Running head: PRESCHOOL OBSERVATION

Preschool Observation
Melinda Dwyer
Ivy Tech Community College

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INTASC Standard, Description and Rational

Standard #1 Learner Development

The teacher understand how learners grow and develop, recognizing that patterns of learning and
development vary individually within and across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and
physical areas, and designs and implements developmentally appropriate and challenging
learning experiences.

Name of Artifact: Preschool Observation

Date: October 19, 2014
Course: EDUC 121

Brief Description: For this assignment I arranged to observe and interview a preschooler.
During the observation I evaluated her physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and ethical
development. After the observation I shared my opinion about her normal and unusual
behaviors. I also wrote down the preschoolers readiness for kindergarten.

Rationale: To document my understanding of Standard # 1, Learner Development. This

experience helped me recognize the patterns of development in a preschoolers cognitive,
linguistic, social, emotional and physical areas. I understand each preschooler is different and
unique. This experience also helped me see the importance of properly evaluating a child getting
ready for kindergarten.

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I observed a 4 and a half year old girl on October 14, 2014. She is a kind, happy,
friendly, and smart preschooler. She is exhibiting physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and
ethical growth. She demonstrated characteristic of a typical preschooler in all areas. Actually, I
was able to mark yes in every category on the checklist. She also demonstrated a few unusual
behaviors for this age. She is a very bright child and thrived on receiving rewards and
compliments. This observation has shown me the importance of evaluating preschoolers
preparing for kindergarten. This also helped me see a few of the types of intelligences described
by Gardners Theory of Multiple Intelligences (Kail, 2012). Observing these intelligences she is
individually excelling in was a privilege.
This little girl is very typical for her age. Her physical development is right on track.
She is cautious during gross motor skills. When climbing up and down the stairs she walked
slowly and used the wall and railing for balance. While playing catch she giggled the whole
time. While running she was able to change directions easily. So, I challenged her to try
different styles of running (sideways and backwards). She was unable to do the new styles but
she was willing to try. Skipping was a little more difficult for her, but she corrected her
technique and skipped along with me. She enjoyed these things with constant giggling. But, she
was obviously cautious, nervous and unsure of oneself.
Working at the table with pencils, crayons, and scissors was obviously her comfort zone.
We began by her coloring a page with kites on them. Then, I instructed her to cut along the
string. She colored and cut with precision. She desperately tried to stay in and on the lines. She
did an amazing job and I rewarded her with a sticker. She was also able to draw a recognizable
picture of her family. She first drew her Mom and Dad. After she was done we talked about
what she drew. Then, she wanted to add a few more in her family. She added her brother, pet

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dog and herself. I really liked how she evaluated her work, saw a problem, requested to fix it
and did so. She was able to recall and draw 4 recognizable shapes and 9 recognizable letters of
the alphabet. She definitely shows gross motor skills, fine motor skills, critical thinking and
problem solving skills.
She is also right on track with her intellectual development. She told me a very creative
imaginary story about a pink fish, yellow fish, rainbow fish, and 4 mermaids eating french fries.
She really enjoys talking. She speaks with proper grammar and used her manners throughout the
evaluation. She was able to easily sort objects by size and colors. I was very impressed that she
was able to count to 39. She tried several times to count to a hundred but tended to skip around
40. With a little more practice she will get it with no problem.
Concerning emotional development she is demonstrating self-control. She wanted to
throw a ball inside. She asked, and I said, not inside, but in a little bit you can outside. She
obeyed without any negative response. She also is demonstrating empathy and concern for
others when she told me about her brothers hurt leg. She volunteered to pick up toys when we
were done playing and didnt complain. When showing her evaluation drawings to her mother
she was very proud of her abilities and excited to take them home.
She is socially and ethically developing typical for her age. She plays in small groups
and large groups. She has some very close friends, but is kind and friendly to all. She suggests
activities and joins in activities suggested by others. She is very flexible with activity changes
and tries to include others. She is aware of differences between girls and boys. She can identify
girls from boys. She prefers to play with girls and typical girl toys such as dolls, stuffed animals,
doll houses, kitchen and house. When she had a disagreement with another she apologized and
showed guilt. Throughout the entire evaluation she seemed very aware that I was evaluating her.

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She tried so hard to do her best and when she was successful she was so proud of herself.
This observation experience was a privilege to do. The only unusual behavior I
witnessed was her placing her hands in her mouth as a nervous response to her lack of mastering
a task. I conclude that even a preschooler will begin to show the multiple intelligences.
According to Kail (2012) on page 249 there are nine. These nine are linguistic, logicalmathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, and
existential. I believe this preschooler is demonstrating linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial,
and existential intelligence. I also think she may be gifted artistically. According to (Kail, 2012)
on page 266 a gifted child in the modern definition may include art, music, creative writing, and
dance. I say she may be gifted because of the way she loved coloring and the overwhelming
desire to be creative. Any kindergarten teacher receiving her next fall will have the challenge of
recognizing her many intelligences and helping her continue to develop in all areas. I appreciated
the opportunity to observe this preschooler. It is my privilege to evaluate her, recognize her
many talents, and report about this amazing preschooler.

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References
Kail, Robert V. (2012). Children and Their Development- sixth Edition. Upper Saddle River,
New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.