Preschoolers Observation

My small group activity will be based off the observations of the preschoolers in the Star room. The activities will have a theme about germs, that will hopefully enhance certain developmental domains. Adjustments will be made if need to ensure optimal development of all the preschoolers. I noticed that quite frequently the children are sneezing and coughing on one another without covering their mouths. There are numerous examples that I could go on about, but one in particular stood out to me. As I was help H.A change out of his outdoor clothes he began to cough on my face. I then moved my face away and made a disgusted face and said “ H.A next time cover your mouth, so that you don’t spread your germs on me”. A few seconds later he began coughing again but this time cover his mouth. I praised H.A for listening to me. The elect (2007, p. 53) document states that preschoolers are able to correctly follow oral instructions. The
observation of H.A suggests that he is at the correct pace of development as he was able to follow my oral instructions (when I told him to cover his mouth when coughing) and he implement it properly (when he covered his mouth when coughing). Another observation I encountered was of how the children are constantly observing and mimicking different actions they observer.
For example, a few weeks ago when the grocery store was set up in the dramatic play area S.D and I were playing with the shopping lists. I was then speaking out loud writing down what I am going to buy from the grocery store. S.D was watching me as I did this and then began to imitate exactly what I was doing. She was able to observe and describe what she was doing. She was then looking at my grocery list and somewhat copying it as she would state everything she did out loud. Preschoolers are able to be visually attentive to things in the environment and can describe the things they observe (elect 2007, p.57). This statement suggests that S.D is at the correct phase of development as she observed my actions and describe what was happening. This is also evident during story time, as the preschooler are observing the pictures in the book and point/ describe the different objects that are presented in the
pictures. Lastly, I noted that the children sometimes struggle with reflecting and concluding. For example, myself, F.W and L.F were sitting on the coach reading a book about going to the doctor. I would read a page and then prompt the two children to explain the different things that are occurring in the book like, when the boy fell of his scooter and hurt his foot what do you think will happen next? and I asked why did the boy go to the doctor when he hurt his foot? I noticed that both L.F and F.W were able to state why the boy went to the doctor but neither child was able to explain what happens next. Preschoolers are usually able to describe cause and effect of an event (elect 2007, p. 57). Therefore, this statement describes F.W and L.F as being slightly behind in development, because both children were able to state what happened and why an event happen only after the event occurred, but were not able to predict what would happen.
Overall, my activities will be based around a germ theme to teach the children about how important it is to wash our hands and not spread germs. My activities will also enhance certain developmental domains, by have a science experiment to observe, a chart with oral instructions to mimic and a germ spreading activity that can be reflected on. All in all, I hope the children will enjoy the activities while they learn about germs.