develops early in life, and even before birth. Infants, from birth, will turn their heads toward a source or direction of sound and are startled by loud noises. The startle reaction is usually crying. Newborns also are soothed to sleep by rhythmic sounds such as a lullaby or heartbeat. Infants will look around to locate or explore sources of sounds, such as a doorbell. They also show reaction to a human voice while ignoring other competing sounds.
A newborn can distinguish between the mother’s and father’s voices and the voice of a stranger by three weeks old.
At three to six months, vocalizations begin to increase. Infants will increase their vocalizations when persons hold or play with them.
Perception
To explore their world, young children use their senses (touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing) in an attempt to learn about the world. They also think with their senses and movement. They form perceptions from their sensory activities. Sensory-Perceptual development is the information that is collected through the senses, the ideas that are formed about an object or relationship as a result of what the child learns through the senses. When experiences are repeated, they form a set of perceptions. This leads the child to form concepts (concept formation). For example, a child will see a black dog with four legs and a tail and later see a black cat with four legs and a tail and call it a dog. The child will continue to identify the cat as a dog until the child is given additional information and feedback to help him learn the difference between a dog and a cat. Concepts help children to group their experiences and make sense out of the world. Giving young children a variety of experiences helps them form more concepts.
Physical Development
Toddlers
Toddlers’ bodies are still growing very quickly, and they are still actively developing gross and fine motor skills. Toddlers are typically gaining weight and height and assuming a more erect posture. While they are still top-heavy, they are gradually taking on the proportions of older children, and look less and less like babies as time passes. By the time they turn two, most of their teeth have erupted, and their brains have already grown to about 80% of their adult size. Toddlerhood is all about gross motor development! This period of childhood gets its name from the “toddling” movements of young children who are in the process of mastering walking. Toddlers can practice walking almost six hours a day, and travel the length of 29 football fields! Be sure there are unobstructed, safe areas where toddlers can practice their walking skills.
By the time they turn three and move from being toddlers to preschoolers, children have typically mastered a variety of body movements, like running, squatting while playing, riding tricycles, and climbing stairs (though they may still not be ready to climb stairs with one foot on each step). Even though toddlers are known for their gross motor development, they are also working hard to develop fine motor skills.
Toddlers can start helping as you dress and undress them, especially unbuttoning, un-zipping, and un-snapping articles of clothing. During this period, they may learn how to turn doorknobs without assistance. This can be a challenge to caregivers, so be on the lookout for toddlers trying to escape! Toddlers tend to be able to grasp smaller manipulatives and puzzle pieces with ease, relative to infants. Remember, though, that many toddlers are still prone to putting things in their mouths. All toys available to toddlers should be large enough to prevent choking.
Preschoolers
As a preschooler, a child’s height increases dramatically and he loses the “baby” shape of his body once and for all. As he becomes slimmer and taller, he looks less like a baby and more like an older child. By three years of age, all of a child’s 20 baby teeth have typically emerged. Coordination, or the use of abilities controlled by more than one part of the brain, is developing during the preschool years. It’s important that preschoolers take part in a variety of activities. Allowing for many different activities, involving both gross and fine motor skills, can help children develop the ability to carry out increasingly complex tasks. Preschoolers can show a great deal of skill in gross motor activities.
Three-year-olds can jump, hop, and gallop. By the time they are four years old, most children can walk up and down stairs by using alternating feet, skip with one foot, and can pedal quickly and steer smoothly on tricycles. A preschooler may start out still trapping a ball against her chest to catch it, but by the time she enters school age, she will probably be able to catch the ball with her hands. Preschool children are notorious for their high energy levels and constant motion. They need outdoor time for jumping, climbing, riding tricycles, hopping, running, skipping, etc. Toys that are provided for them must include items that encourage gross motor movement.
Fine motor skills are becoming more and more sophisticated during the preschool years. Encouraging the use of small manipulatives that can be linked, sorted, and stacked helps children learn to control the small muscles in their hands. Other fine motor activities that are popular with preschool children include stacking blocks, completing puzzles, and stringing beads. These children are becoming more adept at using their fine motor skills in their artwork, and may enjoy painting, coloring, drawing, creating collages, and sculpting using clay or dough. During this period, children tend to experiment with writing, and may become very skillful at using writing utensils.
School-Age Children
By the age of about six, the school-age years, children move into a slow but steady growth pattern. The next large growth spurt will occur in adolescence. Body proportions are beginning to change, with a more grownup, less “little kid” body shape. Slender arms and legs begin to grow in proportion to the more slender trunk. By around age eight, boys and girls tend to weigh about the same. Motor skills are extremely important during this period of time. School-age children are developing more complex movements, which are building on the foundational ones developed during the preschool years. Fundamental skills such as walking, running, reaching, climbing, jumping, and kicking are being used in combination to allow children to perform complex tasks like chasing, stepping sideways, throwing, and catching. School-agers are increasing their running speed, are able to skip, and can throw, kick, and swing a bat with some degree of accuracy. These children are typically able to transition from tricycles to bicycles with training wheels, and are later able to have the training wheels removed. They may become interested in organized games (such as freeze tag) outdoors.
To allow school-age children to practice all these skills, both indoor and outdoor play areas should include plenty of space and equipment to promote gross motor activity. School-aged children also need opportunities to continue to develop fine motor skills. During this period, children might exercise their fine motor abilities by playing with balls, exploring and digging outdoors, building with blocks, engaging in a variety of open-ended art activities that require the use of hands and fingers, cutting with scissors, working on puzzles with smaller pieces, using household utensils and tools, and, of course, writing.
Adolescent
Adolescence is a complex and dynamic process characterized by simultaneous but asynchronous development within several development streams. These streams include physical development (puberty), cognitive and psychological development, and social development. Although puberty is only one component of adolescent development, it generally is considered to define the onset of adolescence and certainly is the most visible and tangible of all of the developmental changes occurring during this period. This article reviews the physiologic changes associated with normal puberty. Other developmental aspects are not considered here, and the many abnormalities of puberty that sometimes can occur are not discussed in detail. The onset, timing, tempo, and magnitude of pubertal changes are influenced significantly by genetic factors as well as by general health and nutritional, environmental, and socioeconomic factors. The timing of pubertal milestones approximates a normal distribution.
Studies correlating the timing of puberty between mothers and children or between twins support a strong genetic influence that has been estimated to account for 50% to 80% of the variance in the timing of pubertal onset. Racial and ethnic variations also are seen. For example, the onset of puberty occurs somewhat earlier in African-American children than it does in Caucasian children. The age of puberty and menarche has declined steadily over the past several generations, attributed to improvements in overall health and nutrition. Adolescence is a time for growth spurts and puberty changes. An adolescent may grow several inches in several months followed by a period of very slow growth, then have another growth spurt. Changes with puberty (sexual maturation) may occur gradually or several signs may become visible at the same time. There is a great amount of variation in the rate of changes that may occur. Some teenagers may experience these signs of maturity sooner or later than others.
• Adrenarche – activation of the adrenal cortex; produce adrenal androgens (typically occurs before the onset of puberty).
• Gonadarche – activation of the gonads by the pituitary hormones follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) • Menarche – age of onset of the first menstrual period
• Spermarche – age at first ejaculation (heralded by nocturnal sperm emissions and appearance of sperm in the urine) Sexual and other physical maturation that occurs during puberty is a result of hormonal changes. In boys, it is difficult to know exactly when puberty is coming.
There are changes that occur, but they occur gradually and over a period of time, rather than as a single event. While each male adolescent is different, the following are average ages when puberty changes may occur:
• Beginning of puberty: 9.5 to 14 years old
• First pubertal change: enlargement of the testicles
• Penis enlargement: begins approximately one year after the testicles begin enlarging
• Appearance of pubic hair: 13.5 years old
• Nocturnal emissions (or “wet dreams”): 14 years old
• Hair under the arms and on the face, voice change, and acne: 15 years old Girls also experience puberty as a sequence of events, but their pubertal changes usually begin before boys of the same age.
Each girl is different and may progress through these changes differently. The following are average ages when puberty changes may occur:
• Beginning of puberty: 8 to 13 years
• First pubertal change: breast development
• Pubic hair development: shortly after breast development
• Hair under the arms: 12 years old
• Menstrual periods: 10 to 16.5 years old
There are specific stages of development that both boys and girls go through when developing secondary sexual characteristics (the physical characteristics of males and females that are not involved in reproduction such as voice changes, body shape, pubic hair distribution, and facial hair).
The following is a brief overview of the changes that occur:
• In boys, the initial puberty change is the enlargement of the scrotum and testes. At this point, the penis does not enlarge. Then, as the testes and scrotum continue to enlarge, the penis gets longer. Next, the penis will continue to grow in both size and length.
• In girls, the initial puberty change is the development of breast buds, in which the breast and nipple elevate. The areola (dark area of skin that surrounds the nipple of the breast) increases in size at this time. The breasts then continue to enlarge. Eventually, the nipples and the areolas will elevate again, forming another projection on the breasts. At the adult state, only the nipple remains elevated above the rest of the breast tissue. Pubic hair development is similar for both girls and boys. The initial growth of hair produces long, soft hair that is only in a small area around the genitals. This hair then becomes darker and coarser as it continues to spread. The pubic hair eventually looks like adult hair, but in a smaller area. It may spread to the thighs and, sometimes, up the stomach. More about Physical Development
and Motor Skill Development Please remember to include your running record for each observation
Watch the above video 3 times! Each time observe a different child and fill in the chart for each child.
For Gross Motor Skills (GMS) and Fine Motor Skills (FMS) list 3 examples per video…describe the skill completely. Do NOT say he threw the ball as that is both a GMS and FMS
For Physical Developmental Milestones look at the charts within your notes and see what the child is doing that you believe represents her age (only one example and explanation needed)
Please include your running record
Download the table from the Assignment description and Paste it into the answer box or download the table to your desktop
Type in your answer
Papers that are written in any other format or not typed will not be graded. Try to think of this as a ‘survey’ (not an essay).
Be OBJECTIVE unless specifically asked for an opinion.
For example, if you are asked to provide an example of hand-eye coordination, a good answer would be:
“Johnny used his right hand to grasp the paintbrush in a palmar grasp. He looked at the tray of water colors and then moved his hand so that the brush landed between the red and blue pallets. Then he moved his hand so that the brush touched the red paint.”
Physical Domain:
Each time you watch the video choose a different child to observe
Include a complete description of child you are observing. Describe three different gross motor skills observed in each video. Then describe the skill in detail. If the skill you observed included both gross and fine motor examples, underline or italicize the gross motor skill.
Describe three different fine motor skills observed (as above). If the skill you observed included both gross and fine motor examples, underline or italicize the fine motor skill.
Give one example of hand-eye coordination.
Give one example of planning and sequencing
Download the physical observation chartDownload physical observation chart
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Please download and complete the assessment reflection and rubric to be included in your midterm process letter
Physical Observation AssessmentDownload Physical Observation Assessment
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