It was afternoon when I went to a park nearby my home to observe a child. There were many children at different ages, but I was looking for a three to five year old child. Children come in all shapes and sizes; each one is different and special in their own way. The development of children of this age would fall into the preoperational stage and four domains of development. The child that I chose was a five year old girl that I refer to as Debby. "Hopscotch, Hopscotch! Let's draw hopscotch, give me the chalk." Debby said to other girls she was playing with. "I don't want to take away other children's place, so let's pick a safe small space for us." She grabbed the chalk from one of her friends and said, "Why you two are standing quite, come join me. There are many colorful chalks that we can draw with. Here, take this blue chalk and let's start drawing." Debby started drawing using her fine motor skill by carefully holding the chalk with her fingers. "Debby, can I draw from one to four?" asked one of her friends. "Um, you better draw the boxes and we will write the numbers" Debby said. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten!" counted on of the girls with a laud voice. "Done, who's going to be the first?" screamed Debby. "Can I join you too?" asked a boy about six years old. "But you are a boy", said one of the girls, wondering. Debby was quietly standing and looking at the boy. She came close and walked around the boy twice. "What's your name?" asked Debby. "I'm Daniel, and you?" "I'm Debby, nice to meet you Daniel. Of course you can join us Daniel." Debby said putting her hand on Daniel's shoulder.

            Debby asked Daniel to start the game first, but he was walking on the hopscotch instead of jumping. Two of the girls laughed at Daniel, but Debby's face was serious. She took a deep breath and said, "I see you don't know the rules of the game, let me show and you watch me." Debby started jumping on each of the boxes of hopscotch singing a song. She took Daniel's hand and smiled at him. "It's okay if you don't know how to play hopscotch, we can play something else." "But he is a boy, so let him play with other boys. We don't want to play anything else." The girls said. "But can't you see that he is all alone, I can't let him feel lonely. We have to be friendly and nice to each other. Didn't your mom teach you?" Debby said with a sad tone of her voice. She took Daniel's hand and left the girls. Daniel and Debby started collecting small sticks around the park suing their gross motor skills by carrying and putting sticks together in a corner. "Do you read books?" Daniel asked. "I love books, we read cartoon books in kindergarten," said Debby. "So are we friends now?" Daniel asked. "I guess so," Debby said smiling and putting her hand on Daniel's shoulder again.

            When I was observing Debby, she was acting like a leader. Her friends were doing what she told them to do. I think playing hopscotch at the park can go into four domains of development; physical, intellectual, emotional and social. When Debby was drawing hopscotch, jumping right and left using her balance, walking and collecting sticks, she was physically developing. Hopscotch helped Debby develop intellectually. She developed her math skills writing one number in each box counting them. Also she was responsible to know the rules of the game. Even though Debby's age fall into the preoperational stage, I think she was a pretty smart girl because she picked a safe small space leaving more space for other children saying, "I don't want to take away other children's place, so let's pick a safe small space for us." I found more emotional development in Debby than other domains of development. Debby was acting more like an adult. She easily let Daniel join them and cared about him. She felt bad for Daniel seeing that he had no one else to play with. I think Debby's been taught to be friendly, nice and to care about others which she actually did perfectly. She was pretty strong girl because event though she lost her two other friends at that moment, she did not let Daniel feel alone and preferred to play with him. Playing with friends at the park, drawing hopscotch, making a new friend, Debby's social development grew. Sharing chalk with friends, communicating with them and acting like a leader, can help Debby in her future life. If she can easily share, communicate and make friends now, later she will not struggle in her future life. I had never seen that kind of soft hearted, sensitive child like Debby before. I wonder if she was born like that or she's been taught by her parents?

            Observing a child is a fascinating experience. It is amazing to see how different children view certain things than adults view them. When I entered the park, there were many different children playing and running all around. Watching children's happy and carefree faces, I wanted to join them. Kids distracted me so much that I even forgot to find a child to observe. I chose Debby because she was the only child with a serious face, but as far as I observed her, I started seeing her smiles. I think Debby is a special child because she distinguished herself from all other children with her kind and sensitive heart and by being a little smarter. Using observation for assessment in early childhood education is helpful for teachers because it's important for them to understand child development. By observing children, teachers can understand which one of them may have special needs, and it is the best way to obtain information about children's behavior. I learned that children can obtain their four domains of development through all kind of play as long as they don't sit and watch television or play video games. I was surprised about Debby's sensitivity for Daniel. Debby made me realize that children are just like adults. Some of them are greedy, some of them generous and some children can be even braver than some adults.