Documentation Boards

Documentation Boards:Early Childhood Development

Dr. Judy Herr

Art DevelopmentRita, 4 years

Anecdotal Note:Rita’s picture is showing art skills inthe third stage of art development: FirstDrawings. Rita uses her increasing skill of drawing basic forms to representflowers. The flowers mimic the flowersRita observes in her natural environment, although the colors are not realistic.The flowers are large and randomly placedalong the bottom of her drawing. As Rita’sskills progress, she is likely to start addinganimals, trees, houses and other objectsto her drawings.

Cooking Experiences

Program Goals:1. Introduce new foods to children2. Provide nutritious meals and snacks3. Encourage healthy eating habits4. Involve children in food preparation5. Provide nutrition information to families

Under-nutrition, malnutrition, and overeating are all problems that can lead to poor health and development. A nutritious diet is needed to help children build a strong body and mind. The early childhood classroom can act as a foundation for healthy eating habits that will follow children their whole lives through.

Finna, learns through play about healthy eating habits.

Art DevelopmentSophia, 24 months

Anecdotal Note: At the art easel Sophia demonstrated art skills in the first stage of art development: Scribbles. While gripping the paint brush by wrapping her fist around the top part of the handle Sophia made sweeping vertical and diagonal strokes on the paper by pressing the brush against the paper and dragging the brush downward. She showed preference for color by self-selecting orange and yellow paint.

Cutting

Most young children choose to participate in cutting experiences. At first, children will only snip in a straight line. As their skills become more refined, children are likely to begin cutting curves. With time and practice each day, children will develop the hand-eye coordination skills that are needed to cut with a scissors.

It is important for classroom space to be provided for cutting. Additionally, children should be given scissorsthat are of good quality. Less advanced children will feel more successful if they are given long stripsof paper to begin with. If children are left handed, be sureto provide them with a scissors that corresponds with their handedness.

*Notice how the child in the pictures holds up on the paper forsupport as she cuts in a straight line. Observations, such as this,help teachers in planning future experiences for skill building. Futureexperiences might include a different texture of paper or a basicshape printed on paper for the child to cut-out.

Planting promotes…

ObservationsSkills

Interests

Fine Motor Skills

Math Concepts

ScienceConcepts

LanguageSkills

Science

Active engagement in science activities helps children understand the world as they question and explore answers to their questions. Children can apply theirnatural curiosity and imagination to scientific experiences that teach them to watch,listen, wonder, question, study, explore and observe. By using their five senseschildren are able to classify information and develop concepts. Be aware of teachable moments, that is those unplanned daily occurrences that expose children to scientific principles.

A teachable moment occurs while these children study the leaves of the broccolithey planted in the class garden. They discover bugs crawling on the plants! The discovery of bugs on the plantsnaturally lends itself to future learning about insects.

Manuscript RecognitionEmerging

Competence

1. Recognize print

6. Recognizes letters make

up words

2. Recognizes letters in name

3. Notices differences

5. Associates letters as

representing sounds

4. Begins writing name

7. Recognizes left-to-right-progression

Self-Reflection

Teacher: Julian Gutierrez Date: 3/17/XX

• Reflecting on Learning Experience: During small group circle time Sara, who is 5 years-of-age, participated in the song, “Itsy-Bitsy Spider.” She was able to coordinate the finger play movements while singing the song. Sara smiled while singing the song and requested that the group sing the song again by saying, “One more time!” While repeating the song, Sara positioned herself next to me. I noticed that she was pronouncing the /r/ in spider as a /w/. After circle time, I questioned Sara about the song and she continued pronouncing the /r/ as the /w/ sound.

• Analyzing typical development: Typically, developing 5 year-olds delight in singing songs and coordinating related finger movements. During this stage of development, it is not unusual for children to experience difficultly in pronouncing some letter sounds. With maturity and experience, children often outgrow mispronunciation of letter sounds.

Shiloh’s Activity Preferences

Note: Children learn best when the curriculum is tailored to their needs, interests, abilities, and experiences. By observing the children’s favorite activities and preferences for toys, we can plan a developmentally appropriate curriculum that helps each child reach their full potential.

Record of Preferences:Monday: Shiloh chose blocks and made a road for small plastic cars to drive

on during self-selected activity period.

Wednesday: Shiloh experienced difficulty with paper cutting skills during the morning small group activity. Shiloh chose puzzles and put together the race car puzzle twice before moving on to another puzzle during center activities.

Friday: Shiloh participated in large group story by singing louder than most of the other children. She experienced delight in moving her body to the rhythm of the song. While playing with lacing cards, Shiloh experienced difficulty in hand-eye coordination. As a result, she moved to another task.

Individualized Curriculum: After observing Shiloh, it is apparent that she chooses activities which include music and movement. She needs to engage in more activities that will help her to further develop hand-eye coordination and small motor skills.

Sensory Play Teaches…

LanguageConcepts

ScienceConcepts

MathConcepts

ExpressiveLanguage

Skills

Hand-eyeCoordination

Skills

ProblemSolvingSkills

ProsocialSkills

Imagination

Early Childhood Mathematics

Goals

Comparing

Patterning

RoleCountingWriting

Numbers

Performingone-to-one

correspondence

Sequencing

Classifying: color,

shape, and size

Estimating

Developmental Emerging CompetencesPreschool – 4K

Child’s Name: Brody Age: 5 yrs. 1 mo. Date: 09-10-XX Observer: Jamie

Area(s) of Development: Cognitive, Language, and Physical (Fine Motor)

Photograph demonstrating the Anecdotal Note (What the child did and/or said):

developmental milestones: Brody used problem solving skills to manipulate the plastic shape

changer. He was able to move the toy into a variety of shapes.

After 3-5 minutes of experimenting with different shapes he looked up,

smiled and said, “Look what I can do!”

Check off all that apply to this observation:

Child-initiated taskTeacher-directed taskTask completed independentlyTask completed in small groupTask completed in large groupNeeded adult help to complete task

Social DevelopmentPreschoolers and kindergarteners are typically helpful and cooperative. During this stage of development, they become increasingly independent of caregivers and often prefer to interact with other children opposed to adults. Young children typically view friendships as being with people who like you. Increasingly, attention from friends becomes more important. To promote friendships, teachers need to provide experience to promote the development of prosocial and conflict resolution skills.

Emerging Competences: Large and Small Motor

Child’s Name: Shealeen Age: 3 years Teacher: Dominique Date: 2/16/XX

Indicate milestones demonstrated by writing the date the skill was observed behind it:

Large motor: Small Motor:Extends arm forward to catch 9/12 Uses eating utensils 9/31Underhanded throw 9/17 Strings beads 2/02Somersault 10/24 Draws a straight line 1/18Alternates feet when walking up stairs 9/02 Draws a circle Rides a tricycle 11/05 Pours from a pitcher Runs 9/17 Builds block towers 7 highGallops Uses a scissors properlyHops 12/06

Note: Those milestones that do not have a date indicated are still in progress of being mastered.

Optional: A picture of the child can be attached to this board.

Skills that Storytime and Books Teach…

Vocabulary

Logical/AnalyticalThinking

Hand-eyeCoordination

ProblemSolving

GrammarLeft-to-right progression

Love ofbooks

Reading readiness

Receptive &Expressive Language

Listening

Creativity

ConceptDevelopment

Reading teaches:

Child Development DocumentationFamily-Teacher Conference Form

Summary for _Finna___ Date: __1/25/XX___

Child’s favorite activities are:Finna often engages in play at the sensory table, art table, babies, outdoor play and her friends.

Interaction of child with teachers:Finna is a delight to have in the room. She communicates well with her peers and caregivers because of her excellent receptive and expressive language skills. Observations show that she seeks Jamie’s attention and care when stressed or tried.

Interaction of child with children:Finna interacts frequently with her classmates. She demonstrates the prosocial skills of turn-taking and sharing.

Child’s self -help skills:Finna is very independent and has mastered self-help skills. Including:

• Clearing her place at the table• Washing and drying her hands• Finding her chair at meal time

Circle Time:Finna always participates in circle time; she models positive interaction skills with other children. She activity engages in singing, finger plays and books.

Large/Small motor activities:Finna demonstrates excellent large motor skills and her fine motor skills are improving.

Activity preferences:

Large motor Running ClimbingSliding

Small motorPuzzlesSensory ExperiencesArt

Teacher signature________________ Parent signature____________________________

Chart Making

Chart making is a routine event in most early childhood classrooms. It is an important learning tool for helping children to collect, compare and interpret information. Charts can also be a valuable tool for observing, describing, and making predictions. You can help encourage children to chart information such as: names, pets, family size, hobbies, cars, animals, colors, fruits, vegetables, clothes etc.

After tasting a variety of rainforest fruits, the children’s used language skills to describe their sensory experience. The teacher recorded their favorite rainforest fruit on a chart. The facilitated a discussion to interpret the charted information.

Block Building

Child: Tanner Observer: Deidre Date: 11/24/XXClassroom Area: Block

Anecdotal Note: While playing in the block area, Tundi held up individual blocks and identified them verbally according to shape, size and color. He used both fine and large motor skills. While playing, he shared space and blocks with other children. After building the structure, he smiled while explaining the finished product. Then he said, “Look, this is a shelter for homeless people to live in.”

Skills learned (check those which have been demonstrated):

Cognitive: Language:Shape recognition ReceptiveSize recognition Verbal description/explanationColor recognitionBalance

Physical: Emotional:Fine motor coordination Shows joy, accomplishment and prideLarge motor coordinationSpatial relationship

Social:Sharing

Optional: Attach picture of block building experience to this checklist.

Emotional Literacy Checklist

Child’s Name: Jabardi Age: 36 months Observer: Lori

Date Observed: 2-24-XX Time Observed: 8:00 - 9:00 a.m.

Briefly describe the observation: Jabardi arrived in the classroom with a smile. He hung his jacket in his cubby and went directly over to the dramatic play area where he dressed up in firefighter clothes with classmates. Jabardi frequently smiled and laughed during play. He frowned and sucked in his lower lip when another child took a firefighter hat from him. He quickly found another hat. Toward the end play, Jabardi rubbed his eyes and yawned.

Happy

Loved

Mad

Upset

Surprised

Excited

Other: Tired

Sorry

Disappointed

Sad

Pride

Embarrassed

Boastful

Check all of the following which are observed during observation:

Window of Child Development

9. Social Strengths-Engages in interactive play-Makes friends easily-Shows preference for same-sex friendships

8. Language Strengths-Uses simple grammatical structures-Enjoys interacting with others

Amy age 4 years 8 months

7. Cognitive Strengths -Classifies familiar objects -Uses private speech to complete challenging activities -Sustains attention during small group and free choice play

10. Emotional Strengths -Self-regulation of behavior is improving -Takes pride in her work

1. Background -Korean

2. Family Background -Mother, Father and

older sister (Sadzi)

3. Interests -Toy vehicles -Books about trucks and animals -Sensory play, especially water -Dancing -Playing in the music center

4. Learning Style -Kinesthetic

5. Temperament -Flexible, easy-going, independent

6. Physical Strengths -Large Motor:

-Runs, jumps, hops, gallops and is

developing a more coordinated throw

-Rides a tricycle -Fine Motor:

-Can draw circles and some letters

Capturing Children’s ConversationsObservation: Outdoor Play

Macy, 3 years

Grant: “I have to use my big muscles and climb to the top, then I can turn around and slide down. I land on the ground and then climb again.”

Anecdotal Note: The above picture illustrates gains in the five developmental domains. Grant is using large muscle skills to climb and cognitive skills to problem solve an effective method for moving up and down. Emotionally, He is gaining self-confidence in his ability by persisting at a task. In addition, Grant is practicing language skills by describing his movements as he climbs. Socially, Grant is demonstrating the ability to share equipment with another child while also explaining his movement to another child.

• Before Unit

Capturing Children’s ConceptsCurricular Area: Music

Music

“Music is fun”

Gannon, age 4

“You can hear it.”

Lexi, age 4

“You can play it.”

Connor, age 5

“Singing is music.”Rajesh,

age 5

A. Before Theme B. After Theme

Music

“We listento music

with our ears.”Lexi,age 4

“Music can be played with instruments or by singing and dancing.”

Connor, age 5

“Music is loud

or soft.”Gannon, age 4

“Music can be heavy or

light.”Rajesh, age 5

“Music goes fastor slow.”Gannon,

age 4

“Music goesup anddown.”

Connor, age 5

Tunnel Crawl

Anecdotal Note:Maneuvering through and around the tunnel while playing encourages children to further develop problem-solving skills as they engage their large muscles. Tundi, Ian and Rosa are also developing social skills while sharing space in interactive play. Emotionally, they are gaining self-confidence in their success crawling through the tunnel. This activity also provides opportunity for language skills and prosocial skills.

Tundi, age 3 (entering) Ian, age 3 (left) Rosa, age 3 (right)

Language:Engages in conversationExaggerates while practicing new wordsUses words in a silly waysSpeaks with expression

Emotional:Often engages in independent playPersists at tasksUses words to describe feelingsBoasts, shows off

Cognitive:Classifies objects during playLearns simple gamesEngages in fantasy play

Physical:Runs with increasing speedSkips on one footRides a tricycleButtons, buckles, and zipsWrites her first nameCuts with a scissors

Social:Makes friendsSharesSeeks approvalLikes to whisper and tell secrets

Ahn4 yrs. 9 mo.

04-14-XX

Child Development Milestones

Farm Animal Field TripSpring, 2XXX

Anecdotal Note: During the past week, the toddlers have been working on a farm animaltheme. Many farm related activities were introduced that required the childrento imitate farm animal sounds. After the fieldtrip, the preschoolers enjoyed imitating farm animals sounds which were more realistic after observing calves, piglets, chicks and ducklings. Some children also enjoyed imitating their movements.

Art Experiences

Art experiences, such as the one pictured below, promote physical, social, emotional, and cognitive growth. Physical growth is promoted through the movements associated with molding, drawing, coloring and painting. Social growth is promoted when children share materials and take responsibility for caring and putting away materials. Art promotes emotional growth by providing creative expression. While exploring, experimenting and problem-solving cognitive growth is promoted.

A well-stocked early childhood classroom provides a variety of art materials for children that allow them to grow while exercising their creativity by creating their own unique art

projects.

Teaching Prosocial Behaviors

Teach Prosocial Skills:1. Discuss prosocial behaviors with children2. Model prosocial behaviors3. Provide play experiences that

allow children to practice prosocial skills

4. Read stories that promote character building

Prosocial behaviors are those behaviors which are socially acceptable and well-regarded in their society. Prosocial behaviors include: sharing, using manners, andtreating others with kindness and respect. It is important for children to learnprosocial behaviors as it helps making friends, building self-esteem and allowing them to live and work peacefully with others.

Preschoolers learn prosocial skills by discussing, observing and practicing prosocial behaviors associated with thank you writing.

Children Learn Best Through Play

Large Muscle PlayConfidenceSharingHow things workTurn-taking

Pretend PlayRespectPerspective-takingSelf-confidence

PuzzlesSpatial RelationshipsColorSortingSizes

BooksProblem SolvingVocabularyListening skillsLogical thinking

Skills learned…

ArtHand-eye coordinationCreativityFine motor

Sensory PlayScientific principlesProblem-solvingProperties of matter

GamesCooperationCountingNumberHand-eye coordination

Classroom Pets Teach…

Responsibility

Animal Characteristics

and Needs

Habitats

Kindness

Enrichment: Classroom pets can be written about to promote literacy or can be included in hypothetical mathematic and scientific lessons that require children to observe and hypothesize.

Warning: Be sure none of the children will be allergic to your chosen classroom pet or products usedby the classroom pet.

Concepts We Develop Through Water Play:

• Some items float in water.

• Water flows when poured.

• Water takes many forms such as liquid, snow and ice.

• Water dissolves some foods.

• Water can be held in a container.

• Some materials absorb water.

• Water can be used for cleaning objects.

Words We Learn Through Sand Play

• Opposites:– Drip/Drop– Fast/Slow– Float/Sink– Wet/Dry

• Leak• Measure• Pour• Scoop• Shower• Splash• Spray• Swish• Sprinkle• Squeeze• Squirt • Stir• Trickle