Home and local area
Kira lives in an extended family with her mum, dad and three older sisters, who are 11, 13 and 15. I believe that she is developing at an accelerated rate due to the interaction from her older sisters. This highlights the Social Learning Theory developed by Albert Bandura which was that children learn by looking at the behaviour of adults and copying.
Kira’s father works full time and her mother works part time. Kira attends nursery on the days that her mum works, and mother and toddler groups with her mum on the other days, both of which have probably helped to improve her development as she has plenty of opportunity to interact with other children.
Kira also spends time at the weekend with her Nan, Grandad and auntie which usually involves many visits to the local park which Kira loves.
The family house has a large, safe garden with outdoor play apparatus that Kira enjoys. But the family are currently looking to move house so that Kira can have her own bedroom.
Physical development
Kira’s gross motor skills are good for her age; she is able to run, jump, throw a ball over arm and can kick a ball maintaining good balance. She can walk up and down the stairs, two feet per stair though she is encouraged to come down the stairs on her bottom as the stairs are quite steep. All of which are development milestones for a 2 year old (Brennand and Hall 2006)
She is keen to dress herself and can put on her trousers and a top, though needs help with buttons and other fastens.
Kira’s fine motor skills are also very good; she is able to complete a 16 piece jigsaw independently and can pick up very small things. Her hand eye coordination is developing well; she can thread large beads and card. She is right handed and shows improved tripod grasp when she holds a pencil. She can draw over dots on a page and can draw a circle, placing correctly the eyes, mouth and nose. She also shows good spatial awareness as she manoeuvres around an object which according to Brennand and Hall 2006 is a three year old milestone.
Intellectual development
Kira communicates very well for her age; she isn’t shy and will talk to anyone. She has a lot of confidence and will sometimes show off in front of a group of people/ family. Kira’s speech is developing rapidly, and her pronunciation is usually clear. She uses many phrases and short sentences, though they are sometimes telegraphic sentences; she is very good at understanding what people say. When she is told off she knows she has done wrong, but often when she is doing something wrong she knows that she should not be doing it, but enjoys the attention.
Kira is able to count to about 12 on her own and is currently learning to count to 20. She also shows an understanding of what the numbers mean, for example, she will pick out two blocks when asked or four blocks, etc.
Kira can say the alphabet up to G on her own, then a little further with a bit of help. She also knows many animals, all her body parts, days of the week and she knows a few colours, orange, red and black. Kira enjoys singing nursery rhymes, such as Humpty Dumpty, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and some action rhymes, and can also sing songs from TV programmes such as Fifi and Post man Pat.
Kira is able to play for long periods of time independently but also enjoys the company of other children, especially her friend Eve.
Kira is generally very well behaved unless she is tired.
Social development
She often uses her manners when she is given something, saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ often without being prompted. However, she does confuse the two sometimes. Kira sometimes has a tantrum if things do not always go her way, for example if she is trying to dress her doll but can not manage it she gets frustrated and shouts.
As Kira goes to nursery three times a week she has lots of interaction with children of her own age. Her mum’s friend also visits regularly with two children she child minds, so she spends time with them too. Kira is toilet trained, so she just has to ask when she needs the toilet and then she will get taken upstairs. Kira can feed her self with out any help. She doesn’t have a bib but she does sometimes make a bit if mess. Kira washes her hands and when she does she demands to use soap and she knows when she needs to wash them, saying ‘wash hands’. Kira brushes her teeth she doesn’t like it but she is made to brush them.