Student Online Companion
Alternate Exercises
Chapter 1
1. The object of this activity is to see the difference that prior experience and level of
expertise can have on one’s assessment of an event or experience. Accompany someone
with a different level of experience in early childhood education to a public park with a
playground. For example, if you are an experienced early childhood professional, take a
teenager with you. If you are new to the field, take a veteran ECE teacher with you.
Each of you evaluates the park for appropriateness of equipment, safety, and interest for
young children. Compare your assessments with each other. The differences in what you
each will see, remember and comment upon will be different reflecting your differing
perspectives. Discuss the implications of this experience for you as an observer and
assessor of young children.
2. Go out to eat with someone who works in the food service industry. Compare your
evaluations of the cleanliness of the restaurant, the service, the presentation of the food,
the organization of the payment system. The differences should reflect the differences in
your expertise and experience. Discuss the implications of this experience for you as an
observer and assessor of young children.
Chapter 2
1. Use the following scenarios, which are based on Piaget’s methods for determining the
stage of development of young children, on three different children, all of whom are
developing “typically.” Use one child who is 2-3, one who is 4-5, and one who is 6-8.
What can you deduce about Piaget’s stage theories of development and their universal
applicability?
Experiment 1: Comparison of whole and part
Equipment: 10 wooden beads (the whole group)
2 red beads (one part of the whole)
8 brown beads (another part of the whole)
Procedure:
Ask the child, “In this box which is there more of brown
beads or wooden ones?
“Are all the brown ones mad of wood?”
“If I take away all the wooden ones, will there be any left?”
“If I take away all the brown ones, will there be any left?”
“Which are there more of, brown beads or wooden ones?”
Experiment 2: Conservation of length
Equipment: Two sticks the same length
Procedure: Place the two sticks before the child with the ends aligned.
Ask the child if they are the same length. Then move one
stick to the right and ask the child if they are the same length.
Then move the stick back to the original position and ask
again.
i.e.:
_____________
_____________
______________
_______________
Experiment 3: Conservation of substance
Equipment: Two equal balls of clay
Procedure: Present the balls to the child. Ask if they are the same. If the
child doesn’t think they are equal, ask him to make them the
same. Then deform one ball – roll it out like a snake, smash it
like a pancake, or make several small balls from it. Then ask
the child if the two sets have the same amount of clay.
Chapter 3
1. Go into a setting where you are not either familiar with the dominant language of the
children, or where you are not culturally similar to the children. Observe for an hour.
Then compare the interpretations of children’s behaviors you might make with a fluent
speaker of that language. What can you learn about language miscues and your ability to
accurately observe? What cautions in chapter 3 will be useful in being a good observer in
this situation?
2. Describe how you might identify the dominant learning styles of a group of children
and discuss how you would use this information to assist you with accurate and objective
observation.
Chapter 4
1. Think of three things /people you could observe. (things: plants, birds, insects; or
people: children, youth or adults) Decide on what you will observe and how. Write a
description of your process and methodology.
Chapter 5
1. Design an example of an evaluation that shows the distinction between data and raw
data. Explain appropriate uses for each.
Chapter 6
1. Observe and record the behaviors of two children of about the same age, one of whom
is well-known to you; one of whom is diverse either by culture, ability, family
composition, or socio-economic status. For example, take a relative or family friend with
their parent to a park, to church, to a public arena. Observe a particular behavior of
“your” child to that of the other. Interpret their behaviors. Check your interpretations of
“your” child with their parent. Then, describe how your cultural lens may have affected
your interpretations of the behaviors you’ve observed.
Chapter 7
1. Construct a modification of table 7-4 to use for toilet self-help skills with toddlers.
Use categories like notification, flushing, hygiene to describe behavior to observe. Use
your time sample to compare frequency of self care routine amongst a group of toddlers.
Chapter 8
1. Go with a colleague or classmate to a center where you can each observe a group of
children. (a group is 3 or more) Each of you uses a different observation technique- the
event sample or the narrative description- to observe for 15 minutes. Agree before hand
on what behaviors you wish to observe. Then one of you uses the event sampling
method; the other uses the narrative method. The narrative must then be edited to glean
the examples of behavior you wished to observe.
Switch roles.
Discuss your experiences using each method. Which one was appropriate for what
purpose?
2. Write up a chart comparing the two types and their uses.
Chapter 9
1. Use the diary format to document the development of a new skill or behavior over the
course of several weeks. Describe the developmental progression of a new behavior for
yourself or a child with whom you have daily contact. How is this methodology different
from the previously used methods of observation?
2. Add the diary method to your comparison chart.
Chapter 10
1. Use an anecdotal record to plan. If you work in an early childhood setting, use the
anecdotal method to observe children in a specific setting and context. Then plan
activities or supplemental materials or language experiences to support development in
that domain.
If you do not work in an ECE setting, use a classmate’s anecdotals to plan and
observe the efficacy of your plans at that center.
Chapter 11
1. Use a frequency count/duration chart to observe and record examples of cooperative
behaviors in preschool aged children.
2. Use a frequency count/duration chart to observe and record examples of problemsolving behaviors in school aged children.
3. Use a frequency count/duration record to observe examples of self-help skills in
infants or toddlers.
Chapter 12
1. Use a checklist from an early childhood program. Compare your results with the
results of the teachers in that classroom. What have you learned about interobserver
reliability?
Chapter `13
1. Use the checklist from your work in chapter 12. Make interpretations. Compare your
interpretations with those of the teachers in the classroom.
2. Compare your interpretations in terms of your familiarity with the children( by way of
language, cultural scripts, family lifestyles, ability) observed with the children’s teachers
or parents. How can “bias” - or lack of knowledge - affect observations?
3. Use the results of a checklist to plan for young children. Compare using the checklist
as a planning platform to your previous use of an anecdotal record to plan. Compare
your process.
For the following chapters, if observations of children the age group required by the
activities in the book, the following are substitute activities to document the
student’s understanding and experiences with the concepts and principles of the
exercises. These are only recommended if the student has no access to children of
these age groups with which to conduct REAL observations. These are not really
substitutes, therefore, merely alternatives.
Chapter 14
Alternate to Observation Exercise 1: After examining at least two developmental
milestone charts, describe a hypothetical newborn whose physical characteristics will fall
within the normal range of development. Use the observation tool in your textbook.
Alternate to Observation Exercise 2: In pairs, students will use a doll to demonstrate the
use of stimuli to elicit newborn state behaviors. Use Table 14-2 from your textbook. Use
responses you have learned in child development classes about infant states. Each
student will describe the stimulation, the state and the hypothetical response. They will
work together to compare their hypothetic newborns to each other, and prepare a chart
comparing their results in the use of their narrative descriptions from exercise 2 in the
textbook.
Alternate to Observation Exercise 3: Compare your two hypothetical infants in terms of
the characteristics in Observation Exercise 3 in your textbook. Prepare a chart comparing
the two.
Alternate to Observation Exercise 4: In pairs, take turns using a doll to demonstrate a
hypothetical newborn’s reflex responses to stimuli. Use Observation Exercise 4 from
your textbook. Prepare a chart comparing the two “newborns.”
Alternate to Observation Exercise 5: In pairs, take turns using a doll to demonstrate the
perceptual responses of a newborn using the modified checklist in Observation 14-5 in
your textbook. In your role play, be sure to cover all the responses to the question guides
in your textbook.
Alternate to Observation Exercise 6: In pairs, take turns using a doll to demonstrate the
perceptual responses of a newborn using the modified checklist in Observation 14-6 in
your textbook. After the role play, document development of Greenspan’s First
Emotional Milestone. In your role play, be sure to cover all the responses to the question
guides in your textbook.
Chapter 15:
Alternate to Observation Exercise 1: Use the developmental checklist and the
developmental milestone chart from your textbook. Describe a hypothetical infant whose
characteristics will fall within the normal range of development. Use the observation tool
16-1 in your textbook to document the hypothetical child’s physical characteristics and
motor skill development. Compare these results with your results from chapter 14. In
your description, be sure to cover all the responses to the question guides in your
textbook
Alternate to Observation Exercise 2: In pairs, use a doll to demonstrate the social
behaviors of infants and toddlers. Use the background information from your textbook to
role play the social development of your child. Take turns using the three methods for
recording infant and toddler social development in Observation Exercise 2. Use all three
recording methods contained in the observation exercise in your textbook. Be sure that in
your role play you cover the question guides in your textbook. Work together to compare
the hypothetical infants and toddlers to each other, and prepare a chart comparing your
observations and interpretations.
Alternate to Observation Exercise 3: Part I: In pairs, role play with a classmate and
enact behaviors you would expect infant/toddler aged children to demonstrate as
responses to the developmental tasks described in Observation Exercise 15-3. Use event
sampling method. In Part 2: Use a narrative description method. Refer to the Question
guides in your textbook. Part 3: Take turns role playing a child’s language in response to
environmental cues. Use the event sampling method. Address all the Question Guides in
your textbook in your record keeping of the process. Use Observation Exercise 3, Part III
from your textbook.
Alternate to Observation Exercise 4: Part I: In pairs, take turns role playing and
recording either the behaviors you would expect to find or the lack thereof according to
Greenspan’s Emotional Milestones. Use the event sampling method in your text, being
certain to address all the question guides in your descriptions. Part II: Role play and
record, alternating roles and using the format in the text and addressing all the questions
in the study guide.
Chapter 16, 17, and 18
Continue in a similar way to the methods described in chapter 14.
In pairs, students should alternate between role playing a typically or atypically
developing child and role playing the observer. Using the same format as in the textbook
assignments be sure to address all the study questions in your role play. Be sure that each
student has the opportunity to use the diverse methods of observing and recording
behaviors, and learning to interpret and use interpretations.