ECED 100 Introduction to Early Childhood Education

Statewide Online Course

Date of Observation: March 21, 2013

Time in and out: 9:30am-10:30am

Number of children: 4

Ages of children: 6wks-3

Number of adults: 2
Directions: Visit an infant or toddler classroom and comment on the following areas:
Setting
Environment that supports development:
List the opportunities in the room for physical development of the children.
The children have a soft area for climbing and crawling. There is a mirror on the wall for
them to see. There are stations such as dramatic play, sensory, and blocks.
List the opportunities for cognitive development of the children.
The children have access to many centers that allow them to manipulate materials and learn
about them. They have soft music playing in the background and provide opportunities for
rhythm and listening. The instructors talk to the children and use identifying terms and
directions when speaking. For instance, the children were doing a fine motor craft when I
arrived. They were told to push and stick paper shapes to contact paper.
Describe the interactions between the teachers and each child (emotional development)?
Miss Amy, I believe she is the assistant, did a great job calling the children by their names.
She was very vocal in her direction of the kids and very positive. She spoke in a calm, clear,
manner and seemed to know the kids and what they needed or wanted. Miss Kimber also had a
soft and gentle nature with the kids. She was clear in her expectations and directions and often
repeated words and sounds for the children to hear. They both praised the children and corrected
them when they were off course. For example, one little boy pushed another out of the way of
the tunnel because he wanted to crawl through first. The teacher knelt beside him and explained
he needed to let his friend go and wait nicely.
Describe the opportunities for children to be together with other children or the adults (the social
development).
There were only four children in the room when I observed. They had four children out this
particular day. The children didnt really interact with one another but they did interact with the
instructors. They would watch what their friends were doing and often participated in the same

task but didnt engage in each other. For instance, there were three of the four children crawling
through tunnels. They all expressed their joy and excitement of the tunnels individually but did
not pay any attention to their friends crawling before them or after them. They seemed to look to
the teachers for interaction, praise, and acknowledgement. At a different time, one child was
playing babies, another was sitting on the instructors lap reading a book, the third was crawling
through the tunnel, and the fourth was sitting watching everyone else. There were many
opportunities for the children to be together and near one another but the teachers did not
encourage them to play together or interact specifically with one another.

The Schedule and Program

Describe the daily programwhat is a childs day like in this program? The instructor gave me
permission to take a photo from the back of the door which shows the class schedule for a typical
day in this program. Please see the following page for this information.

How is language development fostered? {give specific example(s)}

The children are talked to constantly and teachers mimic noises of tasks and sounds the
children make. For example, the children were making pictures with daubers. One teacher
would say dot, dot, dot, dot consistently while the children were working and would take one of
the kids hand to encourage the motion. The other instructor would say a childs name, say yuck
when they put it in their mouth and then helped the child return the dauber to paper. In another
scenario, the teacher encouraged a young girl to say thank you when she was given a toy. The
teacher gave the child the toy and held on until the child said thank you. The teacher repeated
the childs name and instructed her to say thank you until she did it. Once the child said thank
you, the teacher released the toy.
What is the curricula of this program for these very young children?
I had permission to take a photo of the childrens curriculum and objectives while I was
there. They are as follows:
To explore books
To pretend to do something or be someone
To actively attend to things an adult is showing
To select the preferred item when given choices
To purposely move and manipulate an object
To look at things within the environment
To show curiosity in objects
To manipulate objects
To seek interaction and social play
To develop the process of play
To use sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell to explore the world
To experience how their body moves and feels
To develop increased control over their body parts
To move to music on their own or with others
To play simple musical instruments
To search for something out of sight
To develop trust in other people
To use their bodies and material found in everyday setting to act on objects

Describe methods of communication between the program and the families. Some hints: Do you
see bulletin boards with information? Is there a daily log sent home? What information is
exchanged between the families and the children? Other
The information for parents is posted on the back of the classroom door in this room. The
objectives, schedule and needs of the room are listed. There was also a warning that they had a
confirmed case of impetigo in the room. There is a daily paper sent home reporting the
childrens emotional day and whether or not they ate well. I did not see a parent pick-up, dropoff, or interact with faculty while I was there.
Your Comments:
I enjoyed the opportunity to observe in this particular classroom. The instructors were
welcoming and seemed to really love their job. The classroom was set up according to state
standards and had a wonderful, calm feel. The childrens work hung nicely on the wall where
they could see it and the room was set up for their size.