Challenging Child Observation Assignment for Ece
CHALLENGING CHILD OBSERVATION ASSIGNMENT
For my observation assignment I chose Sam, a four-year-old boy who stays in my class for the aftercare program. I have worked with Sam previously in the camp last summer and became aware of his challenging behavior.
For starters, he has a medical condition – he is prone to epilepsy (the cause is unknown). Sam is on medication and his doctors are constantly adjusting it and testing his condition. Sam’s parents asked teachers to be on the lookout for the warning signs of epilepsy. So far we have not witnessed any seizures at school, only the slight eye twitching/rolling or slight muscle jerks on the shoulders. I’ve noticed that this happens when Sam gets tired or overwhelmed by noise, too many choices or being anxious about something.
Other than his medical condition (which might have lead to the challenging behavior in the first place), Sam has a number of issues (like impulse control, entering groups, anger management, emotional regulation and empathy) that teachers are currently helping him to work on. Here are some of the situations that I was involved in or witnessed while working with Sam for the past four months.
1. During the quiet time in the aftercare program, which starts at 1:30pm, Sam loves to play with legos, in particular with lego-people. He usually builds them up and then pulls them apart with gusto, calling them “the bad guys” and saying that he “needs to fight the bad guys”. I asked Sam’s mother about Sam’s fascination with the bad guys and she assured me that he never watches TV and she has no idea where it came from. So every time Sam plays with this lego-people he starts making a lot of noise, throws legos all over the room and ultimately disturbs other children with his actions. The teacher tries to calm Sam down, asking Sam about his lego-people and commenting on how well he built them, offering to help him fix them again, like a surgeon who helps people to recover from an injury. It only
For my observation assignment I chose Sam, a four-year-old boy who stays in my class for the aftercare program. I have worked with Sam previously in the camp last summer and became aware of his challenging behavior.
For starters, he has a medical condition – he is prone to epilepsy (the cause is unknown). Sam is on medication and his doctors are constantly adjusting it and testing his condition. Sam’s parents asked teachers to be on the lookout for the warning signs of epilepsy. So far we have not witnessed any seizures at school, only the slight eye twitching/rolling or slight muscle jerks on the shoulders. I’ve noticed that this happens when Sam gets tired or overwhelmed by noise, too many choices or being anxious about something.
Other than his medical condition (which might have lead to the challenging behavior in the first place), Sam has a number of issues (like impulse control, entering groups, anger management, emotional regulation and empathy) that teachers are currently helping him to work on. Here are some of the situations that I was involved in or witnessed while working with Sam for the past four months.
1. During the quiet time in the aftercare program, which starts at 1:30pm, Sam loves to play with legos, in particular with lego-people. He usually builds them up and then pulls them apart with gusto, calling them “the bad guys” and saying that he “needs to fight the bad guys”. I asked Sam’s mother about Sam’s fascination with the bad guys and she assured me that he never watches TV and she has no idea where it came from. So every time Sam plays with this lego-people he starts making a lot of noise, throws legos all over the room and ultimately disturbs other children with his actions. The teacher tries to calm Sam down, asking Sam about his lego-people and commenting on how well he built them, offering to help him fix them again, like a surgeon who helps people to recover from an injury. It only