Reflective Analysis of Portfolio Artifact

Rationale/Reflection
NAEYC Standard:
STANDARD 3. OBSERVING, DOCUMENTING, AND ASSESSING TO SUPPORT YOUNG CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Candidates prepared in early childhood degree programs understand that child observation, documentation,
and other forms of assessment are central to the practice of all early childhood professionals. They know
about and understand the goals, benefits, and uses of assessment. They know about and use systematic
observations, documentations, and other effective assessment strategies in a responsible way, in partnership
with families and other professionals, to positively influence the development of every child. (NAEYC, 2010)

Brief Description of Evidence:

During the fall semester of 2014 during my ECED 235- Preschool Practicum course, I created a child
case study. I choose a child to observe and document progress of developmental milestones in all five domains
of development through various checklists, anecdotal records, and photo artifacts. In partnership with the
family, I gathered permission from his parent along with a family survey so I could better understand the
childs needs and interests at home. To culminate the project, I put the information and documentation
together to create a child case e-folio and provided a final narrative report outlining the strengths and goals of
the child.

Analysis of What I Learned:

Through completion of this child e-folio I was able to gain teacher skills to work with children and gain
a better understand of child development milestones and individually appropriate goals to further each childs
progression. I know more about individualization and families. With the information I collected I was able to
learn more about a specific child and how to connect with him and use certain teaching styles for his needs. I
was also able to learn more about his family and his life at home. Through this connection by working with my
mentor and his family I used all the information to positively influence the development of a child.

How This Artifact Demonstrates my Competence on the NAEYC Standard:

This project demonstrates my competence on the NAEYC standard three by working with families and
other professionals such as my mentor teacher to positively influence the development of a child. I connect
this with the Ericksons theory. By knowing some facts about the child that his family has provided I know
more about his social skills. Knowing about the way he lives at home, how he preforms in the classroom, and
things he likes allows me to better individualize the curriculum to meet his needs and interest. Through this
artifact, I prove my ability to gather responsible data, analyze the data, and compile it into a narrative and
child e-folio so that ultimately I can set goals for each individual child in order to base my curriculum decisions.