I.

Observation 9: Chris Torres

The Four Domains of the Child

II.

Grade:
First Grade

III.

Students:
1 child - 6years old

IV.

Setting:
First Grade Classroom at Saint Matthias School
Multi-Age (6-7 years old) classroom, 23 students and 1 head
teacher

V.

Pre-Observation:
The purpose of this observation was to assess the physical,
emotional, cognitive and social development of a student in
the classroom that I have been visiting. Using an age
appropriate developmental checklists to assist in recognizing
milestones the child has or has not met. This is the 2nd of
three child observations that I will be performing on this
student during my placement at St. Matthias School.

VI.

Data:
Observations took place October 19th & October 26th 2016
Physical Domain:
The child continues to be in good health and size in
comparison to the last observation. I monitored her again at
recess to follow up on her progress at shooting a basketball.
The child was unable to make a basket but showed
outstanding effort. She still struggles to get the ball above
the hoop. I believe her inability was due to a lack of
fundamental training in the sport and other students trying to
prevent her from getting the ball in the basket. During an
indoor recess the child impressed me with her hand-eye coordination. The child was playing with a cone that had a ball
attached to it by a string. The object was to use the cone to
swing the ball up in the air and catch the ball in the wider
open end of the cone. Initially she and her classmates had
difficulty with swinging the ball properly. I gave every child
who wanted to play the same instructions on technique. I
then gave them 30 seconds to catch the ball as many times
as they could. The child under observation was able to catch
the ball a maximum of 6 times while the highest anyone else

had accomplished was 2 catches. She consistently caught

more balls then her casmates each time she had a turn.
Social & Emotional Domains:
On this occasion I was able to monitor the child as she settled
a disagreement with another female classmate. After recess
the child told the teacher that her and the other young lady
had a disagreement during recess and she was upset about it.
The co-operating teachers asked the girls to go the rear
lounge area to discuss the issue privately and try to work it
out. I watched as the girls conversed and eventually shake
hands and hug. The child showed the ability to talk about her
thoughts and feelings and a concern for their friendship.
Events such as starting school bring children this age into regular contact
with the larger world. Friendships become more and more important. (CDC,
2015) The child also had her All About Me poster displayed in the back of
the classroom. The student wrote that if she had a Super Power it would be
the power to make the world a better place. This display of empathy for
those in need conveys the wisdom and compassion children of any age have.
Cognitive Domain:
I sat with the child during free time to follow up on her
progress with reading words with Y endings. The child has
made great progress and had obviously been practicing. She
sounded out her words excellently and showed no issue with
Y ending words. She was very pleased to exhibit her
advancement. During a language arts lesson the child
confidently answered correctly questions regarding complete
and incomplete sentences. The child was able to read the
sentences I will yell wolf. and Ran up hill. She identified
the complete and incomplete sentences and point out why the
sentence was complete or incomplete.
VII.

Analysis:
As noted in my last Child Study the child remains at a
consistent and healthy level of development in all four
domains. She continues to be an active learner and listener in
class.

VIII. Recommendations:
The child is progressing well and appears to be appropriately
challenged and by her daily lessons. When students feel more
motivated to learn -- in other words, when engagement is at a high level -they perform better academically, improve classroom behavior, and gain a
higher sense of self-esteem. (Ferlazzo, 2014) Making sure the child

remains properly engaged is important so that she continues

to advance.
Post Observation:
The child showed some advanced motor skills and some
cognitive progression compared to my last Child Study. I will
conduct my last study in two weeks and report any changes.
IX.

Citations:
CDC - Child Development,Middle Childhood (6-8 years old) - NCBDDD.
(2015, March 15). Retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/middle.html
Child Development Milestones - 6 to 8 years. (2003, June 6). Retrieved from
https://www.health.qld.gov.au/ph/documents/childhealth/28134.pdf
Ferlazzo, L. (2014, December 6). Response: The Best Ways To Engage
Students In Learning - Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo - Education
Week Teacher. Retrieved from
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2014/12/r
esponse_the_best_ways_to_engage_students_in_learning.html