For the paper on observing my children, I went to the Center for Young Children. The centre's opening hours are from 7.30am to 5.30pm. I attended the center on November 7, 2019, from 9:00 to 11:00. The center offers early childhood programs for children aged three to six. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The specific room I observed was called the “Red Room,” which was one of three rooms for preschoolers. There were around 16 children in the class, aged three or four, as well as three teachers and two university assistants. The first thing I noticed about the demographics of the group was that the majority of individuals were white. In fact, every person in the room was white except for four children. Furthermore, the only language spoken was English. The specific child I observed was a four-year-old Asian girl named Jubi. The room appeared to be divided into sections based on activity, called "centers" by the teachers. In the center of the room was a rug with children's photos for their assigned seats; on the left were some building blocks and a drawing easel; to the right there was a play area and some corners, and closer to me there were tables set for drawing and snacks. The room was colorful and decorated with students' work and crafts, as well as an additional classmate named "Marshmallow," who was the class pet Zebra Finch. At the start of each day, the children started with 'free choice' before their morning meeting, allowing the class to remain occupied whilst everyone arrived. Free choice seemed to consist mostly of drawing, reading, blocks, and, for some, a morning snack of Cheerios. One of the first things Jubi showed that impressed me was his ability to draw, which he did most of the time. This indicates that his motor skills are progressing. These skills are defined as the movements we make with the small muscles in our hands, as well as hand-eye coordination. These actions demonstrate that her physical development is progressing and that she is able to control the small muscle groups that give her the ability to not only hold a marker, but also draw. In the next few years, especially between the ages of five and seven, his fine motor skills will be much improved. Another form of childhood development Jubi displayed was his social/emotional development. By Jubi's age, a child is developing a stronger sense of self as someone active in a social world full of others. Throughout my childhood observation, Jubi seemed to be very independent, more so than most of his classmates. I first observed her independence when her father dropped her off. She immediately seemed ready to join the class, even wiping her father's parting kisses from her cheek. But as he left, she ran to hug him one last time. Returning for one last hug and at the same time ready to explore on her own, Jubi showed a secure attachment with her father. His father acted as a comforting and secure figure, which is a sign of secure attachment, according to John Bowlby. From the moment she arrived until I left, Jubi seemed to be having fun, seemingly unconcerned about the activities the other children were participating in. This increased initiative and self-efficacy shows a greater sense of self-confidence that will only increase with age. This is also related to Jubi's father being her secure base which allows her to explore without hispresence. Jubi arrived in the morning with a stuffed panda, which she left in her storage room while she played. During my observation, Jubi appeared to return to his cubicle to check on his panda and even appeared to whisper to him. Preschoolers have difficulty distinguishing between living and inanimate objects; this confusion often leads them to attribute life to non-living beings, as is called animism. The fact that his panda was still on his mind during a chaotic lesson doesn't surprise me. After this age period, Jubi's reasoning will become more complex and therefore his confusion between living and non-living things will decrease. Evaluation The first activity that took place was the morning class meeting, where a teacher led the class in singing and then started the lesson. The Red Room is currently learning about trains and I'm told they will continue to do so for the next couple of months. The activity involved a student walking up to a picture of a train, naming a part, and then the whole class learning how to write and pronounce that part. From this activity, the children were able to skillfully learn more words and pronunciations by listing the parts. This concept of listening to the teacher's pronunciation and spelling helps children practice the use of phonology, semantics, and pragmatics in the early stages of language development. Then, by using their fingers to write words, the children were able to better recognize the correct way to produce, understand and write language. Another activity that caught my attention was that all the kids created a page in a “birthday book.” " for one of their fellow peers. Before the arrival of the student whose birthday it was, all the students took turns at the drawing boards and made their own page to add to the book. This activity was impressive because I could see all the children coming together to create something special for someone else. In the end, Jubi and her classmates were proud and excited to hand over the book to their friend. This activity of coming together cohesively as a group is called collectivism and adults in the child care center Many students drew trains to add to their "train book" at the drawing board. After Jubi finished her work, she was extremely proud of her drawings; work to one of his teachers. The teacher responded to Jubi with a big smile, admiring his book. These acts of sharing positive emotions with attachment figures are examples of affective sharing. By having her teacher reciprocate positive emotions with her work, Jubi received positive encouragement. He will continue to maintain an affective sharing with future teaching assignments because of interactions like these. Conclusions and Recommendations for the Child Care Center As I observed the center, I noticed several positive aspects of the program. A strong aspect is the freedom given to children. I liked how the children were given freedom to choose what they wanted to do with their time. Not all children share the same interests, so it is very important to allow children to explore their likes and dislikes. This belief in the ability to influence our functioning to achieve goals, according to Albert Bandura, is called self-efficacy. Another strength of the center that I enjoyed seeing was how much reading was implemented throughout the lesson and, even more so, how excited the children seemed to be about reading. Research indicates that reading to children is indeed important and makes a difference. Greater exposure to results.
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