ASSIGNMENT: Observe a child between ages 2 to 9. Record my observations and then develop a summary from a biological, cognitive, and psychosocial point of view. I spent two hours sitting near a public playground and made the following observations. Would you make some suggestions on how to approach this assignment once you have read my observations and keep in mind that I need to think about how my observations can be interpreted from a biological, psychosocial, and cognitive point of view. Thank you.
OBSERVATIONS:
Two kids playing together, while another child joins them and plays until his parent picks him up and takes him back to where his parents are sitting
-Child walking along obstacle course. Parent is walking aside him with his arm positioned to catch the child if he loses balance. At the same time a mother and younger child are walking along the same course but the mother is hold the boys arm and directing him along the course.
-There is a fence around the perimeter of the play area. One child in particular is curious about people outside of the play area. Other children appear oblivious to surroundings outside.
-One parent is watching carefully to see how her child is interacting with other kids. Parent eventually calls out to the other parent "Is she being obnoxious?"
-For the most part children appear to be interacting alone, with a sibling, or guardian. It doesn't appear that the majority of kids are socializing/interacting with other children outside of their family or group they came with.
-An hour into my observation an older girl joined the children at the park and quickly started interacting with two younger children. Parent of younger children sat near by and observed as older child led the younger kids in building a sand castle.
One of the older girls in the park. is sitting alone in the corner with her back to the other kids. She occasionally turns around to see what the other kids are doing but appears content playing alone.
A majority of the parents appear to be observers while a few parents are constantly on their feet following their child around.