Running head: SPECIAL PROJECT 1

Special Project: Developmental Profile

Sadia Hussain

Field Education III – CLD 363

Introduction

This semester I did my placement at Deer Park Elementary School, in a Junior and Senior

Kindergarten class. I chose to do my developmental profile on the youngest child in the class. He

is a boy in junior kindergarten who was born in December 2013. I chose to do my profile on this

child as he presented many areas of strength but his skills in many other areas were still

emerging. Therefore, I chose to document his improvement in these areas throughout the

semester and create a learning opportunity in which he can work on these skills.

The methodology I chose to complete this developmental profile was both running and

anecdotal records via journal reflections. I chose anecdotal records to as they can be written in

past-tense. I found this to be quick and convenient. Whenever I found an event in the day to be

significant, I was able to write it down and then continue to work. I was also able to write them

down during my breaks. I also chose running records as this was an open-ended method to gather

as much information about Child A as possible.

Developmental Profile

Child Pseudonym: Child A

Physical (gross and fine motor): Child A is excellent at using his gross motor skills. He is able

to run, climb and do exercises at gym class and outdoors. Child A enjoys playing tag and does

not demonstrate any difficulties in using his gross motor skills. However, Child A’s fine motor

skills are emerging. It is difficult for him to use scissors and hold a pencil to write or draw. Child

A does not express interest in writing and often needs encouragement to write his name during

morning sign-in. He does not have yet have a functional grip on writing tools to produce writing

that he and others can read.

Self-help: Child A is able to undress himself coming in from outside without any assistance. His

skills of doing this without being prompted is still emerging. Child A often needs reminders to

stay on task getting undressed. Recently, Child A has established a reward system with his

educators to encourage him with his self-help skills. Child A receives a sticker every day in

which he is able to follow directions and stay on task. This is called ‘sticker behaviour.’ This

system has improved Child A’s self-help skills greatly, as he continuously undresses himself

independently. His ability to focus and follow directions is still emerging.

Cognitive: Child A knows some of the alphabet and numbers. He can successfully count to 10

and spell his name. Child A is working on letter recognition and learning the phonics of the

alphabet as well. Child A is also working on number sense and numeration, and being able to do

simple addition. It is also difficult for him to read and recognize sight words. Child A should

continue on learning the phonics of the alphabet and be introduced to simple board books.

Social Emotional: Child A shows a considerable interest in interacting with his peers. He

continuously follows them during free play and outdoor time, and also engages in playing games,

such as tag and hide and seek. In some instances, Child A verbally expresses hesitance to enter

group play and opts to play alone. Other times he engages in parallel play, meaning he plays with

the same materials as his peers but does not communicate with them. At times, Child A uses

inappropriate ways to engage his classmates, such as bumping into them. He also often chooses

not to participate in group lessons or activities, leaving the carpet to read a book on his own.

However, Child A expresses joy in interacting with the children in his class, especially the boys.

He often says, “I want to play with _______ right now.” Or “Lets play this.”

Language: Child A is able to successfully communicate his needs through verbal speech. He

does not have any delays in speaking. He has a good grasp of vocabulary and his speech is
SPECIAL PROJECT 4

understandable to those around him. Child A speaks about his imaginative play, explaining what

he is doing when asked. For example, Child A will explain about the structure he created using

blocks, and how it works. Child A does not often explain his thinking. For example, when at a

learning centre, Child A does not respond to the question, “How do you know?” Child A’s

emerging skills in this domain include communicating his feelings and increasing his

vocabulary.

Children’s Interests and Areas of Mastery

Child A is exceptionally observant and self-aware. He is immensely interested in trains

and has a vast amount of knowledge on different types of trains and how they work.

Next Steps

Domain Short-term steps Long-term steps

Physical To be able to write his own To be able to hold a pencil for

name holding a pencil a long period of time to write

structured sentences

Self-help To be able to undress without To be able to complete all of

any reminders his tasks independently

Emotional/Social Sit and actively participate Communicate his feelings

during group lessons and thoughts constructively to

his peers
SPECIAL PROJECT 5

Cognitive To be able to recognize all To be able to independently

letters and numbers read simple books. To

recognize sight words.

Language To express his feelings To express his thought

effectively process verbally

Conclusion

Creating this developmental profile was a significant learning experience for me.

Throughout the process, I gained experience in creating objective observations. I also learned

how to create a profile using a strengths-based model, which is essential for this profession. This

experience also allowed me to critically evaluate a child’s emerging skills and discover ways to

help improve them. It also helped me to better understand a child’s development and how they

learn and think. If I were to revisit this experience, I would try experiment with other forms of

observation as well, such as gathering work samples and taking pictures.