Child Development Research Paper Topics

October 1, 2022

In this article, we compose great topics and samples that can help you write an essay about child education.

Early Childhood Development Essay Topics for Your Research

Sample essay on Child Development – Observational Study

Children go through different stages of development. The children observed in this study are sisters. One is a toddler, while the other is already school-aged. The toddler was observed first before focusing on the school-aged girl. So, let’s see what you say, Jewel.

Characteristics

Jewel is a two-year and seven-month-old gi l. Her parents are both Filipin s. She is slightly smaller than other Asian children her age, but she is quite talkative than mo t. She is lightly built and can move very quickly if she wants to. Her hair is quite short, with very short and uneven bangs.

Her mom explained that Jewel had found her sister’s school scissors and experimented on her hair a few weeks an o. Her hair is black, straight, and fine to the point that it easily looks plastered on her head when she swears. Jewel has two dimples that show themselves naturally whenever she smiles. Her skin is a natural tan. Her teeth are already complete, but spaces are evident between each other r. Her big brown eyes are her strongest facial features because of her long, curly lashes.

The Setting

The House. The child was observed in the confines of their living room, where television was placed to provide daily entertainment. Only two soft sofas on the sides. No center table inhibited the movement of the children in front of the television.

Ten- year old Emerald (a neighbor), nine-year-old Sparkle (eldest sister), seven-year-old Sapphire (middle sister), and six-year-old Ruby (cousin) were also preset. The only adult present at first was their mother.

Specific Activity Observations

It was four o’clock on a Saturday afternoon, and Ruby brought her new copy of a Baby Bratz movie (cartoon). Jewel was eating a lollipop before she noticed the magic pop candies eaten by the others. She went to her mom to hand over the lollipop before going to Sparkle to ask for magic pop candies.

When Sparkle told her to wait, she patiently watched her sister open a new pack of magic pop for her and quickly said thank you. She looked at her mom, opened her mouth, and laughed to show the crackling candies.

She then joined the other children and tried to make verbal inputs on their discussion even if her comments were not connected to their top. After making her contribution, she focused on wriggling her finger into the candy pack to get more magic pop out of the park. After about 15 seconds of trying, she went to her mom for help.

Again, after getting help, she quickly said “thank you” and devoured what was left in the pa k. She then left the empty pack on the couch and asked her mom to open another one.

She sang some tunes while waiting for her cany. She then commented to Sapphire, who did not notice her. She gave Sapphire a dark look before shouting aga. Sapphire finally looked at her with a confused look.

Then Jewel got distracted when mom gave her the opened candy pa k. She laughed and made comments that were not so clear r. When she could not get enough candy again, she asked mom to open the pack wider and used her fingers to wipe out every bit.

She then went to turn off the television which made all the other kids score m. When her mom told her to turn it back on, she pouted but did as was to. However, she went to each kid and slapped their ars. She returned to her mom to ask for candy before returning to the television to swivel it away from the other’s view.

The others tried to make a game out of it by running to the sofa where Jewel would direct the. Jewel would scream and shout angrily when the children got the best of her all this time.

After three swivels, Sapphire finally complained to mm. Jewel then got more candy before again turning the tv off. Sparkle suddenly took her hand and pulled her away from them. This made Jewel throw a tantrum m. Sparkle got a reprimand from mom and left Jewel, who was sitting on the floor. After 30 seconds of sitting down, Jewel went to the tv and switched it off again before going to her mom to ask for milk.

Analysis of Behavior

Jewel is normal in terms of her physical and social-emotional development because she “plays alongside others and not with them, is easily frustrated, can show aggressive behavior and the intent to hurt others, is extremely demanding and persistent, and has a sense of humor or is capable of laughter. (Oesterreich, 1995) Her language development seems normal in that “often her words or sentences don’t make sense to you.” (Children, Youth and Women’s Health Service, 2007, par. 25)

She can already form sentences using up to 6 words when she talks. This means she may be a little advanced in language development because, normally, two to three-year-olds use three-word sentences. (Hussey-Gardner, 2003, p r. 12)

Sparkle

Characteristics

Sparkle is a nine year five month, old girl. She is Jewel’s eldest sister, which also makes her Filipino.

Sparkle is smaller than most Asians of her age. Her mom explains that the clothes which fit Sparkle are for six to seven-year-old Asian girls.

She is also quite thin, and her mother says she gets tired easy y. Her long, medium-brown, straight, fine, shiny hair reaches her elbows.

She also has bangs but regrets having them and patiently waiting for them to go w. Her skin is yellowish and fairer compared to Jewel’. She is still scratching her latest attack of atopic dermatitis behind her knees now and th n. Her teeth are crooked because the permanent teeth at the bottom have already surfaced while her milk teeth have yet to bud e. Like Jewel, she has big brown eyes with long curly lashes.

Sparkle is a bit timid compared to Jew. She is not as energetic and would rather play online games. Her mother says she is an academic achiever among the brood and loves playing teacher to her siblings. She is also a gifted ballerina, which explains her slow, graceful movements compared to Jewel’s rough speedy actions.

The Setting

Computer Ro m. The computer is placed on a table with a 17″ monitor r. Sparkle is oblivious to the clutter around. The table was full of paper and CDs, and the keyboard was just at the correct height for hr. She placed the mouse beside the keyboard d. A telephone was on a stand near the computer.

Co-st r. Mom was the only one with her ensuring that she only went to child-friendly websites.

Specific Activity Observations

Sparkle’s eyes were wide with excitement as she opened the computer and started surfing. She immediately typed the URL of Disney’s Club Penguin while her mom left her side. At first, she was patient in trying to enter the site. She had forgotten her password and was trying to recover.

However, after about 3 minutes, when the same questions seemed to pop out on the screen, she began to show irritation by scratching her head violently and making “tsk!” sounds. After about 2 minutes, she started to stomp her feet while sitting on the swivel chair, then called her mom out loudly.

She whined out her complaint, and mom assisted her in finding her password. When she finally entered, mom left her side again and played quietly for about five minutes. She then went to the phone and contacted her friend to go online to see each other’s penguins.

After about 3 minutes of playing with her friend online, she left her friend to play one of the games to earn some points. Earning some points would allow her to buy a virtual p. When she couldn’t get her desired number of virtual cash, she asked for her mom.

She requested her mom play the game to get more virtual cash quickly. Mom played the pizza game and kept giggling and giving moral boosts to her m m. When she finally got the desired amount, she took over the mouse and started choosing her virtual pet. She then proceeded to give it virtual food and stuff. When mom asked her to stop because her 30 minutes of playing was over, she asked for an extension politely with a smile.

Mom gave in for another five minutes. When the extension was over, she again asked for another five minutes. Mom did not allow her anymore. Instead of switching off the computer, she ignored her mom’s instructions to stop playing. When mom gave her final warning, she stomped her feet, put on a pout, and kept telling her mom loudly that it was unfair because she did not have enough time to play.

Analysis of Behavior

Sparkle is on-track when it comes to physical development since she is ‘capable of fine hand and finger movements and may persist with an activity until exhausted,” intellectual development when she tried many ways to find her password as most nine-year-olds have strong desires to complete tasks and master their skills and social-emotional development which were evident when she used complaints to avoid unpleasant tasks  (Firchow, 2004, par. 3-6)

Comparison and Contrast

Jewel and Sparkle show the different stages of child development we l. They are normal in that they exhibit behavior common to other children of their ages.

Physical Development

Their interaction while Jewel was under observation showed their stark difference in physical build. Both children are underweight and are quite short for their height, but their physical abilities are average.

Jewel is beginning to practice using her fingers as she tries to get more sweets out of her small candy pack, which is just about 1 ½ inches wide. This developmental stage will eventually result in Sparkle’s capabilities of using her hand and fingers to manipulate more complex instruments like the keyboard and the mouse.

Language Development

Jewel is learning to communicate her thoughts through the use of wor. Although she is advanced in sentence construction, she exhibits what is typical of other two-year-olds when they mumble and babble words that seem inaudible when they talk to themselves.

Sparkle is already well-developed in language because she can express her feelings and frustrations well through the worse.

However, she is still prone to physical ways of showing her irritation by stomping her feet which can also be seen in Jewel.

Cognitive Development

Jewel exhibited average cognitive development when she sang some songs while waiting for her mom to open another can. She seems advanced when she knows how to wait for something as long as she sees it is already being processed.

Sparkle may not have exhibited enough tangible evidence to show her level of cognitive development. Still, the fact that she can already surf, browse, and answer questions on the website proves that she already understands how things work.

Social-Emotional Development

Although the observation period strictly given to Sparkle did not include other kids, her presence during Jewel’s observation time showed her social-emotional development. Jewel is still egocentric but tries to play with other children despite their age.

On the other hand, Sparkle already plays with the others and knows her responsibility in keeping the peace for her group against her trouble-making youngest sist r. Sparkle was also already called to play with others when she called a friend to play online with her.

Both kids still handled frustration with tantrum spells. Jewel shouted negatively whenever she wanted to catch the other children’s attention. At the same time, Sparkle stomped her feet and made pouting faces to show her irritation at having to be disturbed by her online game.

Recommendations

Jewel is already learning how to express herself, and it would help her if the parents would physically show her how to get attention well instead of just saying negative words such as “no” and “don’t.”

On the other hand, Sparkle needs to learn how to manage her anger and frustration. When she took Jewel by the arm because the little one kept bothering her friends by manipulating the tv, she showed that she still did not know how to use verbal instead of physical control over her sibling g. Her parents need to teach her how to handle such situations.

Some ways are to teach her positive self-talk and self-relaxation techniques. At school age, children can learn to tell themselves phrases like “I can handle this” or “I’m okay, just stay calm,” which can be very useful to help them control their anger when they need to think. (Levy, 1998, p r. 16)

Making her count to 10 and teaching her to take deep breaths before deciding what to do can help her prevent bursts of anger that she would often regret.

Parents and other caregivers should know the developmental stages that children are under. This will not only help them appreciate their kids but also help them find ways to guide them in doing proper behavior. Parents who understand their children will have more chances of bringing up good citizens that our society needs today.

References

  • Children, Youth and Women’s Health Servi e. (24 August 200 ). Child development: 2-3 years. Retrieved 04 November 2007 from https://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails.aspx?p=114&np=122&id=1886
  • Hussey-Gardner, Brenda (200 ). Parenting to Make a Difference, e. Retrieved 06 November 200 from https://www.parentingme.com/language.htm
  • Oesterreich, L. (February 1995). Ages & stages – two-year-olds. In L. Oesterreich, B. Holt, & S. Karas, Iowa family child care handbo k. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Extension.
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