The past twelve weeks I have gotten to know Jaelee, she is a very upbeat and outgoing child. She lives with her mother, older sister and grandmother. She enjoys arts and crafts and story time. She also loves the movie “E. T. ” and the princess in “Frozen”. Jaelee has lots of friends in her preschool class that she loves to spend time with. Jaelee is a very smart, energetic, happy, and outgoing young child. I have observed Jaelee for the past twelve weeks and have seen the progress that she has made with her literacy development. Jaelee really enjoys having stories read to her.
She pays attention to the stories during story time in her classroom. Jaelee’s behavior has changed from my first observation of her. The first day I observed Jaelee she could not sit still and had a hard time focusing and listening to her teachers. Jaelee has never displayed that type of behavior again when I would go to see her. Her teacher Ms. Reta had said if someone is giving Jaelee attention she does not act out, it is only when she does not get attention does she misbehave. This is the reason I have not seen Jaelee misbehave when I am there. When I am not there Ms.
Reta has told me that Jaelee still has a hard time doing what she is told, especially during nap time. | have noticed Jaelee really likes to draw and write. Jaelee can write her first name and some letters of the alphabet. She recognizes her own name in print, she can tell me which mailbox is hers because her name is written on the box. Jaelee knows that letters of the alphabet can be individually named. She does not recognize the difference between lower case and upper case letters, and I believe this is the next step for her according to the Early Learning Guidelines.
When I went on a nature walk with Jaelee and her class I noticed that she is very observant. While we were waiting to go on the walk, Ms. Reta asked the children what they would what to see on their nature walk. . Jaelee sat in front of the board, quietly and payed attention. She also participated naming of some things she would like to see on the nature walk, she said she would like to see a tree, a flower, and a butterfly. While we were on our walk Jaelee would point out the things that she wanted to see. She pointed to the trees and said “there is a tree”.
She also noticed the apples on the tree and said that it was an apple tree. Jaelee had also noticed how far we walked from her classroom. Jaelee can follow directions without having to be told more thai She does not get upset when told what to do, but like any other child I believe that she sometimes just does not want to listen. From what I have noticed Jaelee has always listened and did as s told when her teachers asked her too. For example, Ms. Reta asked her to clean up what she was playing with and put up the Band-Aids. Jaelee did as she was asked without having to be asked again.
I believe that the next step for Jaelee would be to learn how to follow through with two clear simple directions that involve a sequence of actions. In my opinion Jaelee may have a hard time doing this a first because she can get distracted easily but if her teachers and parents work with her she will have no problem being able to accomplish this. Jaelee can use three-to-four word sentences to express herself very well. Jaelee can express what she wants, likes and needs using sentences. For example, whenever I get ready to leave, Jaelee tells me “don’t leave, stay for two more minutes”.
She expressed that she wanted me to stay using three-to-four word sentences. Jaelee is very comfortable with expressing herself, and can clearly express herself using words. Jaelee tells me what her favorite movies are and what kind of things she likes to do and eat by using three-to-four word sentences. In my opinion Jaelee expresses herself very well and clearly. Jaelee is starting to use five-to-six-word sentences but not as much as three-to-four words. I feel that this is the next step for Jaelee to start to use more words when expressing herself.
I believe that she will start to do this has she learns more words and expands her vocabulary. Jaelee is starting to change her writing and recognize some new words. For example, Ms. Reta said that Jaelee had written her name and said “look I can write my “E’s” the right way now”. Jaelee is no longer writing her E’s backwards and upside down. She is increasingly showing interest in writing. According to her teachers, Jaelee is constantly asking how to spell certain words, and is going home and learning how to spell them. Her teachers told me that Jaelee’s mother has been working with her at home, helping her spell and write words.
I believe the next step for Jaelee would be to learn how to spell her last name and learn how to write some more simple words. Jaelee can not recognize high frequency words when they are written down. Jaelee is showing signs of pre-reading, where she can make up a story using the pictures in the book. Jaelee is also starting to recognize letters when they are written which is another example of pre-reading. Because Jaelee cannot read the words yet, I believe that is why she cannot recognize high frequency words that are written down. I believe once Jaelee starts reading she will be able to recognize these words.
I believe that her teachers and her parents should start intruding high frequency words to Jaelee using flash cards. After observing Jaelee for the past twelve weeks I feel that she is on track with pre-reading and pre-writing skills but is ready to move forward and learn how to read and write new words. I have noticed that Jaelee is bored and needs to be challenged. She has memorized most of the books in her class and can tell you what the book is about without having to read the words. I would recommend that her teacher gets new books and see if Jaelee would want to read with her.
I feel the Jaelee would benefit from someone reading with her one on one. As well as someone teaching her new words, I feel that this is starting to happen because Jaelee wants to know how to write different words. Her teachers and parents are helping her do this by showing her how to spell and write these words and then she writes them on her own. As Jaelee goes on to kindergarten I believe with a little guidance she will do fine. Jaelee is a bright and energetic child and I had a lot of fun spending time with her and getting to know her.
