Monica Salgado

Child Development 201 N

Case Study

The child I chose for this case study is his name is Pablo Ramirez. Pablo is a
three year old boy, he was born on October 25, 2011. Pablo is a Hispanic child who
comes from a family of five, he has a mother, father and has two older sisters. The
oldest sister is nine-years-old and her name is Luna and she is a fourth grader. His
other sisters name is Omaira and she is four years old and attends daycare with him.
Pablos parents work in laborous setting, mom works in a meat factory and dad works in
an assembly line. Pablos mom stated she had a normal pregnancy. During natural
delivery at birth the doctor broke Pablo's collar bone. As an infant Pablo had to wear a
helmet molding, mom explained she didn't use it often because she felt the baby was
uncomfortable. Pablos is tall for his age. His weight is _ pounds and his height is_.
His head circumference is _ inches. He has short black hair and is light skinned. He
has big brown eyes. His right eye is slightly lazy.
Pablo has been attending The Giving Tree Home Daycare since he was seven
months old. The home daycare is located in the southwest side of Chicago. The
classroom is located in the basement. It does not look like a typical home with a couch,
living room or a kitchen. When you walk in the daycare it is set up like a class room
with ten different areas; reading area, cozy area, science area, after-school area, baby
area, manipulative area, art area, music area, block area and dramatic area. All of the
toys and materials are labeled in English and Spanish with pictures. The Giving Tree
Home Daycare has been licensed with the Department of Family Child Services for
three years. In early spring of this year they received a three star accreditation with
Quality Rating System. The daycare has a staff of five people; two qualified teacher
with an Associates in Child Development, one assistant, secretary and a cook.

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Monica Salgado
Child Development 201 N
Case Study

Pablo is a very active child and his gross motor skills are at the developmental
stage, exactly where he needs to be. During my observation he pedals and steers the
tricycle with ease. There is a slide and he goes up and down the stairs with no
assistance, he goes up the steps alternating his feet and slides down and lands with
both feet. On October 7th he span the hula hoop with his right arm by himself then other
children started to mimic him. During my observation of six days the children went on a
daily walk and Pablo kept up the pace and endured about a mile every day and played
in the playgroup for an additional thirty more minutes. When Pablo ran in the
playground he ran fast, back and forth. On October 6th he was playing with the teacher
catching the ball. Pablo didnt catch the ball, he put his arms out and as the ball came
to him he closed his eyes.
During my observation Pablos small motor skills were always put to practice. In
my observation on October 6th when the teacher was not looking, Pablo would take out
the scissors and sit down and begin to cut. It seems that cutting keeps him calmed and
relaxed, he could cut for about twenty to thirty minutes, and after that he would use the
scissors inappropriately. For example, on October 6th the teacher gave him instructions
to cut out small pieces of brown paper then he started to poke the paper with the
scissors then started to twirl the scissors on his finger. In my observation Pablo was
good at putting his shoes on by himself, he unstrapped them, put his shoe on and then
strapped them. On October 10th, he was having a difficult time with the Geoboard. He
hooked the rubber band but needed assistance in stretching the rubber band to the
other hook, the teacher demonstrated to him and he tried but still had a hard time. On
October 7th Pablo was playing with the tweezers and tongs, he was not able to hold the

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Monica Salgado
Child Development 201 N
Case Study

tweezers properly and could not pick up the small toy with the tweezers tongs; first he
started to pick up the item with one hand then was not able to pick it up. He then used
both hands and was not able to, then he picked up the toy with both hands. On the
puzzle he was also having difficulty. On October 6th it was hard for him to maneuver the
piece to fit in. Instead he would bang the piece in the correct place but it did not fit in
place. During my observation, on the days he needed to put a coat on and he could not
zip up his jacket, he needed help in latching the zipper and then Pablo finished it by
pulling the zipper up.
Pablos language skills ware somewhat understandable. Pablos strength in
language is that he enjoys to sing. He is the loudest and is the first one to sing when
transitioning to another activity. For example, on October 9th, when transitioning for
story time to circle time Pablo was the first one to stand up and sing really loud but
didnt put the book away. When he played with toys he gave the toys sound animation.
For example, during my observation he was playing with the barn animals. He gave the
cow the moo sound and the dinosaurs arrr. On many of my observations he didnt
talk about what was bothering him or what he didnt like. For example, on October 7th
he smacked his lip, crossed his arms, put his head down and frowned, after the teacher
told him to take his diaper off before playing. This was done on a daily basis during my
observation.
Pablos emotions fluctuate. Pablo demonstrated caring to one particular toddler
girl in his class on October 1st. For example, during my observation the toddler girl was
having a difficult time putting her shoes on and Pablo said te ayudo Bianna (Ill help
you Brianna) he sat down with her and helped her with her shoes. There is no

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Monica Salgado
Child Development 201 N
Case Study

separation between his mom. On October 10th, Pablo didnt fuss or have any
attachment issues. Mom said te comportas bien Pablito (behave yourself Pablo) and
Pablo responded otay ma (okay mom). Throughout my observation days, if he didnt
like something or was mad he would cross his arms and put his head down. For
example, on October 10th the group was playing Duck Duck Goose and it wasnt Pablos
turn, he cried until it was his turn. The teacher explained it wasnt his turn but he still
continued to cry.
Pablos social skills fluctuated, at times he was social and other days he didnt
interact with anyone. I only saw him play a few times engaging and socializing with
other children but for the most part he played by himself. On October 9th he joined a
group play in session and the transition was smooth, he pretended to be a dog. He was
crawling all over in the dramatic area barking and another boy gave him food and Pablo
stopped barking. On October 7th he didnt interact with any child, he played most of the
day by himself. In my observation Pablo wanted to use the tricycle and he followed the
child who was using it and quietly pointed and said yo quiero (I want). In the course of
my observation, Pablo didnt have a friend that he always looked for or had a
connection with.
Pablo can be extremely argumentative and short tempered with the other
children. After speaking with his teachers they stated they had a very difficult year with
Pablo. On many occasions he seemed distracted and inattentive. One particular thing
that concerned me is that he withdrew a lot. When Pablo spaced out it was usually
about one to two minutes. Many times during circle time, which was about fifteen

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Monica Salgado
Child Development 201 N
Case Study

minutes he withdraw for about three to four times. Sometimes he would snap off from it
or the teacher would tap on him to snap him out of it.
Gross motor skills are important for a child to develop. Gross motor skill will help
Pablo in preschool and in life to move more easily and to avoid any developmental
delays. He will also have more confidence in his ability and can affect his health
benefits if he stays active. As I mentioned before, in my observation Pablo was having
trouble catching the ball from the teacher. Activities that will help him with hand and eye
coordination is t-ball. Also another exciting activity is ring tossing games. A suggestion
to Pablos parents is take him to the eye doctor, couple of times he would walk and hit
the corners in the daycare or when he is outside he would run and bang against a child.
Activities that would help Pablo with his fine motor skills is lacing activities, this
activity will strengthen his little finger muscles. When Pablo is in the art area, have him
paint with paint brushes, having control of his fingers will help him write better. Also Play
Dough is another activity that will develop his fine motor skills. Finally an excellent
activity to strength his fine motor skill is to play with the peg boards.
The area when he needs strengthening is when he is mad he needs to use his
words. Another thing that he needs to work on is to use his indoor voice inside and
outdoor voice outside. On many occasions when he sings he sings really loud. Also,
Pablo needs to converse with other children. Activities that will help him is to encourage
him to repeat words. During daily walks have Pablo name items, as many as possible.
In addition in circle time he should sit next to a teacher and motivate him to participate.
Finally a suggestion is for the mom to seek professional help with a speech therapist.
The area where Pablo needs to work on most is using his words when he is mad.

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Monica Salgado
Child Development 201 N
Case Study

Pablo needs to talk about his emotions, what he likes, doesnt like and his
feelings. Many times he crossed his arms and frowned. An area that needs
strengthening is to release stressful feeling in an appropriate matter. For example,
when he is mad put him in the water and sand area, this will help him to relax. Activities
to help is to read book like Hands are not for hitting and Llama lama mad at mama.
These books will help to explain and show how to release and talk about his feelings.
I believe Pablo has the ability to be social with other children. The areas where
Pablo needs to work on is resolving conflicts with other children. Another area he
needs to work on is making friends. During my observation he always played by himself
sometimes parallel play but never did he have one child he always looked for or
followed. Activities that would help him is to set up the classroom to promote small
group activities. For example, making a piata. This activity will promote cooperative
work by putting the ruffle decorations on the piata. Also another activity is to help
Pablo gain access to ongoing play in a positive manner. For example, if a couple of
kids are playing blocks as a teacher you can say I have a strong boy that knows how to
build a house really tall and introduce Pablo to the group.
I was not able to get enough information in the cognitive development area. The
teachers would encourage him to participate but he was not interested. A couple of
times is a mission to have him finish his project. The teachers did a good job to not only
incorporate the learning opportunities during circle time and small group time but they
tried to do during his playtime but he was not responding. From the observation he
didnt know the alphabet and couldnt identify the numbers. During my observations I

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Monica Salgado
Child Development 201 N
Case Study

didnt see any opportunity to gather information from sorting, shapes, size, and
sequence.
His spoken language was hard to understand. Many times the teacher had to
ask his sister what he said and for the most part the sister understood. My suggestion
is he needs to be evaluated by a speech therapist. This will help him to speak more
fluently and may encourage him to be more social because he will have confidence
when speaking with other children. Also I believe if Pablo has the words to speak his
behavior will improve in a positive matter.
The area I didnt have a lot of information on is the reading, writing and art skills.
During my observations I did not see him draw, sketch or color. Maybe if the teacher
would put it in their lesson plan or curriculum Pablo then can learn properly to hold a
pencil. I did see other children drawing but he was not interested. Maybe the teachers
can have items that will interest Pablo like counting dinosaurs. Also I notice in he
enjoyed being in the block area, color sorting blocks is another exiting activity he will
enjoy.
Based on my observation and the information I have from researching Pablo, he
falls in the diagnostic criteria for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder known as
ADHD. According to the American Pediatric Association Pablo often does not seem to
listen when spoken to directly, in my observations he was told to pass the box and he
didnt. He was reminded again then the teacher pointed to the box and then passed the
box to the children. He Is often easily distracted by extraneous stimuli. In my
observation he was distracted by anything that passed by. For example during story
time he would get distracted by a string in his sock, he kept pulling it. He Often fidgets

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Monica Salgado
Child Development 201 N
Case Study

with hands or feet or squirms in seat. During circle time and during lunch he was
always squirming around in his seat. He Often leaves seat in classroom in which
remaining seated is expected. During lunch and snack time he would get up to eat and
would walk away. Also during project time he would stand up and walk away and then
return. He Often has difficulty awaiting turn. This was especially difficult. For
example, during the game Duck Duck Goose he cried because he wanted to be the
Goose. My suggestion is for Pablos mom to take him to his pediatrician and ask the
doctor to evaluate Pablo to get a better understanding.
In conclusion this experience was very challenging. It was very challenging
because when I did my observation I had to multi task. I had to write what the child was
doing, at the same time I was doing the Child Observation Check list. I was also taking
pictures and video recording. My first day was very challenging because I wanted to
write everything he was doing and take picture and video but I wasnt checking off the
Child Observation Checklist. So what I did was for my second day of observation was
to be more prepared. I tried to memorize the checklist, whenever Pablo hit an item in
my check list I knew where to put it and took notes. Another challenging experience is
having a state of mind not to judge. At some point I caught my self writing what the
teacher should be doing. Overall my observation was a learning experience that I need
to practice.

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