Campus Center for Young Children is a licensed child care facility that is located on the campus of Goshen College in the Church Chapel. Their philosophy is based on the understanding that children learn best when they have opportunities to explore their environment through hands-on and age developmentally appropriate learning actives. There are four classes that range from eighteen months to five year olds. Each classroom has two teachers. The grade level I had the opportunity to observe was the 4 year old class. They usually have 17 children, but with spring break there were only four boys.
On a normal day, all the children in the two, three, and four year olds class play in the Chaos room until around 8:30. Today, since Goshen Community Schools is on spring break the numbers were extremely low so the three and four year olds stayed until 9:30. At first, children came in very shy hanging on to their parents arm or leg. They did not want their parents to leave. A few would cry for a few minutes, sit by themselves, or grab a book and sit on a teachers lap. After a while they would ...
Our current project, "The W.J. Bryan Primary Learning Center", under construction, is located a block away from the main building, to house a pre-k and eight kindergarten classes. In addition, an administrator, lead teacher, cafeteria, and complete office staff will staff the new center. Its doors are scheduled to open to staff, students, and parents in April, 1998.
While observing this student, she went to almost every center in our room. The play episode that stood out the most for me took place in the dollhouse center. It only included this particular student. She played solitarily. She also intertwined the dollhouse center with the science center. There were various materials in the dollhouse center such as dollhouse, dolls, dollhouse furniture, and car. The science center which is located directly next to the dollhouse center also holds many materials. Some of these materials include magnets, tools, animals, and magnifying glass. The young girl used materials from both centers and played a collaborative game. She was participating in parallel play. The girl next to her was playing strictly with science stuff. In
What is a Universal Preschool? The thought of universal preschool and education has been around for quite some time. A man by the name of Robert Owen was the first to come up with the idea to support early education for young children back in the 1820s (Fuller, 2008). Owen’s push for early education was due to his worries of his factory workers’ children possibly not being stimulated with learning, therefore limiting their chance of a head start in life. Fuller (2008) disclosed that it was then that Owen proposed that children learn alongside with their peers (away from family) by enrolling in a school setting for young children.
After the child ventured away from his grandmother, someone tried to interact with the child, but had no success; he shied away. However, minutes later the child slowly returned to the person that tried to interact with him and started to initiate interaction with the person. Once the child initiated interaction, he started to express his verbal skills (which are very well developed for a two-year old). The child wanted to play on the play-set (a swing and slide) in the yard so; he pointed to the play-set and said “let’s go there”. He quickly ran to the play-set in complete excitement with a huge smile on face. Once there, he hesitated before he started playing. The child seemed a little stressed in the beginning of his play; his posture and gestures were very stiff. After playing for about thirty minutes, the child returned to the same area that his
I completed my final observation on October 15 at the UTC Children’s Center at Battle Academy. When I arrived to my classroom, the students were on a field trip so I quickly went down to the fire hall on Main Street to meet up with the class. At the fire hall, parents, as well as the two teachers accompanied the students. The students arrived back in their classroom around 11:10, and that is when the parents left. After the field trip the children ate lunch in the cafeteria, had a brief lesson in the classroom, and played outside. The class I observed was preschool, with most children around 3 to 4 years old. All the children seemed to be developing normally. There were 7 boys and 3 girls present in the classroom.
Children who are in preschool are generally between the ages 3 to 5. During this preschool age, children go through many different changes and stages of development. The development that occurs in this stage, just as in other stages, supports the child and sets a foundation for future development. The child goes through physical, psychosocial, cognitive, moral, and various other types of development during this stage of life.
Elaine Surbeck explains the background of early childhood learning programs. She talks about the history and how things have originated. Programs for children between the ages of three and six, while more recent to the American educational scene, have roots that are deeper and more diverse in origin than most people realize. Kindergartens, nursery schools, and day-care centers have existed in the United States for more than 100 years. The kindergarten, serving 5-year-olds, was first established in St. Louis public schools in 1873; private kindergartens have existed since 1855. Nursery schools serve children two through four years old. While the first nursery school in the U.S was a parent cooperative “typical” in America were often associated with university home economics departments and were established about 1922.
My research paper is focusing on the topic of universal preschool in the United States. I will be researching if there is evidence supporting a need for preschool for all age eligible children. My goal is to present evidence supporting why this is important and why it is beneficial.
Observation is very important in young children because that is how you get to know a child better. While observing how a child interacts with their peers, adults, and how they behave in different settings, you are getting to know the child without speaking to them.
Introducing myself to Mrs. Smith the classroom teacher, and Mrs. Brown the teaching assistant; I explained that I will be observing the classroom. Mrs. Smith informed me that the name of the program is County Unified School District First 5 Pre K Academy, there are 12 elementary, 7 schools that have this program; a goal of the program is to have the other 5 elementary schools with the program. They are also part of a few other programs that make this program possible for the students: Color Me Healthy, CATCH, and First 5. Each of these programs have a high impact on the program, they help in their own subject of the program. This Pre k program is offered to students’ age 4-5 years old, and it is based on a first come first served basis.
For 12 weeks I observed a young pre-schooler Child C aged 31/2 years old, through my account I would give an observer’s view of Child C, three theories peculiar to Child C and my the emotions evoked in me as an observer. My observation assisted in my understanding of the changes in Child C as the week progressed over the 12 weeks.
Each and every daycare has their own menu for the children’s breakfast and lunch. Through my observations, I have noticed that the “Don’t Worry Childcare” has a variety of food selections throughout the month. For example, the children could either choose from fruit loops cereal, or frosted flakes for breakfast. The children’s snacks eaten varies every day as well. For instance, the children ate milk and cookies one day, and cheese crackers another day. An example of lunch would be, milk, chicken fingers, French fries, green beans, and mixed fruit one day, and spaghetti, corn, peaches, and bread another day. I observed the children eat ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, and peaches one day for lunch. All those food options seemed very delicious.
I chose to relate this theory because I feel like it can be present in most every child as well as parent. Based on the age and actions of the child, I would place her in the stage of autonomy vs. shame and doubt. This stage typically occurs between the ages of two and three years old, which matches the age of the young girl. In addition, I looked at the actions of the girl and there was one example that I feel matched what typically happens during this stage. When the parent first saw the play area for the kids, they decided to let their daughter play. They took her to the small table in the area and sat down next to her. The little girl got mad and said that she did not want her parents help. She wanted to do it alone. The parents eventually decided to go back and sit at the table while she played. Their table was right next to the toy areas, and they could keep a good eye on her while she played. They likely decided to do this to give their daughter more independence which will make her feel like she can do things on her own without the help of her parents. This theory also relates to the parents that I observed. Since they appear to be in their thirties, they would be in the generativity vs. stagnation stage of development. They clearly have a child and are focused on caring for others, specifically caring for their daughter. This stage was
Child A is a forty month old male pupil at this setting and attends regularly for five mornings a week since September 2011. He has two siblings and he is the middle child. He lives with his siblings and both parents. He is one of the younger children in his nursery year. He has not yet formed any friendships with his peers at the setting and children are wary of him due to his unpredictable volatility. His behaviour has also been ...
Preschool programs began in the United States during the first quarter of the twentieth century with the first public preschool opening in 1925 in Chicago at Franklin School. After the 1970s the popularity of preschools increased as women were entering the workforce and people believed that children needed initial skills before they attended elementary school. (“All About Preschools, History…”2).