Running Head: SECOND PRESCHOOL OBSERVATION

Second Preschool Observation

Justin McEntire
Ivy Tech Community College

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When I first met Amelia she was running around chasing her younger brother and shouting out
a loud No! once every few seconds. Right away I could tell that this observation would be
quite different from the first observation. For this project I chose to use two separate
developmental checklists from the childdevelopment and greatschools websites. From what I
read on their lists and from what I observed, little Amelia was either just like or advanced beyond
every other five year old. She could properly grasp pencils, ran like an adult, cut out shapes and
used full sentences. Compared to the last observation where I worked with a two year old this
was amazing! She understood that I needed her to work with me, and she was very compliant.
She played my little games and put together puzzles for me, eager to please both me and her
parents. She then ran off to demonstrate her leadership skills, telling her younger brother how he
should use whatever toy he had. Her balance was fully developed and she had no problem
walking toe to toe on a 4x4 balance beam. Despite her amazing imagination she seemed to
have a pretty solid grasp that she was not really a princess and that the floor was not actually
lava. Her language skills were fluent and she applied tenses when she spoke.
The only thing that really seemed odd about little Amelia was that she performed so well. She
could not lace her own shoes quite yet but she did try. Apart from shoe lacing, she aced every test
I could give her. This seemed a little odd because our book stated that children tend to master
things one at a time and little Amelia seems to have either become a prodigy or a jack of all
trades (Kail, 2015). Either way, what I observed was quite interesting in the sense of how much
little Amelia knew and understood.
Overall, this experience was quite educational for me. While I do have three younger siblings,
it is easy for me to forget at what age they passed each milestone. Their growth has slow and
gradual, so I did not understand when they had completed new achievements. Apart from

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walking or talking I did not know what to look for prior to these past two observations. Amelia
demonstrated wonderfully just how much a child can grow and learn over only two years. The
fact that she now understands the concepts of friendship, leadership, and reality are all
completely fascinating. I guess what I learned about was the metamorphosis that occurs both
physically and mentally during these growing years.
At this point I would like to point out that the Center for Disease Control states that a childs
doctor should be contacted if he or she cannot: count to ten, understand the difference between
make-believe and reality, either show extreme or no emotion or does not demonstrate creativity
(CDC, 2016) These are all examples of a child not mentally developing correctly, and can be
early warning signs.

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References
Fine motor developmental checklist. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2016, from
http://www.childdevelopment.com.au/home/188
Great Schools Staff. (n.d.). Developmental milestones age 5. Retrieved March 20, 2016, from
http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/developmental-milestones-age-5/
Important milestones your child at five years. (2016, January 21). Retrieved March 20, 2016,
from http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/milestones-5yr.html
Kail, R. V. (2015). Children and their development (Seventh ed.). Pearson.