Observation 3

Class/section: FHS 1500

Your Name: Lindy OVery
Assignment: Observation 3

Background Information
Childs age: 72 months, 6 years old
Fictitious name: Amelia
Location: SLC 1st Ward Primary
Brief There were six children, two adults is a small area for about 45 minutes
Description:

Biological Development

Millie is six years old; she often reminded her teachers that she was in fact six
now not five. She is average size for her age or in comparison with other members of
the class, which ages ranged from 6 to 8 years old. As Kathleen Berger says that Unlike
infants or adolescents, schoolage children grow slow and steady(2014 pg. 244). This
is very evident as the size range in the children was very small. All the children were
generally the same size. Millie is not by any means over weight. She is healthy small size.
Berger also references that middle age childrens Muscles, including the heart
and lungs, become strong (2014 pg. 244). I was shocked to see Millie lift up several
large chairs by herself. She was to small the stack many on each other but she lifted
them pretty high.
I could tell she had a lot of energy, whenever she got the chance to run around
she would. If that meant run to get a drink or even running to take some garbage to the
trash can she would run there. Millie also played tag with one of her classmates. She
used her selective attention or the ability to concentrate on some stimuli while ignoring
others, during her game; her teachers struggled getting her attention (Berger 2014 pg.
256). Even if she had a lot of energy she also was able to sit and listen and answer
questions during the lesson.

Cognitive Development

During the lesson time all the children were asked several questions. They where
asked to put themselves in there parents shoes. This was a little hard for Millie. She
understood her point of view but it took a bit to understand what exactly her parents
did for her. She talked about going to a birthday party but she did not recognize that her
mom took her there. Her parents did this for her because they loved her. As her
teachers explained more she could grasp the idea that she should do things for her
parents to show them that she loved them in return.
Millie did use her working memory to understand the examples she was given.
Working memory is the current, conscious mental activity as Berger explains it (2014
pg. 257). Millie used her working memory to go into further detail or analysis. When she
was asked what she could do for her parents she, from past experience, answer saying
she could fold laundry for her mom. Millie retrieved this from her long-term memory.
Crucial to long-term memory is not merely storage but retrieval (how readily past
learning can be brought into working memory), she was able to cognitively understand
and sort through her lifes experiences or her long-term memory to figure out what
would help my parents (Berger 2014 pg. 258).
The class played Simon says, which it often confusing for the younger ages. Millie
lost the first round but quickly corrected herself and then had no problem focusing or
giving her full attention to Simon.

Psychosocial Development

Millie definitely gravitated more to her friends rather than her teachers. She did
not even want to sit by them. Kathleen Berger notice that every theory and every
observer notes that children becomes more concerned with the opinions of there peers
as they age form 6 to 11(2014 pg. 285). Each class member was asked what was one
fun thing they did during the week, everyone gave there answers and the Millie bragged
that she got to go swimming during the last week. Then later she said that she actually
did not go swimming, she just watched TV all day. I think she wanted to seem cool to
the other kids in the class because swimming everyone knows is the coolest for middle
age children.
Millie is at a stage where she is trying to create a self-concept of who she is. I
think she gets this from social comparison or her social status in the groups she is in. I
mentioned before that she often pointed out her age to her teacher; she often would
try and sit with the older classes. The concept that older kids are cooler than being with
the young kids must strike Millie. She thinks that since she turned six she has a high
social ranking with her peers

Reference List

Berger, K. S. (2014). Invitation to the life span (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Worth
Publishers.