First, observing the children’s physical skills was somewhat difficult because of the class structure. During my observation time all of the children remained in their seats while they were read stories in the media room and given a math lesson in the regular education classroom. Despite the difficulty of monitoring their physical skills I was able to view the height and weight of both the males and females. As my class notes state, at this stage of a child’s early childhood development males should be taller than females, and in this instance the statement holds true. The males in the class on average were two to three inches taller than their female classmates. Although females have a higher percentage of body fat it is said t

In conclusion, when I made the trip to West Liberty Elementary School I was very skeptical as to what I would observe and learn. However, I learned a great deal about children going through the various stages of middle childhood. Having the opportunity to witness real life interaction between students, teachers, and peers was an extraordinary experience. I was able to view various children’s physical skills such as fine motor skills, social and emotional skills such as how they dealt with conflict and interaction between their peers, and cognitive skills such as selective attention and spatial perception. Because I am planning to become a teacher when I graduate I had a very high interest in this task and would gladly observe elementary school students again !

Finally, while at the school I was able to observe the children’s cognitive skills. The two primary skills I was able to observe were selective attention and spatial perception. Observing selective attention was very amusing. When I first arrived I followed the children to the media room where they were read a story by the librarian. Within seconds of the stories beginning many children in the back of the classroom lost concentration. The children seemed to become more fixated with the group and I than the interesting story the teacher was reading. One particular student was very fixated with me. A small petite girl paid no attention to the story and gave her undivided attention to me and Gary’s foot. This instance was very amusing and at the same time very educational as I was able to have a great example of selective attention hanging on my leg. Many other students had very selective attention as well. A common thing the students did was play with their shoe strings and the person sitting next to them. Many times the girls would carry on their own side conversations as if nothing else was going on around them. It was also very evident that the boys in the class had a much higher attention span and interest in the story. With the excep

Some topics in this essay:
Elementary School, , selective attention, spatial perception, fine motor skills, fine motor, social emotional, motor skills, social emotional skills, elementary school, observing children’s, cognitive skills, able observe, math lesson, Liberty Elementary, West Liberty, children’s physical skills, regular education classroom, females percentage body,