Dallas Warshaw

ECE 1414
Tuesdays 9-12
4/14/14
Child Case Study
The child that I have been observing for the past few months is Kobi S. Kobi is a 5 years old
male and will be turning 6 next January 13
th
, 2015. Kobi has obtained wonderful characteristics,
physically, behaviorally, emotionally, and mentally from his parents; Dr. Schmeltz and Mrs.
Ilana Glacier. Kobi has short dirty blond,( more brown than blond) hair, dark brown eyes and he
stands about 4 feet and some odd inches tall, and he has a smile that can light the world up. Kobi
has two older brothers; Benjie who is 10 years old, and Ryan who is 8 years old. Both of his
brothers go to Hillel Day School, which is where Kobi will be going next fall for Kindergarten.
Kobis father is a doctor, and his mother has worked for his fathers law firm but is currently
taking a break from practicing law. Kobis immediate family is located around the Detroit area.
As far as I know, they are just your typical middle class American family. There are no family
problems, of which I know about. Both of Kobis older brothers have gone through and
completed the program at the Jewish Community Centers Sarah and Irving Pitts Child
Development Center or CDC. Kobi is in his last year at the Jewish Community Centers CDC
program. He is in the 4/5 year old room with 16 other students on any given day. There are only
six girls in his class, and all six of them are only together Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays,
otherwise there are only three girls. Ms. Mae and Ms. Bri are his teachers for this year. The
children go to school five days a week, and the CDC is open from about 7 in the morning to 6 at
night. The children are able to use the main pools to receive swim lessons from the aquatics
director, as well as being able to use the big gym. The CDC also offers enrichment programs for
the children to get involved with once class is over at three. The programs are open to all
children including some for infants and toddlers. The CDC is very big on parent interactions,
maybe not as much when they are in kindergarten, but parents still get involved. The reason I
Dallas Warshaw
ECE 1414
Tuesdays 9-12
4/14/14
chose to observe Kobi, was I thought it would be an interesting experience to observe a male
child, and to observe a child that I did not know personally.

I have been able to come in and do my observation on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so I
have noticed a ton of activities throughout those weekdays. A normal weekday schedule is
something like:
9amChild drop off/children come to classroom
9-9:30Children set the chairs up, write/draw in their journals,
9:30-9:50 Children have free play
10All classes go to Shabbat
10:30Snack time
10:45-11:55 some type of activity such as Gym, Music, Cooking, Computer lab, or
Science
12-12:30Children eat lunch
12:45-3Children rest/ nap (if they are not signed up for an extracurricular class.
Children who participate in one of these classes nap/rest when they return from the class)
3 Snack time
3:30Children are starting to go home




Dallas Warshaw
ECE 1414
Tuesdays 9-12
4/14/14
KDI stands for Key Development Indicators. Every KDI category is hit during the week. There
are six different KDI categories; physical, social/emotional, cognitive, language, approach to
learning, and creative. In Kobis KDI for him;
Physical Development
Gross-motor skillsthis is one KDI, which he excels at because he is able to use the
CDCs gross motor room, the gym and pools.
Fine-motor skillsthey could use some work, keeping the pencil steady, or the scissors
straighter.
Body awarenessthis could use some work, only because he is not always aware of his
body space in relations to the other students
Personal carehe seems to be able to do it himself, but sometime he gets a little help
from mom or dad.
Healthy behaviorhe normally does very well with eating all of his snack and lunch at
mealtimes.
o Kobi could improve in this area, by eating healthier foods at lunch and snack
times.
Kobi always gets excited for his sports class after lunch. Each day it is a different
activity. There is Soccer on Mondays, Golf on Tuesday, T-Ball is on Wednesday, Kinder
sports on Thursday and Tumbling on Friday.
o Gross-Motor Skills, Physical Development KDI
Kobi will say No Thank You to any type of fruit, or almost any type of vegetable.
o Healthy Behavior, Physical Development KDI

Dallas Warshaw
ECE 1414
Tuesdays 9-12
4/14/14
Social/Emotional
Community/Building relationships Kobi is definitely building up a good sense of
community, being able to interact with all sorts of people, as well as good solid
relationship foundations.
Moral developmentlearning right from wrong is definitely something that is
constantly worked on, in all classrooms.
Conflict resolutionKobi is good at resolving conflicts, not only between himself and
another student, but also between two different students, but he does know when to go to
an adult for help.
o Kobi could get better in this area, by learning how to work and handle situations
with his brothers, so that when the time comes for him to go to a public school, he
will really be able to make friends, and help solve conflicts between other
students.
Kobi calls Ms. Ronda his and Ms. Ronda calls Kobi hers.
Ms. Ronda is the head of Aquatics for the pools at the JCC; she also
teaches the children how to swim.
o Community/ Building Relationships, Social/Emotion KDI
Kobi is playing magnets with Charlie and Nate when Jaxson comes over and wants to
join. Kobi then collects all the magnets and distributes them out evenly among the four of
them so everyone has an even amount of magnets.
o Conflict Resolution, Social/Emotional KDI


Dallas Warshaw
ECE 1414
Tuesdays 9-12
4/14/14

Cognitive
The teachers have things scheduled that help to push the child to do more then they did
the week before. I have noticed that this child is usually pretty quick to respond to a
question; therefore I do believe that he is doing well with KDI.
Kobi could practice what he has learned in school at home after school to help his retain
the information learned.

Kobi is able to identify what month and what the date is just by looking at the classroom
calendar.
o Cognitive KDI
Kobi has caught on to counting by 5s very quickly.
o Cognitive KDI










Dallas Warshaw
ECE 1414
Tuesdays 9-12
4/14/14

Language
Comprehensionbigger, harder, more complex words, he still does not understand, but
for the most part he is able to understand when someone is talking to his, and asking a
favor or a question.
Speakinghe is able to speak English as well as the Hebrew that they are teaching his at
the CDC.
Vocabularyevery week the children are given a new list of vocab words that they learn
over that week.
Readingage appropriate books he can read either quietly in his head or out loud.
Writinghis writing is a little messy but he is able to write sentences, words, letters, and
numbers.
By practicing his reading, writing, and vocabulary skills Kobi will be ready for when he
its kindergarten again in the fall, and even first grade school in a few years.

Kobi goes to Hebrew class with a few other classmates, as well as other students from
different rooms to learn how to speak the language on Wednesdays after lunch.
o Speaking, Language KDI
Kobi has started to write in his own journal after drawing a picture.
o Writing, Language KDI



Dallas Warshaw
ECE 1414
Tuesdays 9-12
4/14/14
Approach to Learning
EngagementKobi is usually doing some type of activity
Problem Solving-- Kobi is generally pretty good about solving problems not only
between his and another student, but also between to students.
Use of Recourseswhen he is stuck I have noticed that he can easily ask someone for
help, or use something around the room to help his.
ReflectionsKobi loves telling the class about his past experiences and adventures
o Kobi rarely sits still, he is always engaged in sometime of activity. He generally tries to
make all activates interesting to his, so that he can enjoy them more, which is a great
thing.

Kobi loves to draw the events of his weekend in his journal in the morning and then share with
his peers at the table about what he did over that weekend.
o Reflections, Approach to Learning KDI
Kobi generally goes to a teacher for help as a last resort for help in any type of situation, unless
it involves the well-being of another student. Then he will go straight to an adult.
o Use of Recourses, Approach to Learning KDI






Dallas Warshaw
ECE 1414
Tuesdays 9-12
4/14/14
Creative
Arthe likes to draw pictures, some are more scribbles than pictures.
MusicI have not observed
MovementTons of movement and expressing himself through these movements
Pretend PlayWhen he does play pretend, he generally likes to involve most of his
other classmates.
o Kobi has one big creative imagination. He can turn something that is used every
day, and turn it into, or find a new way to use the object.

After doing his morning journal, Kobi loves to go and play in the kitchen area with his
friends. He has turned the kitchen area into a police station and a restaurant and has also
used it as a regular house.
o Pretend Play, Creative KDI
(Pictured)
Kobi and his class are getting ready to perform their class graduation songs, Brown Bear,
and Peep Squirrel.
o Music, Creativity KDI
Kobi and his class preforming a Passover song for their Passover Seder for parents.
o Music, Creativity KDI
(Pictured)



Dallas Warshaw
ECE 1414
Tuesdays 9-12
4/14/14
So inclusion to my case study, it would appear that Kobi is ready to move on to kindergarten at
Hillel Day Schools. I am almost positive that his kindergarten experience at a public school is
going to far different from his experience at the Jewish Community Centers Sarah and Irving
Pitts Child Development Center. But no matter, this child is destined to do great and wonderful
things with his life as he continues to learn and grow. Although there are things that can use
work and improvements, this 5 year old is going to excel in the KDIs, as he grows, learns and
matures. I cannot wait to see what the future hold for this intelligent, handsome young man. His
options are unlimited at this moment, and Im sure that not matter his life choices; he will stay on
the right road, and follow that road to success in his future. I have tried to capture Kobis school
education in hopes that maybe you will take the comments I have written into consideration, but
will not be at all offended if you do not. This was a wonderful experience not only for me, but I
believe that it was a great experience for Kobi as well.











Dallas Warshaw
ECE 1414
Tuesdays 9-12
4/14/14
Dear Dr. Schmeltz and Mrs. Ilana Glazier,
I just wanted to thank you for allowing me to do my observations, and my case study on your
son, Kobi. He was absolutely just a blast to observe over the past few months, and I do not think
that I could have gotten a better experience anywhere else. I was able to not only observe your
child in the classroom setting, but I was able to participate in some of the activities and help out
in the classroom. I again just wanted to thank you again for allowing me this wonderful
opportunity to sit in and observe your son and then be able to do this case study on him. I know
that as your son continues to grow and mature, that he will accomplish many wonderful things in
life.
Sincerely,


Dallas Warshaw










Dallas Warshaw
ECE 1414
Tuesdays 9-12
4/14/14
Dear Ms. Bri and Ms. Mae,
I just wanted to thank you for allowing me to do my observations in your classroom. It was such
a wonderful experience for me, and I do hope that if in the future, I need more observation hours,
that you will allow me to come back into your classroom. I always felt like I was welcome in
your room, and you made me feel as though I was a part of the class. You were always willing to
help me when I had a question, and I was always willing to help you out in any way that I was
able. I hope that you will allow me to come and watch the childrens graduation come this June. I
cannot wait to see them preform their Brown Bear song! Thank you both once again for
everything.
Sincerely,


Dallas Warshaw