Children falling in the age group of 4 to 5 years were observed in a classroom setting. This observation lasted for a day where the behavior, attitude and the activities of children were carefully noticed across different courses/ subjects. In addition, the role taken up by the teacher was also examined. This process of observing the preschool kids in a learning environment helped in understanding their development in a more coherent manner. Coming across their enthusiasm for play, the manner in which they helped other children and their curiosity to try new things, revealed the specifics of cognitive, social, emotional and other aspects of child development. Moreover, assessing the role of the teacher also aided in getting a better understanding about the importance of the strategies adopted in an academic environment in fostering the overall development of a child.
Observing the preschoolers
The first look at the classroom gave me an impression of serenity, independence, and growth. The place was quite spacious to comfortably accommodate around 15-20 students. Wherever I looked, I observed kids occupied with various activities. They were happy. It was not only their act but even their smile represented the high amount of enthusiasm and energy. Instead of introducing myself as an observer that would intimidate their personal space, I told the children that I will be assisting their activities for a day. However, like every other kid of this age, these preschool kids were very curious as they asked a lot of questions incessantly. Some of the common ones included: What will you make us do or will you play with our toys? The different toys that surrounded them engaged them to such an extent that they often paid little attention to the outside world. While they continued to mould the clay into different animals and experiment with the color palette, a girl slipped at the corner and started crying. Immediately, several kids ran towards her, while some stayed at the corner looking at her from a distance. I asked them why are they not helping the girl like other kids, but they responded with silence. I observed other children surrounding the injured girl; touching her hand which got hurt, slightly rubbing off her tears and holding her hand. Interestingly such a gesture was not being instructed by the teacher but rather the kids helped her on their own (Erikson, 1963). The teacher brought the girl who slipped to join other kids thereby instructing that it was time take out their favorite toys which they were supposed to bring. One by one, the kids started coming in front facing the whole class. They were supposed to describe their favorite toys. There was a wide variety of toys which the kids brought. It included pretty long haired dolls, teddy bears, dogs, parrots, train, cars, flowers and the list goes on. Kids kept on coming with their unique descriptions. One of them brought his small train. His name was Todd who began the description by pointing out at the number of wheels the train had. He demonstrated the way a train runs on a railway track making choo-choo sounds and pretending to be the driver. On the other hand, one of the girls showed her pink doll describing how she likes to comb its hair and make her food hoping that the doll would grow up soon and start playing in real.
Soon it was time for recess. I noticed an air of excitement when the teacher announced that it was time for some baking fun. I saw every child applauding and digging their bags for their lunch boxes. The teacher guided them with the dough preparation. I was astonished to see they did it very well. Children were allowed to choose their own colors for their cookies which were then put in the oven to bake. The teacher then asked them to touch it and feel the difference in the texture and the color. They sat together and enjoyed their cookies. The teacher remarkably engaged the whole class in the activity which according to Jean Piaget is an important step in aiding the cognitive development in pre-school children who are supposed to get acquainted to activities that enhance their problem solving skills (Piaget, 2007). After recess, the instructor wrote ‘games’ on the board. I helped her to organize the different sets of the games. Upon her instruction, I told the kids to form their own groups of 5. The children immediately started choosing their group partners. I also observed one or two of them going around asking other kids to quickly get into groups thereby directing and leading them to get ready for play (Erikson, 1963). However, I saw the same bunch of kids who were previously reluctant to go help the girl who had tripped. They were standing at the corner. Upon inquiry they were unwilling to choose a group to join. I told them how fun it would be to solve a puzzle and be declared the winner of the day. Making the activity more adventurous, I was successful in convincing the children to formulate their own group. This also made them not to take me as a mere outsider. Each group had a different game. Some were given puzzles to complete while other groups were asked to make various shapes out of the blocks. To my amazement, the winner was that group of children who were hesitant to join in. In real, they lacked an initiative; an important aspect at this stage which must be worked upon by the care takers and the administration (Erikson, 1963).
Additional comments
I did not observe any sort of aggressive or hyper children in the class. Almost all of them were compliant to the instructions given by the teacher and they all were ready to help and share. However, there were a bunch of students who as mentioned earlier, were reluctant in participating in the activities and were unwilling to join the rest of their mates. The teacher often appeared to be too occupied with organizing the things and arranging activities which left her with little time to give individual attention. In other words, it is essential to encourage these students who lack initiative and confidence. To cater to this shortcoming, the school administration can either reduce the number of children per class or provide a part time helper who can assist each and every student to identify and thereby deal with their weaknesses. Moreover, although it is good to use real objects such as puzzles and games to foster cognitive and motor development, the teacher could also aid the learning environment with more visuals which would help the students understand the world in a broader spectrum. Although the teacher was very good in arranging different activities, she must emphasize more on imagination. One way of doing this is when she asked the kids to describe their favorite toys; she could have asked them to make out a story based on that toy. Also, using visual aids can enhance imagination and cognition amongst preschoolers. Regardless of these shortcomings of the program, the classroom’s environment was conducive to learning where the teacher was well organized with the activities that were taking place. She incorporated individual as well as group activities, emphasized on introducing problem solving games and put in a lot of effort for working on the essentials of child development.
Conclusion
Thus, it was a very good experience to observe preschool kids specifically getting to know the tasks conducted in a school environment which directly impacts the development of kids. I could actually relate to the well incorporated activities in the school which aided the development of kids. This assignment of observing preschool kids successfully served the purpose of examining the actual activities taking place in a learning environment, getting to know the different type of kids; their attitude, their curiosity, level of confidence, willingness to help and all other such aspects were noticed through this assignment. Moreover, directly observing the preschoolers helped at getting the real insight about the environment which has long been studied by the child developmental theorists and been shown on the television. The real effort of the teacher and the administration was closely seen in order to point out the way they helped fostering the overall development amongst children and also looking at the areas where they lacked. Hence, the place promised an air of tranquility, fun, learning, independence, well-being, and ensured successful development. I would love to enroll my child to this school.
References
Erikson, E. (2nd ed.). (1963). Childhood and society. New York: Norton
Piaget, J. (2nd ed.). (2007). The child’s conception of the world. USA: Rowman & Littlefield.
