Emily Murray

Case Study
Natalie Heter is three years old and this is her first year at the Little Gorillas Preschool. I
have had the opportunity to observe Natalie over the semester. I have assessed some of her
strengths she possesses and some of her challenges that will be discussed in this study.
Natalie has a variety of strengths in the cognitive domain. Several of her strengths
include knowing her personal information, recognizing her name in print, and recognizing letters
and numbers. Natalie has demonstrated that she can recognize all upper case letters of the
alphabet. She has also shown that she can recognize lower case letters, such as the letters in her
name as well as others. She recognizes numerals 1-10 and can count out 1-10 objects. She seems
to be more advanced than others her age in this area. Natalie speaks clearly and is expanding her
vocabulary. She does well at sitting quietly and listening to a story. She is patient during
transition times. Some of Natalies self-help skills include using the toilet independently,
washing her own hands, and putting away toys when asked. Some of Natalies fine motor skills
include holding a pencil appropriately, using an age appropriate grasp, and assembling basic
puzzles. Natalie is very active and has demonstrated gross motor skills such as running, jumping,
catching and throwing a ball, and balancing. Natalie is cooperative with other peers and takes
turns in an age appropriate manner. She is confident and attempts to do tasks on her own before
she asks for help.
I have observed some tasks that are a slight challenge for Natalie but are in progress.
Natalie writes her own name but doesnt form some of the letters correctly. Her name is still
legible and she has made significant progress in writing her name over the semester. To help
Natalie with forming some of her letters have her do sensory activities such as writing letters in

sand or play dough. Natalie usually is not the one to initiate conversations with her peers. If
another peer invites her into a conversation she joins. Natalie is more of an onlooker during play
time. She engages with others but tends to have to be invited by her peers to do so. To help
Natalie initiate play with her peers, guide her into it by having her ask a peer to play. I have
attempted this with her and it seemed to work well. She was willing to invite the other peer to
play but just had to be encouraged to do so. Natalie struggles with putting on and taking off her
shoes and coat/jacket. She tries to put her coat on by herself but ends up having to have
assistance from a teacher. This is normal for children her age and she will improve with time.
Natalie attempts to use scissors but does not hold them appropriately. A suggestion for this
would be to either model for her how to hold them appropriately or have her work with adapted
scissors until she understands the correct way to hold them.
Natalie is very cheerful and has a positive attitude. She loves to sing songs during music
time that involve actions. She really gets into the actions and shows enthusiasm when doing so.
Her excitement gets others excited and encourages them to be involved. She likes to pretend play
and take on the role of things such as a dog and monster. She is confident in her abilities and puts
effort into everything she does. She is well liked by her peers and others enjoy being around her.
Natalies development seems to be on track and even advanced in several areas.