Infant Portfolio

Rebecca Dumestre
Louisiana State University
October 25, 2017
EDCI 3055
 Infant
Name: Sarah
Age: 1 year old
Birthdate: September 30, 2016
Physical Development
 Gross Motor
Gross motor development is defined as control over actions that help infants get
around in the environment, such as crawling, standing, and walking (Berk &
Meyers, p. 181)
During my observation, Sarah moved around the entire time. She started off by the
sinks. She pulled herself up and walked a few steps before falling to the floor. Then
she crawled over to the shelf in the middle of the floor and pulled herself up again.
She leaned up against the shelf for a few minutes before sitting down and playing
with a block. After a few minutes of sitting, she walked over to the corner of the
room where there was a foam area for the children to climb on. She tried stepping
up the stairs but stumbled to a crawling position.
 Fine Motor
Fine motor development is defined as smaller movements, such as reaching
and grasping (Berk & Meyers, p. 181).
During the observation, Sarah exhibited many fine motor skills. For example,
there was a sit upon padded chair with a back to it for the teachers to
comfortably sit on the floor. Sarah walked over to it, sat down and played
with it for a little bit. She eventually figured out how to turn the knob on the
side to make it recline. She started making the back go back and forth using
the knob.
 Perceptual Development
Perceptual development in the infant years focuses on hearing and vision.
During my observation, I focused on Sarahs visual perception. I observed her mom
dropping her off. As her mom left, she was sitting on the floor and visually tracked
her mom as she walked out the door. Sarah continued to sit in the same spot for at
least ten minutes. While she was sitting she continually tracked the movements of
everyone in the room. She watched as more people arrived through door and
watched how the other infants crawled and walked around her. According to the
textbook, Scanning the environment and tracking moving objects also improve
over the first half-year as infants see more clearly and better control their eye
movements (Berk & Meyers, p. 189).
 Environment

The environment of the classroom was very

accommodating to physical development. There
eight cribs along the walls, which left plenty of open
space for the infants to crawl and walk around.
There was two short shelves in the room, one
against the wall by the outside door and another in
the middle of the carpet. These provided the infants
with an easy way to pull themselves up. In the
corner of the room there was a foam pit area that
had stairs leading up to it on one side and a curved
slide on the other. This allowed the infants to
practicing walking and crawling on different height
levels.
 Physical development- parent
recommendations
Create an obstacle course. Make an obstacle course for your baby to move
through. She will love climbing though a tunnel made out of boxes and
under the chair or behind the couch (parents.com).
Cognitive Development
 Language Development
With the development of perception and cognition, infants begin to develop
their language. Between eight and twelve months, Infants become more
accurate at establishing joint attention with the caregiver, who often verbally
labels what the baby is looking at (Berk & Meyers, p. 235).
I observed this example when Sarah was looking out the door to the outside
playground. One of the teachers walked over a picked her up. She began
pointing to different item outside and telling Sarah what they were.
 Piagets Cognitive Developmental Theory
According to Piagets Cognitive Developmental Theory, children actively construct
knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world. The theory is broken down
into stages, beginning with sensorimotor which takes place from birth to two years
or age. This stage describes the infants use of the sense and movements to explore
their environment (Berk & Meyers, p. 19).
Sarah was sitting in front of one of the teachers on the floor. The teacher has a toy
block in her hands that had Sarahs attention. The teacher put the block on the floor
behind her back. Sarah sat there for a second before she crawled behind the teacher
and found the toy. This example identified Sarahs understanding that just because
something is out of sight does not mean it does not exist anymore.
 Information Processing
According to Berk and Meyers, From the time information is presented to the
senses at input until it emerges as a behavioral response at output, information is
actively coded, transformed, and organized (Berk & Meyers, p. 21). Much like
Piagets theory, the information processing approach views children as active
learners in their environments.
During my first observation, Sarah kept trying to walk up the stairs to the foam pit.
She tried few times but stumbled each time. She was determined to walk up the
stairs, so she figured out that if she balanced herself using the wall that she could
accomplish walking up the stairs. In this example, Sarah processed her failures and
figured out how to solve her problem.
 Social Context of Early Cognitive
Development
The social context of early cognitive development is explained through
Vygostkys belief that, children master tasks within the zone of proximal
development-ones just ahead of their current capacities-through the support
and guidance of more skilled partners (Berk & Meyers, p. 242).
As I was observing Sarah, I realized that she was benefitting greatly from
having other infants around her, some of whom were more advanced in
some areas than her. This was beneficial because Sarah could watch those
children perform tasks that she was not able to do and she could learn from
those other children.
 Environment
Overall, the environment was conducive
with promoting cognitive development. The
teachers in the room talked to the infants
often, using their normal vocabulary. This
was beneficial to the infants because it helps
them to develop their language. There were
also cloth books on the floor for the
children to manipulate and look at words
along with corresponding pictures.
 Parent Recommendations
Have meaningful conversations. Respond to infant coos with delighted
vocalizations. Slowly draw out your syllables in a high-pitched voice as you
exclaim, "Pretty baby!" This talk is called "parentese." The areas in the brain
for understanding speech and producing language need your rich input
(scholastic.com).
Provide clear responses to your baby's actions. A young, developing brain
learns to make sense of the world if you respond to your child's behavior in
predictable, reassuring, and appropriate ways. Be consistent
(scholastic.com).
Social Emotional
Development
 Ericksons Theory of Infant and Toddler
Personality
Erickson believed in order for an infant to be healthy their quality of care
was more important that the amount of food or oral stimulation the infant
was given (Berk & Meyers, p. 246).
I observed good quality of care when teacher noticed Sarah had a dirty
diaper and immediately picked her up and changed her.
 Emotional Development
Emotional development is extremely important in infants. They help infants
with make social relationships, explore the environment, and discover
themselves (Berk & Meyers, p. 247).
Throughout my observations Sarah only whined once. She was playing with a
rubber cube and decided to pick it up and walk around the room with it. She
could only make it a few steps before she would teeter over. She became
frustrated and whined for a second or two. She did not actually cry but she
expressed her emotion of frustration through the sounds and faces she was
making because she could not yet use her words.
 Development of Attachment
Attachment is defined as, the strong affectionate tie we have with the special
people in our lives that leads us to experience pleasure and joy when we
interact with them and to be comforted by their nearness in times of stress
(Berk & Meyers, p. 261). Infants become attached to the familiar people in
their lives.
I could tell that Sarah had developed an attachment to one of the teachers. I
was in the room while Sarah was being dropped off by her mother. As they
walked into the room Sarah saw the teacher and immediately reached out her
arms for the teacher to hold her.
 Self-Development
The self-development of infants results from social interactions with
caregivers, development of emotions, and getting to know themselves using
materials such as mirrors.
During one of my observations, Sarah played with the mirror pyramid for
the majority of the time. She would pull herself up by grabbing on to it and
then she would stare at herself and others that were behind her. While she
was looking she smiled a few times. She would also crawl through the
pyramid. The floor of the pyramid was also a mirror and Sarah would stop
and stare at her reflection.
 Environment
The classroom provided many materials to promote good
social emotional development. There were two teachers in the
room that sat on the floor and played with the infants,
changed them when needed, and fed them. The adults
provided a safe and secure environment for the infants to
explore and grow. There were also mirrors in the room. There
were two on the wall and a mirror pyramid that the infants
could crawl through. Mirrors are a great way to get to know
themselves and see their own development.
 Parent Recommendations
Use diaper time to build your baby's emotional feelings of having a "lovable
body." Stroke your baby's tummy and hair. Studies have shown that babies
who are not often touched have brains that are smaller than normal for their
age. Also, when diapering your baby, you are at the ideal 12 to 18 inches from
her eyes to attract attention to your speech (scholastic.com).
 References
Berk, L. E., & Meyers, A. B. (2016). Infants and Children. Boston: Pearson.
20 Ways to Boost Your Baby's Brain Power. (n.d.). Retrieved October 25, 2017,
from http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/thinking-skills-
learning-styles/20-ways-to-boost-your-babys-brain-power
 References
Berk, L. E., & Meyers, A. B. (2016). Infants and Children. Boston: Pearson.
http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/thinking-skills-
learning-styles/20-ways-to-boost-your-babys-brain-power
http://www.parents.com/baby/development/physical/activities-for-
physical-development-9-12-months/