CCE 135
Foundations of Early Learning
Monday & Wednesday 7:55-9:10
North Seattle Community College
IB 1409
CCE 135: Foundations of Early Learning
Candice Hoyt, Faculty
(206) 715-1878 (until 9 pm)
Office hours by appointment
choyt@sccd.ctc.edu
http://facweb.northseattle.edu/choyt
Syllabus:
• http://facweb.northseattle.edu/choyt/CCE135
Online – Angel:
• http://northseattle.angellearning.com/
Monday
 Chapter 2
 Education/Curriculum
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
1/11/10
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
Assessments
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


Observations
Learning Stories
Using Assessments
“Teaching” on the fly
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

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
What infant-toddler education is NOT
What infant-toddler education should be
Curriculum
Role of adult
Praise
Positive Reinforcement
Feedback
Modeling
Readings 1 & 2
Learning Story check-in
SQ topics
Wrap Up
Infants, Toddlers, and Caregivers
A Curriculum of Respectful, Responsive Care and Education
Janet Gonzalez-Mena and Dianne Widmeyer Eyer
CHAPTER 2
Education/Curriculum
 What infant-toddler education is
NOT
 What infant-toddler education
should be
 Curriculum
 Role of adult
What infant-toddler education is NOT (pp. 26-28)
 Infant stimulation
 Television, toys
 AAP recommends no TV for
children under 2 (including
TV in the environment)
 Television and toy
“educational” claims are
typically unproved
 Other stimulation programs
unproved to help in typically
developing children
 Baby sitting
 Instinct, play & safety focus
 Preschool
 Lessons, expectations/goals,
restrictions on material use
 Proud of generic output
 Toddlers “look incompetent
because they don’t conform to
the expectations” (p. 27)
 Parents, teachers frustrated




Waiting for toddlers to grow
Wanting them to “do it right”
“Tolerate them in the
meantime” (p. 27)
Toddlers frustrated
 Want to do what’s
interesting
 Want to please adults and
achieve but are set up to fail
What infant-toddler education should be
 No expected activities or
outcomes


Curriculum = “plan for
learning and development
that is all inclusive and
centers on connections and
relationships” (p. 28)
Planned and unplanned
activities
 Children learn through
genuine experiences &
problem-solving

Lessons and restrictions on
how to use materials inhibit
true experiences and
problem-solving
opportunities
 How?
 “Babies need to discover that
they can influence the people
and things around them” –
most important for learning
at any age! (p. 26)
 And “to perceive their own
involvement” (p. 26) – pride
and intellectual results
 Television does not do this
 Computer games and toys
may
 Still not as open-ended as
interacting with real
materials naturally occurring
in the child’s world
Curriculum (p. 30)
 Framework


Philosophy on how children learn
Teaching methodology/ behavior
 Goals or desired results


 Teaching



Ideas for activities & environment
Understand ZPD (Zone of
Proximal Development ->
scaffolding)
Knowledgeable about:




Mission statement or… ?
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


Holistic
Goals in areas:


Typical development
Atypical development
Diversity
Strategies to adapt
activities/environment for each
of these




Vision statement
Policies
“How We Teach”
Cognitive
Physical
Social-Emotional
 Interpersonal
 Intrapersonal
 Cultural/societal
Spiritual
Creative / aesthetic
“Normal” not necessarily a goal
Role of Adult
 Role of Adult (Figure 2.1, p. 35)
Determining optimum
stress levels…
1.

2.
3.
4.
[Don’t abandon or force
when the child is too
frustrated or it is too
difficult]
Providing attention….
Providing feedback…
Modeling
Assessments
 Observations
 Learning Stories
 Using Assessments
Observations
 Anecdotal records
 Objective
 Some exact
 Some informal narrative—
notes immediately or later
 Running records
 Objective, non-judgmental
 Exact
 Comprehensive
 Documentation
 Objective
 Exact visual/audio
 Media recording
 Points-in-time
 Zone of Proximal
Development (ZPD)



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Use the knowledge you get
from observing
What child can do next with
tiny bit of your involvement
“Not to get rid of frustration
but to keep the child working
on the problem” (p. 36).
What to do to with the child
Learning Stories
 Learning Stories



Document exactly
Write subjectively
“Analyze” professionally
 Documentation need:



caregivers,
 families &
 the child
 Narrative/description:


Time,
Recording media,
Input from …

What child is doing
What they can do

Best when you have help
“analyzing” what you have
seen
Using Assessments
 Inclusion of families
 Review/compare to …
 What is happening at home
 Previous observations at
school or home
 Deeper understanding of
what this means for
 The child:
 Developmentally
 Socially (pride)
 The parents:
 Their view on how/why
this is important
 Connect with the parents
social-emotionally
 Daily log (infants especially)
 Charts (Appendix B)
 Assessment: know what to
expect for typical child
 Dramatic difference from
“typical” may need
intervention
 Family can confirm
(sometimes different at
school than at home)
 Next steps
 What’s typically next
developmentally
 Use ZPD determine what to
try –new materials/
environment/experiences
 Within reach of typical child
“Teaching” on the fly
 Praise
 Positive Reinforcement
 Feedback
 Modeling
Praise
 “Development isn’t about
winning and losing” (p. 32)
 Praise (pp. 38-39)


Expresses what you value
Communicates need to
meet your goals or
expectations to please you
“I like the way you…”
 “Good job.”

 Article: Alfie Kohn, “Five
Reasons to Stop Saying
‘Good Job!’”
www.alfiekohn.org/parenting/gj.htm
1.
Manipulating children

2.
3.
Creating praise junkies
Stealing a child’s pleasure

4.
Telling them what to feel
Losing interest

5.
For our convenience
Without attention
Reducing achievement

Less likely to take risks
Positive Reinforcement
Say nothing

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Specify valued behavior:

The child may already have
acknowledged internally
They don’t always need our
feedback

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“Rewards”

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Intangible are best
Attention, verbalizing
Goal is intrinsic value
“Acknowledging the child’s
own inner delight” (p. 39) –
make sure you get it right
“You stacked five blocks!”
“You put all your dishes
away without being asked.”
When you don’t know what
to say: High five/ thumbs
up.
 Questions:



Open-ended
Express genuine interest
Once the child “gets it”,
stop reinforcing it
Feedback
 Helping children
understand the effects of
their actions
 Stay quiet until necessary
 Interpersonal


Make sure you interpret
correctly before providing
feedback
Say, “I think he ran away
because you shouted at
him.”
Modified from p. 40
 “I think” keeps you neutral

 Achievement
 Facilitate using ZPD
 Okay to give up on task
that is too hard; find
appropriate alternative
Modeling
 Best way to teach
children, parents and
teachers!
 Intrapersonal


Expressing genuine
emotions
Taking care of yourself
(timeout or eating, etc)
 Interpersonal




Gentleness
Turn-taking
Standing up for yourself
Saying you’re sorry
 What happens when you
make a mistake:
apologize for…


Yelling
Taking/ruining something
Infants, Toddlers, and Caregivers
A Curriculum of Respectful, Responsive Care and Education
Janet Gonzalez-Mena and Dianne Widmeyer Eyer
READING 1 & 2
Readings 1 & 2
 “As we value inner
directedness in a child,
we prefer gentle
validations to
instructions, to criticism,
and even to praise”
(Reading 1, p. 6).
 Use:



Occasional reflections
Empathy
Smile to “convey our
pleasure in his success”
(Reading 1, p. 6)
 Children who are
“’refueled’ by such caring
experiences” (Reading 1,
p. 6) can independently
play so parents can too
Readings 1 & 2
 Infants in group care:

Many cultures (NZ, e.g.)
believe infants need
significant time with peers



Childcare is publicly
funded—available to all
“Set up to serve the child’s
needs” (Reading 1, p. 8)
Child can “explore and
interact with other
infants” (Reading 1, p. 8)
 Lesson planning for
infants (Reading 2)



Prepare for adaptations
based on infant response
Don’t use if it doesn’t fit
infants’ needs & interests
Plan and re-plan to match
& develop:
Relationship between
infant & teacher
 Interest of child
 Aptitude of child

Learning Stories
 Questions?
Sequence Presentation Topic Selections
 SQ 1 topic selection (decide by Monday 1/11)
 Team A: Chapter 5 – Attachment: Co-sleeping
 Team B: Chapter 6 – Perception: Young Child’s Brain /
Windows of Opportunity
 Team C: Chapter 7 – Motor Skills: Infant Swimming
 Team D: Chapter 8 – Cognition: Sign Language
 SQ 2 topic selection (decide by Monday 2/1)
 Team A: Chapter 9 – Language: Sign Language
 Team B: Chapter 10 – Emotions: Long-term affects of
attachment
 Team C: Chapter 11 – Social Skills: ____________
 Team D: Chapter 12 & 13 – Physical & Social Environments:
____________
Wrap Up
Wednesday 1/13
Wednesday 1/20
 Due…
 Read Ch 3; Reading 3
 Post DQ 3: Ch 3, R 3
 Post DQ 1 replies (2+)
 Due…
 A 01a replies (to each
person’s Conscious Care)
 DQ 04: Ch 4, R 4, R 7
 DQ 2 replies (2)
 DQ 3 replies (2)
 In class…
 Chapter 3; Reading 3
Monday 1/18
 Holiday – no class
 In class…
 Ch 4, Readings 4 & 7
 Conscious Care reflection
 Learning Story questions