Challenging Child Observation Assignment for Ece Essay

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†¦show more content†¦Then we came up with a job for Sam to perform during transition (he is a door holder). Since legos are Sam’s passion at the moment, we realized how important it is to encourage play and join Sam in his play, in which he is a commander of the lego guys and him and his â€Å"guys† are superheroes, saving the world from the â€Å"bad guys† (Ch.7, p.119), so the more items they pick up for clean-up, the less â€Å"bad guys† will come to get them. It’s a weird logic, but it worked a couple of times. I try not to use the word â€Å"bad guys† too much, but it seems to be something that Sam relates to somehow and it motivates him to do the right thing. 3. Sam and two of his buddies are playing in the yard. It’s time for clean-up. Everybody is told to pick up three items from the sand-box and put them in the storage bin. Children get busy putting things away, crowding in one area, sometimes bumping into each other by accident. This must have stirred up unnecessary agitation in Sam. He picks up the one of the small plastic toys and starts waving it in the air. When I remind Sam to pick up two more things, he continues to wave his arms like a propeller and at some point lets go of the toy. It crashes into my arm with the force that guarantees a bruise. I let out a cry of surprise. I do realize, Sam did not do it intentionally to hurt me, but it hurts and Sam is now looking at me with a worried look. I