Early Childhood:
Applying What We
Know
Presenter: Whit Hayslip
Contra Costa County Office of Education
California Conditions of Learning Symposium:
Engage, Teach and Lead
Afternoon Breakout Session
San Ramon Valley Conference Center
January 28, 2016
How can we
effectively apply what
we know and meet the
needs of each child?
What ideas about early
childhood education
resonated for you from
the morning session?
Applying
What We
Know
A Feared Collision
DAP
High Quality
Instruction
Accountability
& Standards
The Essential Questions for
High Quality Instruciton
• What is the child learning?
• What am I teaching?
My Ma Gave Me a Nickel
My Ma gave me a nickel
to buy a pickle.
I didn’t buy a pickle,
I bought some bubble gum.
Some bub-bub-bub-bub bubble gum,
I bought some bubble gum.
Some bub-bub-bub-bub bubble gum,
I bought some bubble gum.
My Ma Gave Me a Nickel
• What is the child learning?
• What am I teaching?
Key Principles of Learning
in
High Quality Early Childhood
Instructional Programs
Domains of children’s development are
closely related.
Physical
Cognitive
Language
Social &
Emotional
Early childhood educators should use these
interrelationships to organize children’s
learning experiences.
Importance of Social Competence
A Good Beginning
“A child who is socially and emotionally ready…
• is confident, friendly, has developed or will
be able to develop good relationships with
peers;
• is able to concentrate on and persist at
challenging tasks;
• is able to effectively communicate
frustration, anger, and joy; and
• is able to listen to instructions and be
attentive.”
-A Good Beginning – p. vii
Children learn in the context of relationships.
Eager to Learn
“…care and education cannot be
thought of as separate entities in
dealing with young children…”
-Eager to Learn: Educating Our Preschoolers (2000), p. 2
Children are active learners.
Children construct understanding.
The adult’s role is vital in connecting
content and learning.
Assessment and curriculum
are linked.
Curriculum
Development occurs in a relatively orderly
sequence
Later abilities, skills and knowledge build
on those already acquired.
Development proceeds in predictable
directions towards greater complexity,
organization and internalization.
Learning during early childhood proceeds from
behavioral knowledge to symbolic or representational
knowledge
.
Educators provide a variety of first hand
experiences to help children acquire
symbolic knowledge.
Development advances when children have
opportunities to practice newly acquired skills as well
as when they experience a challenge just beyond the
level of their present mastery.
Children can do things first in a supportive context and
then later independently in a variety of contexts.
Teachers provide the
“scaffolding” that allows the
child to take the next step.
Learning occurs through
“guided participation”. It is
a collaborative process
between the teacher and
child.
Development proceeds at varying rates from
child to child
and unevenly within different areas of each
child’s functioning.
Individual variation is not only to be expected
but also valued.
Decisions about adult’s interactions with
children should be as individualized as
possible.
How does the application of these principles
look in a classroom?
Let’s observe
Barbara’s TK
classroom and
see how her
instruction
addresses
children’s
developmental
needs.
The Developmental Themes
• Active: Bodies in Motion
• Concrete Thinkers : Real/Relevant
• Need for Repetition, Predictability and
Routine
• Use of Play to Make Sense of the World
• Drive towards Mastery
Developmental
Themes
Active
Concrete
Repetition
Play
Mastery
How is this developmental theme addressed in
Barbara’s language and literacy activities?
Video of
Barbara’s
TK Class
Developmental
Themes
Active
Concrete
Repetition
Play
Mastery
How is this developmental theme addressed in
Barbara’s language and literacy activities?
Reflective Practice
EC Educators:
and
Support the Learning
We must support
one another in
improving our
ability to
care for all children
Meet, reflect, plan
and work together.
No one can do it
alone!
It’s
Hard
Work