On November 15, 2017, the ITERS-R observation took place at Kid’s World daycare center in Eden, NC. To complete this assignment an infant room was observed. The number of children in was twelve and their ages ranged from six weeks to twenty-three months with the presence of two staff members. This specific room has a lower standard of care, learning, and hygiene. The space and furnishings are unorganized and unmarked with respective purposes. For example, the room has five cribs, three of them are used as storage for diaper bags, swingers, and toys. This room abstains from appropriate furniture for the infants and toddlers to eat or do activities. Children get to eat while they are walking around and dropping food on the floor and putting
My first observation was at Head Start. I talked to Tracey Claflin about some of the principles they use in their program and how they use them. I wasn’t able to observe the children directly because my TB skin test results came up positive. Tracey explained to me that because my results were positive I couldn’t meet children or be in the same room as the children. Due to this, I had to make some arrangements to instead speak with Tracey about some principles she has seen and that they follow. I met with her for an hour discussing the principles and how they were used in the Head Start program. One of the principles she said was highly important for Head Start was principle number 2. She explained that when there is enough time and opportunities to spend time with a child individually the caregiver puts full attention on one child. She explained that they like to focus attention on a child throughout the day so that the child doesn’t feel left out. She says that alone time for a child with a caregiver is usually tummy time. They allow the infants and toddlers to roll around and look at the carpet designs. Tracey explained to me how they asses each child through this quality time that the caregiver and the child have alone. This quality time the caregiver has with the child is important,
There is a problem in Texas impacting children’s futures; many childcare centers and homes are not providing children with quality care. In an article about cost and quality in Texas childcare, child development experts Susan Eitel and Joyce Nuner quote a study stating “that [nationally] only 10% of infants and toddlers are in high quality [childcare] programs” (34). The term ratio describes the number of children one caregiver is watching. This number is one of the major factors in the quality of a childcare program. Organizations such as the National Association for the Education of Young Children know as NAEYC release recommendations regarding ratios and accredit programs based on their compliance. Childcare centers and homes must comply with certain minimum standards enforced by Texas regarding ratios; however, these standards often set the bar lower than recommendations made by these early childhood experts. The current standards in Texas do not ensure that all young children receive quality care; for this reason, the Texas Department of Family Protective Services should strengthen the minimum standards regarding ratios to better regulate the quality of care children receive.
Cook Children NICU receives around one thousand babies per year. Since the new unit was opened two years ago, they have single rooms where the parents can stay with their babies overnight, and it is controlled individually according to the patients’ needs. In the single rooms they are able to accommodate twins, triplets and quadruplets. According to Carolyn Cowling (personal communication, April.18, 2014), who is the LCSW, preemies have shown an incredible improvement in their health and are able to go home faster because they have a quicker recovery. Single rooms also allow parents to be with their infants all the time they want, even spending the night with them. Since most of them are there for a long run, it provides the feeling of being in their home.
White, K. (2014, February 9). Parent Handbook. Parent Handbook. Retrieved February 9, 2014, from http://www.childcare.uci.edu/handbook.php
For less than two hours, I observed the grandson of a visitor at my aunt’s home.
The Child Development Center of College of San Mateo provides early care and educational programs for children between the ages of 3 to 5 years old. Children are divided into classrooms with a “master” teacher, a “regular” teacher, and two or three “associate” teachers. Klara attended Classroom, “A,” a stimulating and well-resourced classroom. Klara was observed for two hours on Monday from 9 am to 11 am and for two hours on Wednesday from 9 am to 11 am. During these two hours, classroom activities consisted of “free time,” “story time,” and an outside “play time.” A “master” teacher, a “regular” teacher, and two “associate” teachers were present during observations. Additionally, a total of eighteen children were in attendance during the observed days.
Healthy Child Care America. (2007, April). Health and Safety E-News for Caregivers and Teachers. Retrieved from Healthy Child Care America: http://www.healthychildcare.org/ENewsApr07.html
Retrieved April 20, 2003, from http://www.steoltingco.com/tests/catolog/TKFGRS.htm. Anderson, Jeanne. (2002). The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the ' Selecting a Child Care Program. The electronic version of the.
Child Observation Record (COR) is the checklist that evaluates children’s learning in the five content areas. Each day, teachers observe children at play in natural and authentic situations and then take notes about children’s behavior. These records are gathered to help teachers evaluate children’s development and plan activities to help individual children and even the whole classroom make progress. For teachers, the Preschool Program Quality Assessment (PQA) is used to evaluate whether the whole High Scope program and the staffs are using the most effective classroom and program management
I observed at St. Eve’s Learning Center location in their preschool room. The center has a naturalistic feel to the environment and all of the staff is friendly and welcoming. The classroom displayed best practices, modern theories and research, and followed expected standards set by their accreditations.
According to the “you tube video”, Frequency count is an observation tool in which we are able to count how many times a behavior is occurring. It can be used for a single child, a group of children or a whole classroom.
National Center for O*NET Development . (2010). Preschool and Childcare Director. Retrieved November 12, 2013, from O*NET Online: http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/11-9031.00
My hypothesis was to determine the effects of maternal presence versus absence on sibling behavior.
Hockenberry, M. J., & Wilson, D. (2013). Wong’s nursing care of infants and children + study guide: Multimedia enhanced version. Philadelphia, PA, United States: Elsevier Mosby.
Observation is important as the practitioner can find out what the child is interested in and what motivates them to learn alongside their progress and how they behave in certain situations, additionally at the same time it identifies if children need assistance within certain areas of learning or socially (DCSF, 2008). Furthermore the observations check that the child is safe, contented, healthy and developing normally within the classroom or early years setting, over time the observations can be given to parents as they show a record of progress which helps to settle the parent and feel more comfortable about their child’s education. Observations are not only constructive within learning about an individual child, they can be used to see how different groups of children behave in the same situation and how adults communicate and deal with children’s behaviour (Meggitt and Walker, 2004). Overall observations should always look at the positives of what children can complete within education and not look at the negatives and all observations should become a fundamental part of all practitioners work alongside reflection (Smidt, 2009).