Reflective Analysis of Portfolio Artifact

Rationale/Reflection
NAEYC Standard:
STANDARD 4. USING DEVELOPMENTALLY EFFECTIVE APPROACHES
Candidates prepared in early childhood degree programs understand that teaching and learning
with young children is a complex enterprise, and its details vary depending on childrens ages,
characteristics, and the settings within which teaching and learning occur. They a) understand and
use positive relationships and supportive interactions as the foundation for their work with young
children and families. Candidates b, c) know, understand, and use a wide array of developmentally
appropriate approaches, instructional strategies, and tools to connect with children and families
and d) positively influence each childs development and learning. (NAEYC, 2010)
Brief Description of Evidence:
During the spring semester of 2014 during my ECED 243-Cognitive Curriculum course, I
created a set of fifteen developmentally appropriate teacher made activities. The purpose of this
set of activities was to actively involve children and their families in activities which included a
variety of learning opportunities; cognitively, socially, and physically. The set contained fifteen
different developmentally appropriate activities in the areas of matching, sorting, classification,
memory, discrimination, one-to-one correspondence, seriation, direction, literacy, science, fine and
gross motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and social studies. Each activity provided child, teacher
and parent the opportunity to positively influence learning in a variety of areas and were also
portable which allowed learning to take place outside of the classroom setting.
Analysis of What I Learned:
While creating each activity I focused on the Montessori approach on learning by creating
activities that were hands on. I learned to use materials that were colorful, inviting, and easy for
children and parents to work with. I learned that there are many ways that learning can be
enhanced through using resources that can be made into developmentally appropriate learning
tools. Through this artifact I have learned how to empower parents by providing them with these
activities which will allow them to become actively involved in their childs development and
learning.
How This Artifact Demonstrates my Competence on the NAEYC Standard:
This teacher made activity set was created so that young children of various developmental
stages are provided with activities that are hands on, durable and able to be used in a variety of
settings. By creating this activities set I will provide parents with the opportunity to positively
enhance and further their childs learning in areas that promote cognitive, social and physical
development.