...Integrate Science and Arts Process Skills in the Early Childhood Curriculum How can early childhood teachers help children think creatively, discover new possibilities, and connect their ideas? Integrate science and the arts in the curriculum! “The greatest scientists are also artists as well.” –Albert Einstein Kathy Morrison Art and science are intrinsically linked—the essence of both fields is discovery. Artists and scientists function systematically and creatively. Their knowledge, understanding, and outcomes are explored in hands-on studios or high-tech labs. In classrooms for all ages, integrating science and the visual arts offer children the latitude to think, discover, and make connections (Alberts, 2011). • Young children are also natural artists (Althouse, Johnson, & Mitchell, 2003). Most are delighted to participate in open-ended art activities, dramatic play, singing, and dancing. Young children paint, sculpt, sing, or dance in their own unique ways. They want to be involved in the visual and performing arts, to try new things, and to experiment with the familiar (Pinciotti, 2001). For young children, the process in science and art is much more important than whatever product may result (Stivers & Schudel, 2008). The fundamental science process skills for early childhood are to • • • • • observe, communicate, compare, measure, and organize (Sarquis, 2009). Art and science are intrinsically linked. Scientists and artists typically observe life from...
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...Due: Spring, 2014 Assignment: Observation Paper: Head Start / Early Head Start Point Value: 25 points Directions: Now that you have a broader perspective on both the early intervention movement in general and the Head Start initiative, consider their impact on both society and the field of early childhood education. Responding to social inequities and global demands may not be motivations you previously associated with teaching. Consider these perspectives as you observe, reflect, and research on the following questions. You will search out a variety of avenues to offer free or reduced services in your community which meet the following situations. 1. Head Start is the primary model for Early Childhood Education here in the United States. President Obama supports Head Start with federal dollars. Discuss the advantages of your own personal child attending a Head Start Program. 2. What is the difference between Head Start and Early Head Start? Where is the local seat for Head Start located in your region? Who is the state Early Head Start seat? 3. Subsidized childcare assistance: What is the poverty level for income in your county? How many children in your county are on subsidized childcare assistance? Whom do they talk to? Where are they located? What is the number? 4. Who is your Healthy Start Nurse in your county? What is their job? What services do they offer to your parents? 5. Subsidized housing: What is the...
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...Early Childhood Research Quarterly 19 (2004) 375–397 The early childhood classroom observation measure Deborah Stipek∗ , Patricia Byler School of Education, Stanford University, 485 Lasuen Mall, Stanford, CA 94305-3096, USA Abstract This study assesses a new measure of early childhood classroom practice in 127 kindergarten- and first-grade classrooms. The measure was designed to be appropriate for classrooms serving children from the age of 4–7 years. It assesses the nature and quality of instruction as well as the social climate and management of the classroom. Two separate scales assess the degree to which constructivist, child-centered and the degree to which didactic, teachercentered instructional practices are implemented. Findings indicate that the measure produced reliable scores and meaningful, predictable associations were found between scores on the observation measure, on the one hand, and teachers’ self-reported practices, teaching goals, relationships with children, and perceptions of children’s ability to be self-directed learners, on the other. © 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Keywords: Early childhood; Classroom observation; Teaching; ECCOM; Measure 1. Introduction Political and public concerns about improving education have been fueled recently by reports highlighting the number of students, particularly from economically disadvantaged homes, who fail to achieve minimum academic standards. The National Center for Educational Statistics (2002)...
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...Portfolio of Child Observations | 1 The Brief: Observation report instructions: carry out three observations of the same child, one must be timed, one written and the other your own choice. In all the observations you must look at the child's physical, language, and social skills and ultimately their overall cognitive development. The report must be written up in the format: abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion and analysis. In the discussion and analysis you must tie together what you have observed with the theory of what would be expected of a child of the appropriate age. The report must contain the following: Abstract: where you outline briefly what you did and why, what you found and the recommendations, Introduction: include information about the child observed, discuss the reasons for observing, assessing young children, ethical considerations, the use of norms, cultural bias etc. Methods: where you explain the methods used, reasons for choice, limitations, strengths and weaknesses. Results: evaluate the child's holistic development, list the three areas of development, physical, social and language, discuss the links between these areas, refer to the stages of development and child development theory in making your judgments. Discussion: summarize your findings, make recommendations for the child's learning and development. Bibliography Overall: mention why is it important to observe young children, what might the information be used for? What rights...
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...Characteristics of professional development linked to enhanced pedagogy and children’s learning in early childhood settings: Best Evidence Synthesis July 2003 Characteristics of professional development linked to enhanced pedagogy and children’s learning in early childhood settings: Best Evidence Synthesis October 2003 This report is one of a series of best evidence syntheses commissioned by the Ministry of Education. It is part of a commitment to strengthen the evidence base that informs education policy and practice in New Zealand. It aims to contribute to an ongoing evidence-based discourse amongst policy makers, educators and researchers. The best evidence synthesis approach is being developed in collaboration with researchers. It draws together in a systematic way the available evidence about what works to improve education outcomes, and what can make a bigger difference for the education of all our children and young people. Prepared for the Ministry of Education Authors Linda Mitchell and Pam Cubey Copyright © Ministry of Education PO Box 1666 Wellington ISBN 0-478-18773-4 Web ISBN ISBN 0-478-18774-2 www.minedu.govt.nz Characteristics of professional development linked to enhanced pedagogy and children’s learning in early childhood settings Best Evidence Synthesis Report prepared for the New Zealand Ministry of Education Linda Mitchell and Pam Cubey July 2003 New Zealand Council for Educational Research P O Box 3237 ...
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...| Assessment Research Paper | Assessing the Young Child-Professor Speers | | | Assessment Research Paper There are many different aspects and things to consider when discussing the subject of child development. In this paper I will be discussing and identifying three examples of major conditions in children, and their impact on development and learning, demonstrate a plan that would enhance an interest area, change in behavior or bring new knowledge to parents, children and staff, I will give examples of how assessments are applied in the early childhood classroom and how early childhood curriculum is used with assessment tools, and identify three assessment inventories used for birth through six the assessments that can be used for child developmental portfolios. The first type of major condition in children that has an impact on development and learning is autism. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) don’t tune into other people in the same way as typically developing children. For example, a child with ASD might not respond to his name, make eye contact, smile at caregivers, or wave goodbye without being told to. A child with ASD also might not use eye contact to get someone’s attention or communicate. Children with ASD find it hard to see things from other people’s perspective. They might have trouble understanding that other people can have different desires and beliefs from them. Children with ASD can struggle with focus, attention, transitions...
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...Acknowledgements This report would not have been possible without the support of two research assistants, Caroline Scott and Karin Barty. We thank them for their enthusiasm for the project and the many hours they spent searching the literature. The Early Childhood Education Research Team would also like to acknowledge the parents, primary school teachers, school principals, early childhood professionals and other support staff who were willing to provide their views on what they considered to be a successful transition to school. A very special thank you to the kindergarten teachers who, at the time, were very busy writing Transition Learning and Development Statements yet somehow put time aside to answer our questions. Finally, we would like to acknowledge the support and colleagueship provided by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, especially Pippa Procter, Gina Suntesic and Karen Weston. This has been an interesting and stimulating project for us all. The Early Childhood Education Research Team Victoria University December, 2009 Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction • Background • Purpose Methodology • Literature Review • Participants • Data Collection • Victorian Early Years Learning & Development Framework (Victorian Framework) • Outcomes • Indicators • Measures • Tables Outcomes & Indicators of a Positive Start to School • For Children • For Families • For Educators • Table 1: Outcomes & indicators of a positive start to school...
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...her own bed ever since she was two years old. Now, since the death of her father a year ago, she not only wets the bed, but also tries to consistently sleep in the room with her mother. Jacob is five years old. He constantly plays like he is going on a trip to visit his Uncle Sam in heaven. These three children are different ages and have lost different role models in their lives, but they share one thing in common. All three are experiencing the grieving process. The grieving process in children differs very much from the grieving process of an adult. This must be taken into consideration by Early Childhood Educators when teaching children how to cope with this grieving process, as it is an Early Childhood Educator’s role to ensure that all children develop healthy emotional and social habits (Clarissa A., 2002) . To develop these healthy habits, it is essential that Early Childhood Educators know how a child’s concept of death is constructed, which gives caregivers and educators important information and helps them respond more sensitively to what children might feel and experience (Clarissa A., 2002). The online journal article, called “The Grieving Process in Children: Strategies for Understanding, Educating, and Reconciling Children's Perceptions of Death” (Clarissa A., 2002), clearly gives an overview of how children understand death, and suggestions for educators about how to help children through grief and loss. The website, www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au (Better Health...
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...do the things that they do. In this paper I will discuss and summarize three theories and how each is related to human growth and development, identifying one influential theorist for each. In addition this paper will include many views of the lifespan perspective followed by an explanation of how nature and nurture effect human development. Developmental theory can be defined as a conglomeration of ideas about achieving a good change in one’s society. Such theories draw on a variety of science disciplines and approaches that can provide a framework to understand how and why people evolve throughout their lifespan. Theorists in an attempt to make sense out of their observations try and design concepts that can outline a person’s development throughout life from one’s start as an infant all the way through adulthood (Berger, 2010). The influential theorists in this paper that I will discuss are: Sigmund Freud, John Watson, and Jean Piaget. Psychoanalytic theory is a theory of personality organization and the dynamics of human development that holds that irrational, unconscious drives and motives, often originating in childhood, underlie human behavior (Berger, 2010 p. 17). (Berger, 2010) According to Freud, development occurs over three stages during the first six years of life, each stage being characterized by sexual pleasure centered on a particular part of the body (p. 18). Infants experience the oral stage, early childhood experience the anal stage, followed by...
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...Powell Liberty University Abstract This paper includes a reference list of literature relating to early intervention and children with special needs. In general, the literature seems to indicate that early intervention makes a impact on the success of children with disabilities when entering school. They perform to the abilities to that of their typically developing peers. Intervention programs are set up to help children and families. The articles research the affects of these programs on children with disabilities. Introduction The purpose of this review is to further understand early intervention and its role in special education. I wanted to study this topic because it is something I work with on a daily basis. The idea for my research came about during a staff meeting with the institute’s new president. As the president was asking questions and getting to know the staff and workings of the institute, the statement that the students who leave here are not as prepared for kindergarten when they leave here as they have been in the past. As a teacher this troubled me because isn’t the point of prekindergarten to prepare a child for kindergarten? If the typically developing peers aren’t prepared for kindergarten what does that mean for the students with disabilities? Are they farther behind or are they the ones being prepared to move forward in their education? With these questions in mind I wanted to see how an early intervention program helped children with disabilities...
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...Piaget’s contribution from birth to age 7 Birth and Death: * Born August 9, 1896 * Died September 16, 1980 Jean Piaget's Early Life: Jean Piaget was born in Switzerland in 1896 and began showing an interest in the natural sciences at a very early age. By age 11, he had already started his career as a researcher by writing a short paper on an albino sparrow. He continued to study the natural sciences and received his Ph.D. in Zoology from University of Neuchâtel in 1918. Career: Piaget later developed an interest in psychoanalysis, and spent a year working at a boys' institution created by Alfred Binet. Binet is known as the developer of the world's first intelligence test and Piaget took part in scoring these assessments. While his early career consisted of work in the natural sciences, it was during the 1920s that he began to move toward work as a psychologist. He married Valentine Châtenay in 1923 and the couple went on to have three children. Piaget's observations of his own children served as the basis for many of his later theories. Theory: Piaget identified himself as a genetic epistemologist. "What the genetic epistemology proposes is discovering the roots of the different varieties of knowledge, since its elementary forms, following to the next levels, including also the scientific knowledge," he explained in his book Genetic Epistemology. Epistemology is a branch of philosophy that is concerned with the origin, nature, extent, and limits of human...
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...Children today are faced with many developmental challenges while growing up. In this paper we will discuss some of the issues facing children in the adolescent age group in relation to emotional, cognitive and biological development. Through an observation of children interacting in this age group I was able to observe a few of the issues we will discuss that effect children’s abilities to build peer relationships, succeed in school and live happy healthy lives. One of the first thing I noticed in my observations was the difficulties in peer relationships in this age group (Redmond, 2014). Peer relationships provide children with more than just fun playmates. These peer relationships help children develop social skills, such as how to communicate, cooperate, and solve problems. While a positive peer relationships promotes emotional wellbeing in children, the lack of peer relationships can be very problematic. Problems arise when children are rejected by peers or are simply ignored, or neglected. Through my research I have discovered numerous factors that contribute to problems in children's peer relationships such as social behavior, family problems and a lack of self-esteem. Social Behavior, is one problem encountered by children when trying to build peer relationships. Some children display aggressive or disruptive behavior, while others withdraw or shy away from peer relationships. Other children tend to encounter social rejection when they are perceived to be different...
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...creative arts Play and creative arts are important aspects of children’s learning that are being used in kindergartens. This action research project explores the using of play and creative arts in a kindergarten classroom. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and analyze how play and creative arts activities enhance and support children’s learning in literacy and numeracy lessons. Qualitative methods were used to gain data that reflect on the implementation of play and creative arts strategies and activities in teaching and the interpretation collected from participants. The three types of tools that used to collect data are observations, interviews and a reflective journal to ensure validity of results. After analyzing the data, two interrelated themes emerged. The first theme highlights the benefits of play and creative arts in early childhood. The second theme shows the benefits of using them can support literacy and numeracy development. Consequently play and creative arts seems to promote development in children’s learning processes and they also offer the learners’ confidence in their learning. To conclude, this study shows that play and creative arts may have positive effect in improving the children’s overall performance and attitudes. Play and creative arts are important aspects of children’s learning that are being used in kindergartens. This action research project explores the using of play and creative arts in a kindergarten classroom. The purpose of this study...
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...Observation Analysis Tiffany Davis MTE 506 October 22, 2012 Holly Brainard Abstract In this paper I will reflect on my classroom observation of a high school chemistry teacher’s classroom. I will discuss different educational theories that were employed in the classroom and what theories could have been used to better enhance instruction and learning. I will also discuss the theory of information processing and how it applies to student learning. Also I will compare adolescence student learning in a social environment and social environment. This paper will address delayed languages development affect on teachers and the learning in children and adolescences and also the positive and negative affects on students thinking abilities. Observation Analysis Introduction I observed the classroom of Mrs. Alicia Freeman. Mrs. Freeman is an 11th grade chemistry teacher at Carver High School. She teaches chemistry to six different classes daily. Her classroom is located in a technology classroom but the students gathered in the science laboratory classroom to complete their weekly laboratory assignment. Which educational theories were employed? The educational theories employed in her classroom are Bandura’s Social Learning Theory and Lev Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory. The Social Learning Theory, also called Observational Learning “occurs when an observer's behavior changes after viewing a behavioral model. An observer's behavior can be affected by the positive...
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...For that moment during recess that he started working on his school work, William seemed very focused on what he was doing. Also, during lunch, he started talking about a paper he had written and gotten an 89 on which prevented him from being able to present it in a history competition. He went on to read some of the comments his history teacher had written that were mostly positive, but that he had lost points for writing more than he had to and for grammatical errors, which made him really...
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