Early Childhood Education 2 (2023-)

Students will complete and incorporate observations to strengthen every aspect of an early childhood program. Incorporate observation techniques and guidelines while studying children and developing strategies to meet their needs.

Students will explore the responsibilities of early childhood educators.

Students will create developmentally appropriate curriculum for young children.

Students will demonstrate how to support learning in English Language Arts for preschoolers.

Students will demonstrate how to support learning in Fine Arts for preschoolers.

Students will demonstrate how to support learning in Health Education for preschoolers.

Students will demonstrate how to support Lifelong Learning Practices for preschoolers.

Students will demonstrate how to support Mathematics for preschoolers.

Students will demonstrate how to support Physical Education for preschoolers.

Students will demonstrate how to support Science for preschoolers.

Students will demonstrate how to support Social Studies for preschoolers.

Understand the purposes of early childhood observations

Explore a variety of observation tools used in early childhood education.

Explore objective and subjective statements in observations and personal biases.

Evaluate and interpret observations to guide teaching practices.

Identify and/or demonstrate the responsibilities of the lead and support teacher.

Understand calendaring, daily scheduling/routines, learning centers and group time.

Review the components of a lesson plan.

Identify appropriate environmental space arrangement.

Explore the Utah Core Standards for Early Learning https://www.schools.utah.gov/file/2f5c23cd-43cc-4ab1-b5d7-ef1f918362e9

The English Language Arts strands includes speaking and listening, reading, and writing

The Fine Arts strands includes drama, dance, music, and visual arts

Learning in Fine Arts is valuable for building curiosity and supporting children in expressing and communicating their ideas and experiences.

Techniques for supporting Fine Arts include

Standard 1

Standard 1

Standard 1

Standard 1

Standard 1

The purpose of Social Studies is to prepare children to become informed and engaged citizens in a culturally diverse, rapidly changing, and interdependent world

Observation - Watching children with the clear goal of studying or understanding how they are feeling, learning and thinking.

Fundamental tool to support awareness of a child’s development, skills, interests, strengths, and play

Naturalistic Observer: watches children and records their natural behaviors as they occur

Participant Observer: someone who interacts with the children while observing

Assessment- Evaluation or estimation of the nature, quality or ability of someone or something

Explore your own personal biases in the early childhood education classroom and how they affect an observation.

Objective/factual statements- statements that rely on and are based on the solid facts as a foundation. They focus only on what you can see and hear.

Subjective/interpretive statements- rely on personal opinions, assumptions, and feelings about the behavior that has been observed.

Use completed observations to develop relationships with children and learning activities

Lead Teacher:

Support Teacher: Help with activities, crowd control, preparation, and anticipate classroom/lead teacher needs. Make activity idea suggestions. Fulfill assignments of preparing activities from the lead teacher. Get involved in the activities and support the children. Help with clean-up and evaluating the day’s activities.

Scope and sequence-a summary of content to be taught and the order it will be taught

Themes- A main topic, idea, or concept around which the classroom activities are planned.

Daily schedule- represents the big picture and includes main activities that happen across the day.

Routines- steps needed to complete each part of the schedule, provides structure and security.

Learning Centers (child-directed and teacher supported play)- purposeful way of dividing the classroom into different subject or learning areas (i.e., dramatic play, sensory, blocks, writing, etc.)

Whole Group Time (teacher led)- a time when children come together as a community of learners to share their thoughts, listen to one another, actively participate together and build a sense of respect and support for one another.

Small Group Time (teacher led individualized support)- encourages children to explore and experiment with new or familiar materials, skills and ideas that adults have selected based on their daily observations of children’s interests, the developmental milestones, the Utah Early Childhood Core Standards, and local events.

Lesson Plan- A description of the activity that includes goals and procedure

Objective- The overall goals that children may learn, know and/or do.

Standard- concise written descriptions of what students are expected to know and be able to do at a specific stage of their education.

Procedure- Step by step instructions for implementing the activity

Supplies- materials needed to complete the activity

Rationale- explains how the activity benefits the child

Reflection/evaluation- a review of the activity including: any changes, children’s learning, teacher’s learning.

Transitions- the process of moving from one lesson, space, or event to another during the school day

Everything in your space, including furniture, materials and supplies set the tone for the class

Children will be inclined to act appropriately if the space is orderly and organized with a place for everything

Centers are defined and include a quiet/calming space where a child can be alone

Space should be welcoming, pleasing to the eye and safe

Children should have ownership in the space (ex. children’s artwork displayed at their eye level)

The space should be inclusive (multicultural, non-sexist, differing abilities) through books, pictures and learning materials

Containers and shelves are child sized and labeled with words and pictures to support independence and language skills.

Space arrangement

Literacy is the ability to read, write, speak, and listen.

Techniques for supporting ELA include

Drama provides creative opportunities for children to portray a variety of events, characters, or stories through taking on different roles, interacting with props, and engaging in dramatic interactions.

Dance provides children the opportunity to use their bodies to move to music and express themselves through movement.

Music offers students the opportunity to learn songs, create music, develop self-expression, and build cultural understanding with self and others.

Visual arts provide sensory, expressive, and social opportunities through the use of various media and materials to create drawings, pictures, or 3D art

Visual arts instruction improves reading readiness.

Musical experiences support understanding foundational mathematical concepts.

Engaging in fine arts reduces children’s stress and increases their cognition, self-awareness, selfdirection, social and cultural awareness, independence, language skills, physical and social-emotional development, and ability to make sense of the world around them.

Engage and follow the children’s lead in creative processes.

Acknowledge children’s efforts and persistence in artistic expression.

Provide open-ended art experiences- all mediums are used to create and explore. An opportunity for exploration and expression without a look-alike result is the goal.

Value the process not the product

The Health Education strands include physical, mental, emotional, and social health.

Techniques for supporting Health Education include

Approaches to Learning includes the concepts of curiosity, engagement, interest in learning, independence, flexibility, perseverance, imagination, and problem-solving.

Learning Engagement is the way children continue to develop the ability to actively explore and participate in the learning environment.

Social development includes self-awareness, regulation and recognition of emotions, emotional responsiveness, managing stress, and the ability to interact with others effectively in social settings.

Techniques for supporting Lifelong Learning Practices include

Mathematics is a way of thinking about patterns, relationships, and seeking multiple solutions to problems.

Quality learning environments should focus on actual hands-on experiences during play and interaction with others to incorporate well-designed mathematical experiences.

Math concepts include

Techniques for supporting Math include

The goal of physical education is to develop healthy, responsible children who have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to work together, think critically, and participate in a variety of activities that lead to a lifelong healthy lifestyle.

Physical development is integral to building children’s self-esteem, confidence, fitness, and well-being.

As children refine their physical movements, they develop higher-order thinking skills that are necessary for future social and academic success.

Motor skills are defined as both small muscle and large muscle movements.

Techniques for supporting Physical Education include

Young children are captivated by discovering and exploring their natural world. They insist that teachers and family members answer their questions about the world around them

Weather: the combination of sunlight, wind, snow, or rain, and temperature in a particular place at a particular time. Humans can plan and prepare for different weather conditions.

Living things (plants and animals, including humans) depend on their surroundings to get what they need, including food, water, and shelter, to survive.

All things are made of matter. Various kinds of matter, such as wood, metal, and water, have different properties that can be observed, described, and classified.

Techniques for supporting Science include

Techniques for supporting Physical Education include

Understand the child and their experience in the classroom, to better respond and interact with them

Identify how best to challenge and support children, to scaffold learning

Develop realistic curriculum and goals.

Document progress

Show growth and behavior patterns.

Formal Assessments: include standardized tests and research instruments, recording data on carefully designed forms, and analyzing and interpreting data

Informal Assessments: observing children in the classroom, collecting samples of their work, interviewing parents, and talking with children

Types of Informal Assessments

Personal, Emotional, Mental, Cultural etc…

“Johnny sat and stared at the blocks before he began to build with them.”

“Johnny did not want to build with blocks, I don’t think he likes playing blocks, so he sat and stared at them.”

What did you observe?

What does this tell me?

What do I do with this information?

Creating a caring, equitable and developmentally appropriate community of learning (e.g. supervision of children, anticipate the needs of the children.)

Establishing partnerships with families (e.g. home to school connection)

Observing, documenting, and assessing children

Teaching to enhance each child’s development (e.g. Responsible for the pace and order of the lessons)

Planning and implementing curriculum (e.g. create the daily plan for the class.)

Professionalism (e.g. involve and direct support teachers to help with lessons and activities, crowd control, preparation, etc. Clean up and complete an evaluation of the day)

https://www.naeyc.org/resources/position-statements/dap/guidelines

Age 3-5: https://www.schools.utah.gov/file/2f5c23cd-43cc-4ab1-b5d7-ef1f918362e9

Age 0-3: https://jobs.utah.gov/occ/provider/early_childhood.pdf

Examples of Transitional Cues

Wet- Visual arts, Science, sensory

Literacy enables students to participate fully in their community and society.

Language is the basis for understanding and communicating in most aspects of life.

Engage in conversations with children.

Read daily from a variety of texts, including narrative and informational genres.

Create a language- and print-rich environment

Provide activities that increase phonological awareness.

Use a wide variety of media and presentation forms

Sing a wide variety of songs

Provide a variety of texts representative of languages spoken in the classroom

menus, books, magazines, charts, newspapers, maps, instruction booklets, labels, and store flyers

Provide activities that increase awareness of the rhythm of language

Provide opportunities for multiple readings/retellings of nursery rhymes or stories.

While reading to children, ask questions about what may happen next, how the book relates to their own experiences, how the characters in the story are feeling, etc.

Encourage children to re-enact stories using dramatic play or puppets.

Supply a variety of age-appropriate writing tools and materials in all areas of the classroom, including thin short pencils, crayons, markers, whiteboards, glue sticks, magnetic letters, paintbrushes, etc.

Model proper writing

Physical Health includes Independence in personal care and hygiene.

Mental and Emotional Health focuses on awareness and care for the mental and emotional health of self and others.

Nutrition focuses on understanding the importance of nutritional food on health throughout life, including food choices, such as identifying healthy or less healthy foods, and how to properly fuel the body.

Encourage the child to participate in self-care routines.

Provide examples of what a good friend is and is not.

Provide suggestions for appropriate turn taking.

Talk about foods in the environment and discuss healthy foods during snack time.

Help children acknowledge their feelings and teach them appropriate ways to handle those feelings.

Encourage balance and healthy lifestyles.

Teach problem solving.

Help children develop citizenship skills to be responsible, accountable, and helpful.

Create a learning environment that inspires a sense of wonder, delight, curiosity, and creativity.

Recognize and honor variations in cultural contexts relating to how children play and make sense of their experiences. Provide materials that are culturally relevant and inclusive of children that make up the learning community.

Embed opportunities throughout the day to provide positive, affirming, and supportive, feedback to children.

Provide direct instruction on appropriate social interaction skills.

Design activities that require social interaction.

Demonstrate problem-solving techniques in relationships.

Acknowledge, respect, and validate children’s expression of all emotions as teaching opportunities.

Counting and cardinality- the ability to identify numerals by name, count in sequence, use one-toone correspondence, and describe quantities of objects counted.

Operations and algebraic thinking- identifying and manipulating simple patterns, the understanding of addition as putting together and adding to, and the understanding of subtraction as taking apart and removing from.

Measurement and Data- the ability to describe and compare measurable attributes of objects, classify objects, and count the number of objects in each category.

Geometry- the ability to identify, describe, compare, and create shapes.

Give children adequate time to explore and experiment with manipulatives before starting teacher planned instruction.

Design experiences where children explore and experience their environment to identify spatial relationships such as, “How many children fit inside the castle in the outdoor area?”

Use mathematical language to extend children’s understanding within the context of their experiences, such as: “Do you want half a glass of milk or a full glass of milk?” or “Would you like more or fewer grapes than I have?”

Integrate mathematical experiences, including stories, chants, and songs to reinforce mathematical concepts such as “Five Little Speckled Frogs,” “Five Little Ducks,” and “The Three Billy Goats Gruff.”

Integrate mathematics throughout the day (for example, counting snacks, identifying shapes, ordering objects by length or size).

Gross (large) motor skills, including walking, kicking, hopping, galloping, running, sliding, skipping, leaping, and jumping, are the foundation of movement.

Fine (small) motor skills, including the two-finger pincer grasp and manipulation of small objects, support the development of pre-writing skills.

Locomotor skills include walking, hopping, running, jumping, galloping, leaping, and sliding.

Non-locomotor skills include balancing on one foot, moving body parts in isolation, bending, twisting, turning.

Continually encourage, challenge, and strengthen children’s gross and fine motor skills by teaching, modeling, and providing many opportunities to:

Participate in fine and gross motor activities alongside the children.

Teach, model, and maintain proper safety rules.

Provide opportunities for both organized and spontaneous play.

Sunlight has an effect on surfaces. Objects can be seen when light is available to illuminate them. Light is required for plant growth.

Behavior patterns between parents and offspring can help animals, including humans, to survive.

Pushing or pulling on an object can change the speed or direction of an object in motion.

Allow children to explore their surroundings and ask questions while they are doing so.

Lead children in discussions of, “What do you think will happen if…?”

Point out changes in children’s environment including the weather, seasons, etc.

Provide children with language to describe what they see, hear, touch, taste, etc.

Build ramps, forts, levers, etc. with children and let them discover what will happen when using them.

Model and support vocabulary associated with the scientific process.

Support children’s curiosity in their exploration of their environment by encouraging problem solving and discovery.

Encourage regular classroom discussions.

Learn about children’s preferences, interests, background, and culture. Adults share information about themselves and find commonalities with children and others.

Honor children’s family culture and maintain a respectful attitude when interacting with others.

Encourage children to respect and include all classmates, appreciate differences, and meet one another’s needs.

Acknowledge children’s efforts and classroom contributions.

Provide direct instruction on appropriate social interaction skills with specific feedback.

Design activities that foster social interaction.

Model behaviors that care for the environment.

Explain the importance of safety and why that practice is important.

Provide children with choices and voting opportunities.

Anecdotal—short, recorded descriptions of incidents involving one or more children to provide data on a child’s interests, interactions, and progress

Checklist—gather observational information about children’s skills, behaviors, or attitudes (e.g. developmental milestones)

Frequency count—records the number of times something happens (e.g. how many times a child bites or is aggressive to another child) during a specified time period (e.g. hour or day) during a specified time period (e.g. hour or day)

Work Sample—examples of children’s work, photos, video etc.

Interview — questioning children or families to gain information

Observe and document

Reflect, evaluate and interpret

Plan, implement, observe

Concrete Cues- objects move from one place to another (hang up your coat as you go inside, tuck in your chair)

Visual Cues- items are used that the child can see to inform them of a change in activity (when you see your name you may go, turning off the lights)

Auditory Cues- sounds used to move children from one area to another (clean up song, ringing a bell)

Novelty Cues- involve the use of unusual or new actions and devices to move the children from one activity to the next (asking a question, tiptoeing to the door)

Reading, listening, writing, and dramatic play centers, eye level alphabet charts, picture/word labels, and samples of children’s work.

Animated and engaging storytelling, pictures or drawings, posters, appropriate short multimedia presentations, drama, show and tell, signs, paintings, sculptures, puppets, and hand signs.

Clapping the syllables in children’s names or other familiar words.

Writing down what children say, labeling their drawings, writing questions that could be asked of a visitor, or making a list of foods.

Run, gallop, throw, catch, hop, kick, dance, jump, climb, pull, carry, stretch, bend, twist, and move isolated parts of the body. `

Practice building with large and small blocks, molding clay, using scissors or tongs, stringing beads, placing pegs in holes, assembling puzzles, using a computer mouse, and using a variety of writing utensils (pencils, crayons, markers) and art mediums (painting, printing, manipulating clay, stamping).