Table of Contents
- Pseudonym of the child: Jane
- Gender: Female
- Chronological age: 21 months
- Background information of the child: Jane’s parents, both in their late 30s, are working full time. She has an older brother, who is 6 years old, and he attends full day in the same childcare as Jane. Before joining the childcare 2 weeks ago, Jane was under the care of her paternal grandparents, who are both in their 60s.
Other important information: Both parents leave for work early in the morning. To spend time with their children, both parents leave from work a little earlier to take the children out in the evening to the playground. They started taking Jane to the playground once she was able to waddle.
Observation Record 1
- Setting: Indoor playground in the shopping mall
- Time of the day: Evening
Observations: Jane tried to climb the slanted wall by placing her arms on the foam climber for support. She lifted her left leg and placed it on the climber to push herself up but kept sliding off. So she placed her right leg on it and successfully pushed herself up to stand on the climber. She repeated the process, this time placing her stomach on the climber, holding on to it with both her hands and bringing her legs up. She placed both her hands at the landing at the top and placed her foot, one after the other. With all four limbs on the landing, she balanced herself and once stable, she stood on her feet.
Observation Record 2
- Setting: Public playground at a HDB estate
- Time of the day: Evening
Observations: Jane ran over to the playground. She stopped in front of the stairs, held onto the handrails at her sides and walked up the stairs in an alternating fashion. Once she was at the top of the stairs, she walked over to a tunnel. On the way to the tunnel, she climbed over a ledge, where she placed her leg on it and climbed over without relying on support. She lifted her right leg up and climbed into the tunnel. She held onto the sides of the tunnel to balance herself. She slowly walks up the tunnel.
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At the end of the tunnel, she sat down at the edge and placed her feet down. She walked over to the slide and sled down. Once she was at the bottom of the slide, she turned over on her stomach and faced the slide. She then placed her feet on the ground. She ran over to the stairs again. This time, she held onto the handrails and when climbing up the stairs, she took 2 steps at a time.
Observation Record 3
- Setting: Public playground at a HDB estate
- Time of the day: Evening
Observations: Jane placed her arms on a trampoline. She tried to push herself up onto the trampoline by lifting her legs up but stopped abruptly. She took her hands off and walked over to the other side of the playground, towards a small mound. She placed her right foot first, then her hands, on the mound. She bent her knee and lifted her leg up, one after the other, to climb to the top.
Once she stood on both feet, she took small steps and slowly walked down the mound. Once closer to the ground, she jumped off and landed on the ground. She walked over to another hill and attempted to repeat the same climbing process but failed. So she placed her arms forward on the mound to get a grip and placed her foot on the mound, one by one. Once she had all 4 limbs supported on the mound, she crawled up the mound surface. Once she stabilised herself, she lifted her hands up and stood on her feet. She walked in the direction of her father after calling out to him and hopped off the mound.
Analysis
According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(n.d), a child aged 24 months should “[begin] to run” and a child aged 3 years should “[walk] up and down stairs, one foot on each step”. Jane was able to run from one point to another as seen from observation record 2 & 3 and she walked up the stairs whilst holding onto handrails, taking two steps at a time, at the age of only 21 months.
This shows that her gross motor skills relating to her climbing and running is developed for her age. She is seen to have bent her knees and lifted her legs up to climb onto the mounds and foam climbers and she also used her arms to hold on to the sides or a stable structure, to ensure stability. She was also observed to be spending some time to get her balance, especially after she uses all her limbs, as seen from observation record 1 & 3.
Suggestions
To improve her stability, educators can expose Jane to a toy called Balance Stepping Stones. These stepping stones are colourful and are appropriate for children to hop and jump from one stone to another, usually suited for children above the age of 3, when they start hopping and jumping. However, Jane can use these stepping stones to walk over them, just like she did on the small mound in observation 3.
This time, however, the mound will be much smaller, in the size of stepping stones, which are like mini mounds. Jane can climb up these mini mounds and climb down, using her legs. She will be forced to use only her legs to climb up and down, which means she would stop relying on her arms to climb up and down a structure. Eventually, as time progresses and she has had more practice with the stepping stones, this activity will allow her to stabilise herself when climbing up and down structures, helping with her balance. Additionally, since these stepping stones are made of foam, Jane’s safety will be ensured throughout the activity.
