Reflective Summary Child Case Study Throughout my time at Northern Virginia Community College I have learned what it means

to be a teacher in the field of Early Childhood Education. I have learned how to promote the success of each individual child and create a supportive classroom, while grasping the tools necessary to become a professional educator. Although many of my classes have provided insightful and valuable information, I have learned the most through the real life experience required by this project. I began this project by developing a profile of the child. I interviewed the childs mother to discover information about prenatal development, birth process, and significant developmental milestones and experiences. The parent was very cooperative during the interview, but seemed hesitant to divulge details about her child. Unfortunately, I learned very little new information about the child during this section of the project. I already knew a great deal of the data provided by the mother because the child has been attending the Kids Club since he was 15 months. I attempted to gather more information about the child by interviewing his preschool teacher, but was unable to because the child had recently moved and was in between day care centers. Intense observation, documentation, and assessment were needed to effectively complete the next portion of the project. I used work samples, a frequency count, and many narrative techniques to specifically observe the childs creative, physical, and cognitive development. Through various observations, I learned his needs, interests, and developmental level, which made it easy to generate supportive activities. The following includes my reflections for each of the three developmental domains I observed: Through observing the childs cognitive development, I learned that he specifically had trouble rote counting. He was very inconsistent when counting a group of objects. Sometimes he could count perfectly to ten and other times he would count to 5 then begin saying random numbers. He generally displayed frustration when miscounting the objects, but attempted to count again until he got it right. After observing his fluctuating ability to count, I decided to create an activity that supported his counting skills. After doing this activity I learned that the child could in fact count to ten at least two times in a row. I believe the reason for his observed inconsistency at the Kids Club was because he was distracted by objects and activities in the environment. At the Kids Club, I regularly observed the childs interest in sports. This included basketball, catch, throw, soccer, etc. I used a frequency count as an observation strategy to document the childs ability to catch a ball that was thrown by a caregiver. The child was able to catch the ball 12 times out of 17 while displaying control and balance. Although the child did not catch the ball every time it was thrown, I knew that the child was developing physically at a 3 year old level according to the Virginia Early Childhood Milestones. I

decided to generate a kicking/throwing activity purely based on the childs interest in various physical activities. When observing the childs creative development at the Kids Club, I noticed that he always used markers when doing arts and crafts projects because that was all that was provided to him by the caregivers. Sometimes he would ask to use stickers or glitter, but was often dismissed because the caregivers had other activities planned. I instantly knew that I wanted to create an activity that allowed the child an opportunity to explore various art materials. I wanted this to be a child-directed activity so that the child could create art without the boundaries he experienced in the day care environment. This activity was incredibly successful. The child was excited about the various materials I provided and spent about 30 minutes making several pictures. He easily created lines and shapes using watercolors and glitter glue. According to the Early Childhood Milestones, a soon to be 4year-old should explore colors and shapes while working alone in a variety of art projects. This child displayed the ability to independently work on an art project while in a group setting and use a variety of materials to create basic visual art concepts: line, color, shape. I really enjoyed this project because it allowed me to apply essential early childhood education methods and strategies to real life situations; I was given the opportunity to execute all I have learned throughout the Early Childhood Education program at NOVA to this project. I believe I displayed myself as a professional throughout this process. I strived to create a respectful relationship with the childs family, while constantly informing them on assessed observations, expectations, and interests of the child. I created and implemented activities that were both enjoyable and effective in supporting the healthy development of the child. This project revealed that I have the tools and knowledge to effectively promote the success of each individual child. These tools include building beneficial relationships, collecting unbiased information through observation, assessing documentation, while producing encouraging activities. This project confirmed that the child is developing typically within the focused domains- cognitive, creative, and physical.