A Developmental Psychology Observation

Observation of First-Grade Class

On March 25, 2017, I observed children in a first-grade class of twenty. On a Wednesday, I went to the school. I had already requested permission from their class instructor to study the children’s daily activities as part of my University course program. The teacher mentioned that Wednesday was a good day because the students were involved in a variety of activities outside of class. I arrived early in the morning and stayed with the kids all day. There were twelve girls and eight boys in the class. They were all between the ages of six and seven. The pre-school is located in New York.\u00a0 The kids were brought to school by their school bus at around 8 am. Most of them alighted carefully and followed the instructions the driver was giving. However, some were reckless, and they even fell as they alighted. Some could not wait for the instructions from the driver, and they kept pushing other children as they got off the bus. Most of them were happily talking with their friends as they left the car park towards their classroom. They were in small groups where they were laughing and running around. However, two of the kids were lagging behind, and they seemed unhappy. One of them was even crying. They were not talking to any of their colleagues.

Classroom Activities

When they got to their classroom, their teacher welcomed them. The children were happy, and they started singing songs as the teacher directed them. Within no time, the two kids had got used to the classroom atmosphere, and they now seemed happy. Most of the kids raised their hands when the teacher asked questions, and the class was lively and enjoyable. They were also obedient as they only left their seats with their teacher’s permission. During break time, the kids were disciplined as they took their teatime snack. Only a few of them poured tea on themselves. The rest were organized and had excellent table manners. However, during lunchtime, most of the kids took so long to finish their food. They were only disciplined during the first minutes, and after some time, they began running around the hall. The teacher had a hard time trying to control each one of them.

Art Period

The session after the break was an art period. The children were asked to draw and paint different diagrams. The kids seemed excited with the colors and pictures, and they kept pouring the paint on the table. They also played with the paint and soiled some of their books and clothes. The teacher had a terrible time trying to control them and even asked for my help in containing some of the children. The kids seemed too excited about this session. After it was over, most of them kept insisting that they should have more time for art and painting.

Playtime and Sleep Time

The first hour of the afternoon session was playtime. The children were overjoyed, and they played all types of games. They were free with each other and their playgroups well balanced between boys and girls. They were also friendly to each other as they formed the groups on their own. They kept asking me to join them in their games. When I declined, they asked me to watch over their items such as sweaters and shoes. The next hour was sleep time. When the bell rang, they hurriedly ran to class and took their positions. They did not disturb the teacher as most of them quickly fell asleep. Later in the evening, the teacher woke them up and asked them to prepare to go home. Some of them were stubborn, but they finally managed to wake up. However, nearly all the kids had dirtied their clothes and shoes. They gathered all their items together and put them in their bags as their teacher directed them. They said a quickie prayer in a chorus form and sprinted to the bus. They all looked excited as they waved their teacher goodbye. It was a good day to have spent with the children.

Connections

Intelligence and Creativity

Developmental psychology suggests that most changes in children occur during childhood. Some of the key areas where these changes take place are in their social, emotional, biological, and cognitive processes. The experience helped me to understand intelligence and creativity in children as taught in class. The children were between their infancy and childhood stages and as such, their fluid intelligence was not developed. We learned in class that fluid intelligence begins to build up in the latter years of childhood and declines with old age. Since these children were only six and seven years, the only complex information their teacher exposed them was through songs. They learned the letters of the alphabet, names of places and things, and other essential components of language through song. It is the only level of reasoning they could understand.

The crystallized language, which is acquired through experience, was visible in the children. In our course, we had learned that this type of knowledge is acquired from infancy and advances continually all the way to old age. The knowledge was demonstrated during the art and games sessions. The children who had joined the school earlier drew better pictures and painted them well. During games, they won most of the time, and other children kept hanging around them. They wanted to be on their teams because they were assured of victory.

The creativity described by Sternberg suggests that it comes with the ability of individuals to be playful with ideas. Creative people are also open to risk. During the art session, the children were very playful. They kept asking for more canvas to try out their drawings on. They also drew multiple figures and tried out different ways of painting. The teacher also kept requesting them to focus on what she was explaining as their thoughts kept swaying away. Therefore, the children were very creative.

Sensation and Perception

The children in this classroom only got involved in singing, drawing and gaming activities. The teacher could not engage them in any reading and writing work as she complained that at that age, most of them lost their concentration very quickly. I also observed it during the morning hours when they were singing. The children would soon begin to make noise and doze off when learning a new song especially if it was lengthy. Therefore, the teacher kept telling them to dance and jump to keep them focused on learning the song.

I was able to see that although the concentration span of these children was still developing, they were able to focus when the teacher engaged them. However, the children were still selective in their concentration as they paid more attention to the songs they were already conversant with and less attention to the new ones. Finally, I was able to see that it was strategic for the teacher to use senses for goals when teaching the children as it promoted their concentration span. The children maintained their focus on a single subject for about an hour, and I was convinced that at the end of the next two years, their span of concentration would have improved significantly.

The motor skills and senses of all the children were fully developed at this age. For instance, when the bell rang to indicate the end of a period, they quickly ran to the particular destination. Their motor skills were also enhanced although I noticed that some of the children had to be helped by the driver on and off the bus. They were still developing the ability to climb heights and maintain their stability.

Conclusion

The day I spent with the children was treasured to me. It helped me realize that the concepts I learned in the developmental psychology class are not mere theory, but they are practical skills that should be utilized when understanding the behavior of children. I was able to comprehend the behavior each child demonstrated by relating to the level of development illustrated in its age. The most valuable lesson I learned is that children are easy to understand and control when one has the basics of the state of their psychology development at a particular age. Therefore, the class is not only necessary for teaching but also in parenting as it helps the parents relate with the children at different ages.