Assignment: Eye on Development, Part 1

Observing School-Age Children 6 to 10 Years Old

You will complete Part 1 of the Application Assignment for this course. The video segment you will view this week features children who range in age from 6 to 10 years old participating in a summer program at a child care center. Part 2, your assignment for next week, will involve learning more about these children through the expertise of the center director and the educational video host.

To complete this assignment:

Plan: Consider what you have learned about the development of children 6 to 10 years old. Click on the link below to download, print out, and review the document you will use to record your observations:

Week 4: Video Observation Guide

Observe: Watch the video segment and look for evidence of continuing development, such as enhanced fine- and gross-motor skills; expanded cognitive skills and evidence of reasoning associated with late childhood; new patterns in social interaction; and evidence of maturing emotional development. Record your descriptions of each on the Video Observation Guide. Again, your guidelines include:

Watch the video as many times as you need. Take notes on what you observe.

Use what you see and hear as evidence of physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development. Be mindful to only use the evidence you see rather than make any assumptions about a child. Factors you are not aware of, such as a child feeling tired or hungry, can influence the child's mood and behavior.

Remember that despite similarities shared by children of various ages, each child is different and goes through the stages of development in his or her own way. Keep that uniqueness in mind as you observe each child in the video.

Enjoy the segment. Use what you've learned this week to try to imagine the world through the eyes of a school-age child.

Reflect: Reflect on your observations by responding to the following:

Describe at least three examples of evidence of continuing 1) physical development, 2) cognitive/language development, and 3) social-emotional development.

Describe at least one example of how development in domains overlaps.

Describe differences between school-age, 3- to 5-year-old, and infant and toddler development in each of the domains: physical, cognitive/language, and social-emotional.

Explain at least one example of how your perception of development has changed or grown based on what you have learned this week and/or the video segment you viewed.

Submit: Write and submit a summary of your reflection. Cite specific examples from your observations and, if applicable, references to the Required Resources to support your thinking and ideas.

Assignment length: 1-2 pages.