The Ability To Assess Your Own Characteristics & Qualities Assignment

Assignment Task

Question 1:

The ability to assess your own characteristics and qualities can help you set goals for further development and decide if you are suited to work as an early childhood educator: Why did you decide to become an early childhood educator? What qualities do you already have that suit you to work with children? Make a list of the qualities you have that help you in your career as an early childhood educator.

Question 2:

Now, review the qualities discussed in this session. What qualities do you not have? Can you think of any ways you could work to improve them? Understanding which positive qualities and characteristics you have, and which ones you need to develop, is important to becoming an effective early childhood educator.

Question 3

Interview a co-worker, a family member, or a friend about their communication experience with children:

Ask them to:

Describe a time when they felt when the child wasn’t listening
Describe a wonderful conversation with a child
Describe a conversation with a co-worker, family member, or friend that was misunderstood
Describe a conversation where the other person used active listening to help a child solve a problem
Add anything else you would like to ask based on what you learned in the session

Film, or otherwise record the interview (audio recording, transcription, etc.), then submit a written response that describes the interview and what you learned/what you are going to take away and apply as it relates to child care. Describe what behaviors you used to demonstrate active listening during the interview.

Question 4:

Sharon is an early childhood educator in a dayhome. Michael, the father of one of the children in her care, comes to her with a problem – he’s frustrated that Joe, his son, is no longer sleeping at night.

Read the following exchange, then, using what you have learned in this session, answer the questions.

Sharon: “Hi Michael, how’s it going?”

Michael: “Awful – Joe’s not sleeping anymore. It feels like every night is a constant battle of trying to make him get back to bed.”

Sharon: “Oh no! When he’s here he’s so tired that, by lunchtime, he’s almost falling asleep.”

Michael: “How long does he usually nap for?”

Sharon: “We nap at 12:30 and he can sleep…usually until 2:30 or 3:00”

Michael: “That’s more than two hours! No wonder he doesn’t sleep at home! I can’t keep going in there every night like this!”

Sharon: “It sounds like you’re really frustrated and neither of you are getting a lot of sleep. But when I see him here, he’s really struggling to stay awake, even when he should be interacting with his friends. Would you like me to look at a shorter nap time?”

Michael: “How about no naps?”

Sharon: “Okay, let’s think – no naps, shorter naps, are there any other solutions you would like to explore?”

Michael: “Maybe a time limit, like no napping past 1:30?”

Sharon: “Sure – we could also look at putting him down for an earlier nap and serving him lunch later and getting him into a new routine. We have a few possible solutions here. Is there one you would like to try?”

Michael: “Well, the time limit might work. I don’t like the idea of serving him lunch later. If we can’t do no naps, I think a good compromise is making sure he wakes up by 1:30.”

Sharon: “Okay, I agree. That still gives him an hour of nap time. Let’s try this for a few weeks and meet again to give feedback to each other on how it’s working out.

Did the “early childhood educator” use active listening? What exact words were used?
How was the problem defined?
What possible solutions were identified?
How were the solutions evaluated?
Is there anything you would change about the way the early childhood educator problem-solved with the family? Why or why not

Question 5:

It is very important that early childhood educators are familiar with the community resources available in their area. To familiarize yourself with the community services near you, you can start by looking online or asking some of the people you work with what resources they have used. Please do not call these agencies directly. Download the provided PDF to organize your research and record:

The name of the resource agency Briefly describe the kind of service the agency provides to:
Families
Child care program

Question 6:

Think about your child care program, then create one developmentally appropriate learning activity that reflects the different cultures of the children in your care. If you are not currently working in a child care program, complete this exercise with an age group and setting of your choice.

Describe how you would enrich the childcare environment to reflect ALL cultures.

Consider:

Books/food/dolls/dramatic play/dress-up clothes/crafting materials, etc.
How would you approach inclusivity and diversity in your childcare setting?
What supports an inclusive learning environment

Question 7:

Choose one of the following aspects of Indigenous culture that you learned about in this session and explore how they can be applied in a childcare setting or incorporated into your program. How can they be introduced to the benefit of all children in your care? Contact a Friendship Centre, ask people in your community, or do some research online or at your local library:

1. The importance of circles in Indigenous cultures:

2. The holistic perspective

3. Storytelling

Question 8:

Based on what you have learned about the physical development of children, choose an age group and child care setting, then plan an activity that would enhance the development of the children in your care. Reference what you learned about the different stages of physical development in order to support why your choice of activity would work well. Use the examples provided in this session as a reference, but choose something unique in your answer.

Consider:

Different levels of physical literacy
Cultural considerations and factors
Inclusivity
Safety

Question 9:

Different opportunities to explore the environment will foster cognitive development in children. Understanding this will allow you to ensure that you can create a child care environment in which children will have lots of opportunities to learn.

Identify 2 play-based scenarios for 3 different age groups, and answer the following 3 questions for each:

1. How might the children play and explore?

2. What might a child learn cognitively from this experience?

3. What is one thing you might do to support cognitive learning based on the described activity?

Question 10:

Take a trip to the library, or if that’s not possible, look through various booklists online.

Choose a book that interests you:

1. What is the book and what age group do you feel the book is appropriate for? Why?

2. How does this book help develop a child’s language skills?

3. Read the book to a child and describe the conversation you had with them about the book:

Describe what happened and what the child said
Describe what you said, how you said it, and why
What skills/approaches that you learned in this session did you apply to the conversation?
What could you have done to better promote the child’s language development?

Question 11:

1: Choose an age group and, referencing the Milestones chart from the Session, identify five ways you can support the social and emotional development of children in that age group.

2: Understanding how to support children’s mental health is critical to their healthy social and emotional development. Choose an age group and research both the typical mental health challenges children those ages may face, as well as three different community resources you could draw on to support these children as an early childhood educator.

Question 12:

Plan and provide a creative experience for a child. If you are not currently working in a child care setting, plan an experience for your child, a niece or nephew, or the child of a friend.

Use the worksheet that follows to guide you through the process of:

Identifying the child’s needs
Planning a creative experience for the child
Evaluating the experience you planned

The Child

Observe this child to determine the stage of creative development and the child’s creative interests. This is easiest to see in the way the child uses materials when drawing, painting, modelling, or building with blocks. Select an experience in which the child chooses the materials and what to do with the materials.

What experience(s) I observed:

How was the child using the materials? (Be specific.):

Planning a Creative Experience

Briefly outline an open-ended, creative experience that will provide another opportunity for the child’s creative development.

List the materials you will provide.

Is this experience appropriate to the child’s stage of creative development? How?

Is it open-ended to encourage creativity? How?

When the child is using the materials, what questions might you ask to promote creativity? Write at least one question that would encourage the child to give a creative response. Remember the child’s stage of creative development.

Providing for the Creative Experience

Carry out this open-ended experience with the child. Afterward, record the following information:

Briefly describe how the child explored the activity you had outlined.

Developmentally, what skills did the child practise during the creative experience?

What could the child do on their own? What did he or she need help with?

Was the activity appropriate for the age and developmental level of the child? If not, why?

Why is it important to support children’s creative development?

Question 13:

1: In this session, you learned about communicating clear guidelines in a positive way. Provide five examples of negative statements such as “Stop doing that!” that might be said to a child, then use what you have learned to turn each statement into a positive one.

Consider

The behavior you want to see
Why it is important to rephrase the statement

2: Use the chart below to think about how you might prevent these situations from occurring

Question 14:

Based on what you have learned in the session, create a typical schedule that you could implement in the child care setting of your choice.

Consider:

How you will cater to all different age groups
How you will be inclusive of different abilities
What you can do to ease the transition

Question 15:

1: Was the play in the water table intrinsically motivated? Provide examples to support your answer.

2: Provide examples of how the water activity facilitates the following areas of development

Question 16:

1: Consider what you learned about Flight in this session. Choose an age group and design a play experience that will meet the four holistic play-based goals. Explain how each goal is met with examples from the play experience.

2: What is your role in creating a good environment for play? How do toys and/or activities provide support and encouragement for children through play

Question 17:

Complete the Learning Story Template by intentionally observing a child. Ensure you:

Observe and describe the child’s play or interactions with an observer perspective; use specific and detailed language to describe what the child is doing
Interpret and reflect on the child’s actions and the significance of the learning that was observed in the child’s play
Develop a way to extend on the child’s play or interactions (consider the environment, materials or resources)

What did the child learn from this play experience or interaction?

Reflection:

What can you plan to extend this experience or interaction?

How could you use the environment, materials, or resources to extend the child’s learning?

Question 18:

1: Read the scenario below and answer some questions on effective supervision and the control of germs using what you learned in the session.

Laurie works at a facility-based child care program and is taking courses to become certified as a Level 1 Early Childhood Educator.

Last Tuesday was a busy day for Laurie. She was taking care of three toddlers when one of them announced that she had to “go potty”.

The other two suddenly decided that they had to do the same. Laurie looked around to let her room partner know that she is taking the three toddlers to the classroom bathroom, but her room partner was engaged playing with other children. “How hard can it be?” thought Laurie as she led the three children to the bathroom.

Two of the children had soiled their diapers. Before changing them, Laurie washed her hands. Then she put a paper liner on the changing surface. She proceeded to change each child’s diaper. While Laurie was removing the diaper of the second child, the third child said, “I really have to go potty” and wet his pants. Laurie disposed of the diapers and the paper liner, then rinsed off the little boy’s pants. When the children were done, Laurie quickly got them dressed and sent them back to the snack area so that she could clean up.

She wiped her hands on her smock and then followed the children to the snack area where she prepared crackers, cheese and fruit.

What areas of concern regarding supervision, communication, and health and safety can you identify in this scenario?

2: Use the chart below to create a meal plan for two different age groups. Reference Canada’s Food Guide and the information you learned in this session to explain the choices you made.

Question 19:

1: Read through this scenario, then, using what you have learned in this session, answer the following question.

Ross works at a child care program in his neighbourhood. He loves the work and enjoys connecting with the children in his care. He mostly works with 3 and 4 year olds. Lately, he has noticed that one of the boys in his class, Abraham, doesn’t seem himself. Abraham used to love visiting with his friends and playing at the water table, but now he sits by himself in the corner and ignores the other children when they ask him to play.

When Ross first noticed this change in personality, he made sure to give Abraham some extra attention, to see if he could find out what was concerning the little boy, but Abraham refused to talk to him. Last week, Abraham had two toileting accidents, the first time he has wet himself since he was potty trained, and he seemed close to tears throughout the day. Today, Abraham came to the program with large bruises on his lower arm.

Ross has seen enough, and goes to his supervisor to talk about the situation. To his surprise, she tells him not to jump to any conclusions. She knows Abraham’s family and assures Ross they are good people. She also reminds him they have two other children in the program, who both seems fine. She tells him to do the best he can with Abraham since there are only a few weeks left before summer break, and he will be going to Kindergarten next year.

What would you do in this situation?

2: Refer back to the list of community resources you created for the assignment in Session 3. List three here and, beside each one, write a brief scenario where you could use it to help prevent child abuse and neglect. Are there additional resources you would like to add to this list?

Question 20:

1: Which session had the greatest impact on you? Why?

2: How did the course impact your philosophy towards early learning and childcare?

3: What are you doing differently in your work with children because of this course? If you’re not currently working in a child care program, how has what you learned impacted how you will approach your job search?