Observing Harry

173 Pages·2003·1.246 MB·English

by  Cath Arnold

Observing Harry 7/8/04 11:55 AM Page 1
Observing Harry
Child Development and Learning 0–5
This innovative book is about Harry, a determined little boy, who
is intrinsically motivated to explore his world from an early age. Observing
His parents and grandparents find him so fascinating that they
O
keep a written and video diary of Harry’s play from eight months
b
to five years, at home and at the nursery.The author offers s
e
theories about how children learn and applies the theories to Harry
r
the observations of Harry. v
i
n
g
The book demonstrates how effectively Harry accesses each

area of the curriculum through his interests.It shows how Harry H
develops coping strategies when the family experiences major a
r
changes.It also highlights the contribution made by Harry’s r
y
parents and his early years educators to his early education.
Much of what we learn about Harry’s early learning can be
applied to many other young children.
Child Development and Learning 0 – 5
Providing a unique look at one child’s early development and
learning, this book will be of interest to all who are fascinated by
C
how young children learn – nursery practitioners, early years
a
teachers, parents, students and advisers. t
h

A
Cath Arnoldhas worked in the field of early education for over
r
25 years, both in the private and public sectors.She is currently n
working at the Pen Green Centre in Corby as a Researcher o
l
looking at young children’s emotional well-being. d
Cover design:Barker/Hilsdon
C A T H A R N O L D
www.openup.co.uk
Observing Harry

Observing Harry
Child development and
learning 0–5
Cath Arnold
Open University Press
Open University Press
McGraw-Hill Education
McGraw-Hill House
Shoppenhangers Road
Maidenhead
Berkshire
England
SL6 2QL
email: [email protected]
world wide web: www.openup.co.uk
First published 2003
Copyright © Cath Arnold 2003
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the
purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher or a licence
from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Details of such licences
(for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright
Licensing Agency Ltd of 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 4LP.
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 0 335 21301 4 (pb) 0 335 21302 2 (hb)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
CIP data has been applied for
Typeset by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk
Printed in the UK by Bell & Bain Ltd, Glasgow
Contents
List of figures and tables vi
Acknowledgements viii
Key to quotes and transcripts ix
Introduction 1
1 Getting to know Harry and his family 5
2 Observing Harry and using theory to understand
Harry’s development and learning 21
3 Harry’s physical development 40
4 Listening to Harry – Harry’s personal, social and
emotional development 56
5 Harry learns to communicate, use language and
become literate 70
6 Harry develops mathematical concepts 93
7 Harry’s creative development 113
8 Harry gains further knowledge and understanding
of the world 130
9 Reflections 147
References 151
Index 157
Figures and tables
Figures
1.1 Harry and his treasure basket 17
3.1 Harry’s first day at nursery 45
3.2 A castle with a moat: ‘The bridge is down’ 46
3.3 Harry’s first emergent writing 48
3.4 Harry carrying Maureen’s long pincers 49
3.5 Harry using a hand-operated grabber at the Science Museum 51
4.1 Harry and Georgia in their new house 58
5.1 A ‘sad worm’ 72
5.2 ‘Kisses and cuddles for mummy’ 78
5.3 ‘I’ve cutted it in half’ 80
5.4 Harry practises writing names 80
5.5 Harry is interested in upper- and lower-case letters 81
5.6 Harry’s list of the boys coming to the party 82
5.7 Harry incorporates writing into his drawings 83
5.8 A Christmas list and birthday list 84
5.9 Harry makes a book and writes a story in it 86–87
6.1 Harry makes enclosures and places animals inside 96
6.2 Harry paints an enclosure and paints inside it 97
6.3 Harry walks around the post of the canopy 104
6.4 Harry places the fish in different positions 109
6.5 Many of Harry’s drawings are representations of rotational
movements 110
7.1 Harry draws two maps 119
7.2 Harry, aged 2 years 9 months, leans unit blocks against his
building to create a tunnel 122
7.3 Harry, aged 3 years 1 month, selects arcs and arches and
also constructs arches 123
7.4 Harry’s model of ‘Me and Isaac going to Isaac’s party’ 126
7.5 Harry’s drawings and story about Paul knocking him down
the drain 128
FIGURES AND TABLES vii
8.1 Harry incorporates enclosures in his drawing, for example,
earrings and nostrils 142
8.2 Harry’s design of what he wants me to help him make – a
sword 143
Tables
1.1 Schemas mentioned in Chapter 1 20
2.1 Schemas mentioned in Chapter 2 39
3.1 Schemas mentioned in Chapter 3 55
4.1 Schemas mentioned in Chapter 4 69
5.1 Schemas mentioned in Chapter 5 92
6.1 Schemas mentioned in Chapter 6 112
7.1 Schemas mentioned in Chapter 7 129
8.1 Schemas mentioned in Chapter 8 146
Acknowledgements
First, I want to thank Ian, Colette, Georgia and Harry for allowing and
encouraging me to have this story published. They have each made a
huge contribution to the initial keeping of the records and to the
discussion and analysis of the data. Secondly, I want to give a very
special thanks to Eloise for patiently reading and re-reading the text
and for giving me her honest critical feedback. I want to thank Paul
and Terry for our many discussions about Harry and for being sup-
portive in many different ways when I needed to immerse myself in
writing. Lastly, I want to acknowledge the support of my colleagues at
Pen Green Centre, particularly Margy Whalley, who continue to
encourage me in new ventures.
Key to quotes and
transcripts
Direct quotes from the parent/grandparent diary or from nursery
records are italicized and in single inverted commas. Comments from
parents/grandparents/workers are italicized and in double inverted
commas. Transcriptions of video material are italicized, in single
inverted commas and acknowledged as ‘video clips’ afterwards.