Understanding of Typical, Children Motor Skills
The purpose of this assignment is to develop an understanding of typical, children motor skills.
For this assignment, you will observe a child. You may choose a younger (2-6 years) or older (6-10 years) child.. You may use a friend’s or family member’s child or any other to whom you may have access. You may contact day cares, mother’s day out, preschools or observe an area with these age groups during child’s playtime. Remember, you must ask permission from the parent/guardian before observing. First, using your book and other resources, identify typical, age-appropriate motor development, sensory, perception, gross and fine motor skills, transitional skills. Then, observe your child for a minimum of 30-60 minutes and address the following questions in your paper:
- Give the demographics and setting of the child observation. (i.e. who, what, where, when, how long, etc.) -no names, but describe the infant – age, gender, etc.
- What are the typical sensory, perception, gross and fine motor skills, transitional skills for the child you observed.
- Is your observed child’s development typical or atypical for his/her age? Describe, in detail, the gross and fine motor skills, transitional skills, and sensory and perception you observed. Is the child imitative? How does the child interact socially?
- What assessments did you use to come to this conclusion?
- What are factors that may affect his/her development at this stage?
Give a detailed description of your observation. Do not just say, gross motor skills were good. Give examples. Be very detailed or you will not receive full credit! Use your book and other resources for proper terminology when describing the child’s movements.
Requirements for Paper:
Students are to write a 5 page research paper on the topic NOT INCLUDING TITLE PAGE or REFERENCE PAGE! Students are to cite research in answering the above questions for the paper. You may use your book, videos, peer-reviewed journal articles, etc. You MAY NOT use Wikipedia, magazine articles, blogs, etc. If you are not sure if you have a reliable/acceptable resource, ask.
You are expected to cite a minimum or 4 references for this paper utilizing APA format (Refer to APA publication manual or Purdue Owl). No table of contents or abstract is needed for this assignment. Remember this is a 5-7 page assignment (not including title page or references)!
- Standard paper size (8 ½ x 11 paper)
- 12-pt. Times New Roman font
- Double spaced
- 1 inch margins on top, bottom, right, and left
- Indent all paragraphs 5-7 spaces or ½ inch
- Page numbers in upper right hand corner of page, use Arabic numerals (1,2,3…)
- Reference in text using appropriate APA style and include reference page at the end of the paper. When citing internet resources, only web sites that end in “.edu”, “.org”, or “.gov” will be accepted as references. Remember, Wikipedia in any form will NOT be accepted as a reference.
I have a nephew that is a 3 year old and a niece that is a 6 year old for observation.
The text for citation is
Gallahue, Ozman and Goodway. (2012). Understanding Motor Development, 7th Edition, McGraw-Hill: New York, NY
