For the ball game I will need to arrange a soft ball as I am not sure if Harris has any. I will borrow the soft ball from Mrs Ruth and use it to conduct my visit. I will make sure that the ball is suitable for Harris’s age. Not only will I check the ball but I will check the jigsaw for the age group because I don’t want a puzzle that is suited for a 10 year old for a 2 year old. I will also inspect the jigsaw pieces to make sure they are not sharp or have rough edges. Before I carry out the visit I will have to make contact with Harris’s parents and arrange a time that is suitable for them and me.
Expectations:
This is my first visit after the introductory one, I expect Harris to be shy and not really open up. Once Harris becomes comfortable around me I expect him to smile and talk to me. As I am focusing on all aspects of Harris’s development I will be conducting the activities I mentioned in my aims. The first activity I will observe will be the jigsaw puzzle, it says in the child care and development book that “a child of 2enjoy toys that are put together and pulled apart” I think he should be able to do this as he enjoys playing with jigsaws. Not only will I expect Harris to use his fine motor skills while building a tower with Lego but also I expect Harris to use telegraphic phrases such as “me build tower”. In the child development second edition book it states that “a child of 2 years will start to begin using telegraphic phrases”. My second activity is a ball game. The expectations I have for the ball activity are from the child development second edition book for example “a child aged 2 can kick a large ball that is not moving” I don’t think that Harris will be able to do this as he has just recently turned 2. I think that he prefers activities that use his fine motor skills and imaginative skills rather than gross motor skills. My last activity is the food activity which will involve Harris using his senses such as touch, and taste this milestone is from the child development coursework guide “Begins to develop senses of touch, smell, taste, and hearing”. This milestone is for a two year old and as Harris has just turned two I think he may not be fully aware of his senses but will be able to tell me whether he likes the fruits or not by using different facial expressions. All these expectations will allow me to see how well Harris has developed physically, emotionally, socially and intellectually.
Observation:
As I expected Harris was very shy and hesitant towards me, he wouldn’t speak or even come to me. I thought to myself maybe if he sees the jigsaw puzzle he may warm to me. This is what happened, Harris looked at me and came over to me he pointed towards the jigsaw but did not say anything this showed me that he was still quite shy and didn’t want to speak. I did not force Harris to say anything because I realised he would feel scared and uncomfortable so I just sat down on the floor with him and watched him do the jigsaw. As I expected Harris completed the jigsaw in less than 5 minutes and enjoyed the activity very much. Harris played with the jigsaw for 15 minutes and got bored and went and played with his toys. I left Harris to play with his toys because if I asked him to play with the ball he may have felt pressurised to do so. After half an hour I started playing with the ball out of boredom and noticed Harris was quite intrigued in what I was doing. Harris came and stood near me and just watched I thought Ill pass him the ball and see if he copies me. I kicked the ball towards the wall and passed the ball to him, Harris copied me and kicked the ball towards the ball he had to kick the ball a few times before he actually kicked it to the wall because he kept missing his footing and didn’t kick the ball. As this was a physical activity I realised that we should take a rest and maybe it was an appropriate time to bring the food activity. I brought the fruit that I had cut and washed earlier and sat down on the table Harris sat at the table with no fuss and I put the pieces of fruit on his plate he first looked at the fruit in a strange way as if it was alien to him. Harris did not like the sour fruits such as the oranges and kiwi but he did enjoy the banana and apples. I knew Harris liked the apples and bananas because he said to me “more” and pointed towards the fruit. When it was time to say bye Harris came and hugged me and waved bye and gave me a big smile when I went downstairs I saw him waiting at the top if the stairs with a sad face.
Evaluation
When I had carried out all the activities with Harris I was surprised that he was able to do things that I thought he may find difficult for example I thought he may enjoy all the fruits but he didn’t and also he found the activity quite boring. Before I conducted my visit I gathered some expectations from the child development coursework guide. The expectations were;
- “A child of 2 years enjoys toys that are put together and pulled apart”.
- “A child of 2 years will start to begin using telegraphic phrases”.
- “A child aged 2 can kick a large ball that is not moving”
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“Begins to develop senses of touch, smell, taste, and hearing”
Intellectual Development
The first activity which was the Lego activity involved language skills as well as being able to use fine motor skills. Harris managed to complete the task he was given by me this showed that I planned a suitable activity for Harris’s ability. I used the milestones from the child development coursework guide to see what I should be expecting from him” A child of 2 years enjoys toys that are put together and pulled apart”. I looked at this milestone whilst conducting the Lego activity I watched whether Harris used his fine motor skills to pull apart and put together the pieces. I noticed that Harris was capable to do this and enjoyed the Lego activity very much this shows me that Harris is achieving one of his milestones and that I should plan such activities that involve putting pieces together. As Harris did not speak much I gathered that he is quite shy and feels nervous around new people I think that once I get to know him more he will open up and talk to me.
Physical Development
I expected Harris not to like the ball activity but I was proven wrong. When I was kicking the ball I noticed Harris was staring at me but wouldn’t say anything he just pointed and I realised that he wanted to try and kick the ball. “A child aged 2 can kick a large ball that is not moving” I used this milestone to see whether Harris is on target and is achieving what is expected of him. I noticed that Harris did not have very good hand-eye coordination as he kept missing the ball this could have been because the ball was too small. But I did notice that he used his gross motor skills appropriately and used his leg to kick the ball. I think I will look at how Harris has developed his hand-eye coordination in the future visits, not just by using this activity but I can conduct other activities that use this skill such as bowling.
Social development and Emotional development
My last activity was the food activity I personally feel that I could have planned this activity much better and made it more enjoyable for Harris. I noticed that Harris had very good manners and sat at the table without a fuss. During the three activities I noticed that he didn’t mind sharing the toys and actually took it in turns with me to do each activity.
“Begins to develop senses of touch, smell, taste, and hearing” I used this milestone to see how well Harris developed. Harris showed me that he did not enjoy the oranges and kiwi by making a strange gestures and spitting the fruits out of his mouth. The fruits Harris liked were the bananas and apples he showed me this by smiling and asking for “more”. My last milestone was “A child of 2 years will start to begin using telegraphic phrases” the only time Harris actually said anything was when he asked for more fruit. At the moment Harris feels shy and hesitant towards me, I think during my next few visits Harris will open up and talk to me more.
Things Harris has developed on since my last visit
I have noticed that Harris is very shy and doesn’t like talking. For my aims I got some milestones from the child development second edition book.
- “A child of 2 years enjoys toys that are put together and pulled apart”. Harris used his fine manipulative skills to pick up the Lego pieces.
- “A child of 2 years will start to begin using telegraphic phrases”. Harris didn’t really say much but did ask for “more” fruit.
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“Begins to develop senses of touch, smell, taste, and hearing”. Harris understands how to show that he likes/dislikes something.
- “A child aged 2 can kick a large ball that is not moving”. I didn’t expect Harris to manage this. He did do the task but it did take him a few tries.