Child Case Study

CHD 265 Observation and Participation

Aisha White

Child Profile for Case Study

Childs Name: *JB
Gender: Female
Age: 1 year 9 months
Date of birth: 5/22/2014
Name of Daycare: Kids 1st Family Daycare
Relationship to child: Childcare Provider
JB is a 1 year 9 month old female who lives with her mother, father, and
two brothers (8 and 11 years old). According to her parents, JB was premature
and born at 36 weeks. She weighed five pounds and two ounces. Mr. and Mrs. B
adopted JB and do not have any information regarding prenatal development.
Mr. and Mrs. B spent alternating days with JB while she was in the hospital. She
was twenty-one days old when they were allowed to bring her home. They did
not have any bonding or attachment issues with her when they brought her home
from the hospital. Mr. B says that there were no issues with JBs brothers
bonding with her either. He says that she does however; alternate her
preference on which brother to play with on a regular basis.
Mr. and Mrs. B were concerned with general premature development after
JB was born. Although she did not show any signs of health and developmental
issues, they continued to monitor her and kept regularly scheduled check ups
with her doctor. Mr. B says that he did not have any concerns with JBs cognitive
development. He knew at first glance that she would be alert and aware. As far
as social/emotional concerns, she is quite temperamental. Mr. B says that she is
the most temperamental of their three children. JBs language development is
not an issue and has never been an issue for them. Mr. and Mrs. B let me know
that they do not have any current concerns with JBs development at this time.
JB attends Kids 1st Family Daycare, my in home family childcare. JB has
been in this daycare since she was three months old. I have had the privilege to
watch her grow and develop for almost two years. JB is a happy and loving little
girl. She loves books, playing outdoors, dramatic play and sensory play. As I
have watched her grow from an infant to a toddler, I do not have any concerns
with her development. She has reached every milestone of her development
thus far. I chose to do a child study on JB because I am very familiar with her
and her family. I have spent a lot of time with JB; therefore it was easy to figure
out which areas of development that I wanted to observe in order to help foster
and support her learning and development.

I have decided to use a running record as a tool for observing JBs social
and emotional development. At times JB can be very moody and
temperamental. She goes from being happy one minute and angry in the next
minute. Her temperament was the same as an infant. She fussed and cried
constantly as an infant and at times it was difficult to console her. She is also at
an age where she is just beginning to use understandable language to
communicate but still has moments where she looses control and has temper
tantrums because she does not know how to express her emotions in an
appropriate manner.
I will be using a rating scale as a tool for observing JBs language
development. JB loves books and she loves being read to. Her vocabulary is
expanding everyday. She mimics, imitates and repeats words and phrases that
she hears. She understands and is able to follow two to three step directions.
JB enjoys singing and dancing and repeating rhymes and songs. She likes to
color and draw and is able to hold a writing tool appropriately for a toddler. JB
prefers to use markers as opposed to crayons when doing art projects. She is
capable of using specific words to ask for what she wants because her
vocabulary is growing at lightening speed.
The last tool that I will be using is a checklist to observe JBs physical
development. JB began walking around fifteen months. Her family and I did not
have any major concerns with this because we felt that JB would walk when she
was ready. She had showed signs of readiness for a couple months prior to this.
JB walks well and is just beginning to start running away when she is being
chased. JBs fine motor skills are developing on target. She enjoys puzzles,
painting, stacking blocks and her new favorite activity is unzipping her jacket and
attempting to zip it back.
The activities that I create for JB will focus on her weaker areas of
development. I will choose activities that allow for her to be an interactive
participant and that she can engage in. I will also create activities that help build
on her strengths.

Social/Emotional Development Running Record

Name of Observer: Aisha White
Number of children present: 2
Age of children: 21 months and 13 months
Time of Observation: 10:15 am
Location: Family Daycare

Date of observation: 02/22/16

Target Childs Name: JB

Running Record: Social/Emotional Development

Assessment:

JB is at the water table playing in the water with another child

who is 13 months old and her name is EM. The water table
has plastic fruit and vegetables in it and the children are using
brushes to clean them. JB and Em each have their own
separate brushes to clean the fruit and vegetables with. The
teacher says, JB and EM, the fruit and vegetables are dirty
and you guys need to take your brushes and clean them. JB
takes her brush and sweeps it side to side in the water table.
EM puts her brush down and reaches to take JBs brush away
from her. JB snatches the brush back and tells EM no. JB
then places the brush down inside of the water table. EM
picks it up and begins to play with it. JB reaches for the brush
and EM walks away from her and the water table. The teacher
says, EM give the brush back to JB. JB holds her hand out
for the return of the brush. EM gives the brush back to JB.
EM begins to cry. JB looks into the water and pulls out a
banana and offers it to EM. EM takes the banana and stops
crying. JB begins to clean an orange with the brush. She then
stands in front of the teacher with the orange and says,
clean. The teacher says, Yes, all clean. EM starts to cry
and Jasmine gives her the orange. JB starts to the clean the
banana that EM puts down and cleans it using the brush. JB
takes the brush and tries to clean her face and then eat it. The
teacher says to JB, No mouth. We do not eat the brush. JB
takes the brush out of her mouth and then starts to sweep the
brush side to side in the water again. The teacher says, Its
almost time to clean up and put everything away. JB
continues sweeping the brush side to side. The teacher says,
Pick up the fruit and vegetables and put them into the basket
because it is time to move on to the next activity. JB and EM
pick up the fruit and vegetables and put them back into the

JB seems to be
developing as a typical
toddler. During this
observation, she was able
to share her space with
another child and was
cooperative. She is also
at the stage where
sharing is not an option.
She did not want anyone
else to have her brush,
even though she put it
down several times. She
was able to express
herself using words to tell
the other child, no when
she took her brush away.
JB was also aware of the
other childs emotions and
showed empathy toward
her when she began to
cry by offering her
another toy to play with.
She seemed to
understand the teacher
when she said that it was
time to clean up by
helping to put the toys in
the basket. JB lost
control when the teacher
took away the water table.

basket. When the basket is full the teacher puts it on the shelf.
The teacher goes to pick up the water table to move it out of
the way. JB watches the teacher do this and then she starts
screaming and falls down on the floor, swinging her arms and
legs. The teacher looks down at her and then continues with
moving the water table. JB continues screaming and crying
while on the floor. The teacher stoops down to JBs level and
says, JB, I understand that you were not ready to stop playing
at the water table, but it is now time to move on to the next
activity. Please get up and come sit down in the chair. JB
stays on the floor, still screaming and flopping all around. The
teacher goes over to the shelf and pulls out construction paper
and blue paint. JB watches as the teacher does this and then
she stops crying, gets up and walks over to the table, crawls
up into the chair and sits down.

She was not ready to let

go of that activity and the
only way that she knew
how to express these
feelings was by having a
tantrum. When she
noticed that the teacher
had pulled out a different
activity, she was able to
compose herself so that
she could participate in
the new activity.
I will develop a learning
plan that focuses on JBs
self-regulation, so that
she learns to become
more aware of her own
emotions and deal with
them appropriately.

CHD 265 Social/Emotional Development Lesson Plan

Type of Lesson
Feelings and Emotions
Target Domain
Social Emotional Development
Observation tool used
Running Record
Theme/Idea
Feelings
Targeted Age Group
Toddler- 1 year 9 months
Standards: Milestones of Child Development-Virginias Early Childhood

Development Alignment Project

Social and Emotional Development Strand 3: Emotion and Self-Regulation
C2. Increase behavioral regulation
C3. Become more adept at expressing own feelings appropriately and recognizing
others emotions.
C5. Develop ability to calm self when upset.
Lesson Objective(s): (List the objectives for the lesson- These should match the
standards that you have selected)
After this lesson the child should be able to:
Recognize names for a few basic emotions when experienced by self or others.
Express feelings and emotions through facial expressions, sounds or gestures.
Begin to manage own behavior and show self-regulation.
Resources/Materials Needed: (What resources will the teachers and the children
use?)
Book: What Do You Do With a Grumpy Kangaroo?
Feelings face puppets
Song If Youre Happy and You Know It
Hand held mirror
Procedure: Hands On Activity: (Describe what the children will be doing? Step
by step!)
1. We will look at the feelings face puppets and talk about them.
2. I will lay the puppets on the floor and ask her to point to the sad puppet, happy
puppet, etc.
3. As she finds the correct puppet, we will match our emotions to the puppet.
4. We will look in the hand held mirror and make the same faces as the puppets.
5. We will read the story What Do You Do With a Grumpy Kangaroo?
6. After we read the story, we will go back through the story and match the
Kangaroos faces to the feeling puppets faces.
7. We will sing If Youre Happy and You Know It using the feelings face puppets as
we sing we will show the same emotions on our faces and complete the actions
within the song.
Results of Social/Emotional Development Activity
This was a great activity for JB. She has been having a difficult time
controlling her emotions. The feelings face puppets that we used were: happy,
sad, silly, scared and mad. JB and I talked about the different emotions and
attempted to make faces that went along with each emotion. We used a mirror
so that she was able to see her facial expressions. She loved making silly and
happy faces in the mirror. I could tell that she preferred the happy and silly faces
to the sad, scared and mad faces. I began to notice that she would turn her head
away from the book with a sad expression whenever the Kangaroo in the book

was sad, angry or scared. She would perk up and smile when the Kangaroo was
happy about something.
I think this activity really helped JB with recognizing her feelings. JB is
extremely temperamental and looses control of her feelings very often. After this
activity I noticed that JB began to control her own emotions. In the mist of a
tantrum, she would stop abruptly, take deep breaths and calm herself down
without me having to intervene. I would commend her on the fact that she was
able to control her feelings all by herself and then I would help her find a new
activity. JB reached each goal of this lesson. She is now able to recognize
names for a few basic emotions when experienced by self or others. She
expresses her feelings and emotions through facial expressions, sounds or
gestures. JB has also begun to show signs of managing her own behavior and
self-regulation.

Physical Development Checklist

Child: *JB
Age: 1 year 9 months
Date of Observation: February 16, 2016
Observer: Aisha White

Physical Development Skills

Walks unaided to reach a destination
Moves with some balance and control
Uses whole body to catch a ball
Throws a ball overhand
Able to kick a ball with some coordination
Develop some ability to grasp and hold a variety of objects
Coordinates movements in grabbing, rolling, tossing, and throwing
Begin to use alternating feet when climbing stairs
Fills and empties objects from containers
Able to feed self using fork/spoon
Demonstrate beginning participation in self care
Becomes more aware of own body
Helps put on and take off clothes

Yes No
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

Physical Development Analysis

After completion of this checklist, it seems as though JB has some
challenges with her gross motor development in certain areas. She is not able to
catch or throw a ball. When a ball is thrown to her, she just stands there. I had
to demonstrate several times on how she should hold her hands in order to catch
the ball. Sometimes she would put her hands up and other times she wouldnt
even bother. Im not sure if she is not interested in playing catch or she just
doesnt know how. I also realized that she had some difficulty with throwing
objects. She would attempt to throw but wasnt able to release the item from her
hand. I will develop a learning plan that focuses on JBs gross motor
development in the areas of catching and throwing objects.

CHD 265 Physical Development Lesson Plan

Type of Lesson
Name That Food!
Target Domain
Physical Development
Observation tool used
Checklist
Theme/Idea
Eating Well
Targeted Age Group
Toddler- 1 year 9 months
Standards: Milestones of Child Development-Virginias Early Childhood
Development Alignment Project

Physical Development Strand 1: Gross Motor Development

A4. Coordinate movements in grabbing, rolling, tossing and
throwing.
A7. Move with some balance and control.
Lesson Objective(s): (List the objectives for the lesson- These should
match the standards that you have selected)
After this lesson the child should be able to:
1. Use whole body to throw.
2. Demonstrate large muscle balance, stability, control, and
coordination.
3. Develop increasing ability to change positions and move body
from place to place.
4. Move body with purpose to achieve a goal.
Resources/Materials Needed: (What resources will the teachers and the
children use?)
Beanbags
Poster
Marker
Pictures of Food
Tape
Procedure: Hands On Activity: (Describe what the children will be
doing? Step by step!)
1. A grid will be created on poster board with pictures of food placed
within each square.
2. The poster board will be placed on the floor.
3. I will throw one beanbag at a time to JB for her to catch.
4. JB will then use the beanbags to throw them on target and name the
food item that the beanbag landed on.
Differentiated Instruction: (How can this lesson be adapted or structured
for children with special needs or different age groups?)
Allow younger children to drop or slide the beanbags onto the
targets.

Results of Physical Development Activity

I was a bit concerned with this activity when we first began. JB had a
difficult time catching and throwing the beanbag and did not appear to be
interested in this activity in the beginning. I tried to show her several times how
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to place her hands so that she could catch the beanbag. When I placed her
hands in the correct position, she would catch or almost catch the beanbag. She
would not use her whole body to catch, and she would not move out of position
to catch. If I aimed correctly at her hands, it would just fall into place. When I
asked her to catch, without physically placing her hands into position, she would
not do anything. I would lightly throw the beanbag toward her and it would land
on the floor or hit her belly because she would not lift her hands to catch. I tried
a different technique to teach her how to catch by throwing the beanbag in the air
and catching it myself. This seemed to amuse her. After that, I gave her the
beanbag and asked her to throw it to me. Instead of throwing it to me, she
walked it over to me and placed it in my hands. I decided to back away from her
to give us some distance so she could throw it. This did not help, because she
continued to walk the beanbag back to me. After a while, she became annoyed
and bored with the activity. I decided to move on from this activity to teaching her
how to throw at a target.
Our theme of the week was Healthy Food. I made a poster board with
pictures of different vegetables that JB had to throw beanbags on and name. At
the start, JB still had difficulty releasing the beanbag when she attempted to
throw. I showed her several times how to throw the beanbag on a target. She
first began taking the beanbags and placing them on an item of food. She then
gradually became comfortable with letting the beanbag fall out of her hand.
Once this happened she was able to just let go and started throwing the beanbag
on target. She even extended the activity by throwing the beanbags in the air
like I had done previously. She also started throwing beanbags into the shopping
cart. This activity turned out to be successful in the end.

Language Development Rating Scale

Childs Name: *JB
Childs Age: 1 year 9 months
Date: February 23, 2016
Observer: Aisha White

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Behavior
Follows 2 and 3 step directions
Begins to understand simple phrases
Uses words to name common objects
Recites last word and/or phrases of familiar rhymes
Uses vocabulary of approximately 5-20 words
Babbles short sentences with inflection
Begins using two word sentences
Positions books right side up
Begin to recognize favorite books and repeatedly request to
read them
Turns pages in books
Begins to pretend to read on own
Recognizes some signs and symbols in the environment
Relate pictures with real objects, events and ideas
Performs actions shown in book
Points to familiar person, animals or toys on request
Points to own nose, eye, mouth and ears
Begin to show interest in exploring writing tools
Makes marks on paper without regard to location
Ability to hold large crayons and transfer them from one hand
to the other

Always
X
X
X
X
X
X

Sometimes

X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

Language Development Analysis of Observation

I used this rating scale to observe language development in JB. According
to the results of this observation, JB is developing on target between the age
ranges of 18 to 36 months. I know that JB loves books and we spend a great
deal of our day reading stories. She asks for books specifically and takes the
initiative to grab a book and bring it to me to read. I have noticed that JB will not
point at objects in books. She also does not name the objects that she sees,
although I know that she knows some basic items. When I point to an object in a
book or in the environment and ask her what it is, she is able to tell me. I have
decided to focus on JB being able to pay attention to detail and to be able to
recognize and name simple objects in picture books and objects around and in
her environment. I will use a picture book that has a puppet attached to it. I
hope that the puppet will encourage her to interact with the story more and
expand her vocabulary and language skills by talking about the pictures.
CHD 265 Language Development Lesson Plan
Type of Lesson
Target Domain
Observation tool used
Theme/Idea

A Closer Look
Language Development
Rating Scale
Eating Well

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Not Yet

Targeted Age Group

Toddler- 1 year 9 months
Standards: Milestones of Child Development-Virginias Early Childhood
Development Alignment Project
Language and Literacy Development Strand 1: Listening and
Speaking
A5. Understand questions, some basic concepts, and simple directions.
A6. Demonstrate increasing ability to attend to, participate in, and
understand language in conversations, stories, songs and poems.
A7. Build increased understanding of basic vocabulary and concepts.
Language and Literacy Development Strand 4: Comprehension
D1. Focus attention on simple picture books.
D4. Begin to recognize symbols for objects.
Lesson Objective(s): (List the objectives for the lesson- These should
match the standards that you have selected)
After this lesson the child should be able to:
1. Imitate actions/words.
2. Use words to name common objects.
3. Point to individual pictures and name person or objects
while pointing.
Resources/Materials Needed: (What resources will the teachers and the
children use?)
Book: Bib On, Bunny!
Procedure: Hands On Activity: (Describe what the children will be
doing? Step by step!)
1. We will read the story Bib on, Bunny! several times until JB becomes
familiar with it.
2. We will take time to look at the details in the pictures of the book.
3. I will name the different foods for her to find within the book using the
bunny puppet. For example, carrot, peas, bread, etc. I will also have
her point out other things like a spoon, fork and dish.
4. We will go through the book again and I will point to the objects and
ask JB to name them and allow time for her to respond with the correct
answer.
5. I will give her the book and encourage her to use the bunny puppet
while pretending to read the book to me.
Differentiated Instruction: (How can this lesson be adapted or structured
for children with special needs or different age groups?)
Use the bunny puppet to carry on simple conversations with a

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younger child.

Results of Language Development Activity

JB really enjoyed this activity because it involved reading one of her
favorite books at the moment. I conducted this activity because I noticed that

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she was not pointing at objects and naming them. I also knew that this activity
would help by increasing her vocabulary. I started out by reading the book and
pointing to the objects and naming them. I gave JB time to repeat what I said.
We reread the book several times. At one point when we got to the page with the
fork, spoon and knife, she pointed to the knife and said, cut. I said, Yes, you
cut with the knife. She repeated me and said knife. Once she became more
familiar with the names of the items in the book, she began to talk and play with
the bunny puppet. She would pretend to take the food items located within the
pages of the book and feed them to the bunny. I would make the crunch, crunch
sound whenever she gave the bunny food and she repeated me making
crunching sounds herself. JB also enjoyed touching the bunnys nose. She
would do this over and over again, saying that the bunny hurt her. I told her that
the bunny was a nice bunny and he wouldnt hurt her. She thought it was
hilarious and continued to do this continuously. I asked her to read the book to
me. She started reading and then became uninterested when the bunny did not
move or talk anymore. I attempted to get her to put her hands in the puppet so
that she could have control, but she refused. This activity was completed
multiple times throughout the day.
I noticed throughout the week that JB would point to posters on the wall
and name the objects that she knew. The objects that she did not know, she
would point to them and try to get my attention so I could tell her what it was.
This activity was very successful. JB is now able to point at objects and
attempting to name them. She is able to imitate actions and words. She is also
building on her vocabulary to name common objects. JB has met her goals for
this activity.

Child Study Reflective Summary

I conducted a child study on JB who is a 1-year and 9-month-old female.
She has currently been in my care for almost two years. I learned a great deal
after doing this case study on JB. I learned that JB has become more

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independent. I do not think that I realized this before implementing these

activities for her. Prior to beginning this case study, JB would have a difficult time
doing and completing certain tasks. She would get frustrated and constantly ask
for help if she couldnt get into her chair, complete a puzzle or remove a top from
a container. I would always encourage her to try and then offer my assistance if
she was still unable to complete the task. Over the last couple of weeks, I have
noticed that she no longer gets frustrated when completing tasks. She tries
multiple times to accomplish something without asking for help. When Ive
noticed her struggling, I have tried to offer my assistance and she usually pushes
me away and says no. She has become much more self-determined. She no
longer gives up as easily as she did in the past.
I now know that it is important to observe in the early childhood field
because children are growing and learning everyday. Early childhood
professionals need to consistently assess a childs level of development to
support their learning. Children develop at different rates. Focusing on individual
children and developing a goal that meets the childs needs is extremely
important. I have always known that observation was important but in all my
years of family childcare, I have never done a formal observation. I have always
watched and paid attention to children, but have never documented what I see.
It was important for me to go through this process because I learned first hand
how important observation is. I never took the time to understand the whole child
before developing a learning plan for them. For example, the first language
activity that I had planned for JB was a total flop when I tried to implement it. I
found an activity that I thought that she would enjoy. The activity was based off
of Old MacDonald Had a Farm. She had to point to a pile of animal cutouts and
place them on a picture of a barn when we sang the name of a particular animal.
She seemed to grow tired of this activity right from the start. She began to get
annoyed with singing the song repeatedly and having to place an animal on the
barn. Prior to doing this case study, I probably would have continued on with this
activity until the end, in spite of her reluctance to continue. I have now learned
that if a child is not interested in an activity, stop it and find a different activity that
has the same objective and goal but is more interesting and relatable to the child.
I learned how to appropriately use observation tools for this assignment. I
think this was the most difficult part of this assignment for me. I had never heard
of a frequency count or time sampling. I decided to choose the tools that were
most familiar to me. I did not even know the difference between a running record
and an anecdotal record. I thought I knew the difference before I got started on
the project. As I read through both of them, they seemed to be one in the same
to me. I could not distinguish between the two. I did not learn the difference
between the two until I had my interview with Ann Marie Lanius. Once she
explained the difference to me, it made much more since and I ended up
changing what I originally thought was an anecdotal record to a running record. I
was very familiar with the rating scale and the checklist because I had seen

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those from previous classes. I now understand the differences between the tools
used for documenting an observation. I am walking away from this assignment
more knowledgeable and capable of professionally completing an observation.
Creating learning activities based on my observations and interactions
with JB was very interesting. Like I mentioned above, the first language activity
that I planned for JB did not go well. The second activity went much better and
she enjoyed it very much. The first activity was not based off of who she was as
an individual. It was based off of what I thought she would like. Also, there was
a song planned in the first language activity and in the social/emotional activity. I
learned that JB was not interested in singing the songs during the activities. For
instance, one of the songs we sang was If Youre Happy and You Know It
during the social/emotional activity. The song was changed around to reflect the
emotions that we were learning about. She would only participate if we sang the
title of the song or If youre silly and you know it, make a funny face. She really
enjoyed imitating those two emotions. This comes back to my prior
social/emotional observation. When I mentioned that she did not want to
participate in the story when we got to the parts were the Kangaroo displayed
sad, scared or angry feelings. She just did not want to connect with those
feelings. The great thing about this is that I knew she understood the emotions
because of her facial expressions, which told me that she was actually
connecting and learning from the activity.
I learned a great deal about myself and will continue to grow as a
professional because of this project. I now know how important documentation is
to an observation. It is impossible to see growth and development within a child
without documentation. I have learned to be more aware and present when
participating in activities with children. I will now offer additional time after
implementing an activity to allow for the child to extend the activity in a way that
is pleasing to them. I tend to have a bad habit of quickly moving on to the next
activity without allowing time for them to creatively extend the activity. I
witnessed and recognized that JB learned so much more when she was allowed
to turn the activity into a completely different learning experience for herself. JBs
learning did not stop when the activity ended. I did not fully grasp what she had
learned until I was able to see the results displayed in how she started selfregulating her emotions, or the days that she asked me to play catch with her
and she actually threw the ball. This was certainly the highlight of the project for
me. I could not have asked for a more perfect outcome. I would say this project
was successful!

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