Piaget and Vygotsky Child Observations/Assessments The first child observation showed that the child was able

to show they understood the different concepts addressed. The child had no problems sorting and matching the items into groups. The child sorted dinosaurs and animals into separate groups. The child then was able to match two groups of objects the cows and elephants together. Then the child was able to match only one cow to one elephant. Then I arranged two groups of the dinosaurs with the first group in a line for the child and asked the child how many was in the first group. The child answered the correct number of dinosaurs. I then asked the child how many dinosaurs were in the second group that was set in a circle and the child laughed and said the same of course. The child was able to arrange the different dinosaurs into groups by their similarities. While the child and I put the dinosaurs and animals away the child noticed a dog inside the area with the people. The child said that is not where the animal goes, because it is an animal. When the child was working on an art project about apples the child explained to me that apple trees have flowers with pollen. The pollen is good for the bees and for the apples to grow. The apples grow so that we can eat them and that yellow is the childs favorite kind of apples. The child remembered me being there last Monday and spoke to me about how I have been in the childs classroom before. The child said and you are here today. Then the child asked if I will be coming back to their classroom later. The same child was at the art table tracing and cutting an apple out of construction paper to write their name on it. The child had problems cutting the apple out of the paper. The child wanted to learn how to cut the apple out of the paper better. The teacher helped show the child how to cut the apple out of the paper easier by turning the apple as the child cut it out. The child

then said that was easier and continued to cut the apple out with the teacher helping through verbal instructions on how to turn the apple or cut around the apples lines to cut it out. The second child observation that I did showed that the child understood the ideas or different concepts that were addressed during the observation. The child was able to sort people and animal figurines into two different groups easily. The child then was able to match a male and female together. Then the child took only one animal to add to each group of people. The child then took all of the males and put them into one group and the females into another group. After putting those toys away the child and I used blocks so that I could make two groups of the same amount of blocks. One group of blocks had been put into a square and the child counted the blocks. The child said the correct amount of blocks. I then asked the child to tell me how many blocks were in the other group that was had been made in a line. The child counted them and answered the correct amount. The child said they look kind of different, but there is the same. The child then helped put away a few items and saw a book still out. The child explained to me that the books have to go on the bookshelf. The child then did an art activity where the child talked about how they like applesauce and applesauce is made from apples. The child then told me that we just played with people that eat apples, are playing with apples, and then we are going to go outside to play where there is a tree. The same child from the second observation went to the art table to trace and cut an apple so that they could write their name on it. The child had problems remembering how to write their name. The child wanted to write their name on their apple they had trace and cut out. The teacher helped the child learn how to write their name by writing it for the child on a separate piece of paper. The child was able to watch, look at the name on the paper, and then write it their name

on their apple themself. The child was able to write their own name on their apple after having the instructions by the teacher and the example that the teacher had made for the child to look at. The third child I observed during my observation was also able to show that they understood the different ideas or concepts that were covered during my observation. The child was able to sort different colored bears into the matching different colored bowls. Then the child took all of the bears out and was able to put just two of the same colored bears into the right bowls. After that the child added just one blue bear to each of the extra empty bowls. After the child showed me how they could sort the bears differently I sorted the bears for the child. I put red bears into a group inside one of the red bowls. I also took some of the yellow bears and put them into a straight line as a group. I asked the child how many bears were in the red group. The child answered correctly. I then asked the child how many bears were in the yellow group and the child answered the correctly saying the same as the red ones. The child noticed that the number of bears in each group were the same even though they were different colors and arranged differently. The child then used blocks and arranged them by different sizes. After the child was done with the blocks and put them up it was almost time to go outside. The child said that we have to wear our coats today, because it is cold outside and was this morning. The child said when we got outside that it was not as cold now, but tonight it will get really cold. The child talked about how there is a tree outside near and that trees grow so that children can climb them. The child also talked about how big the playground is so that they can run really fast. The same child from the third observation traced and cut out an apple at the art table. The child wanted to pick which color to use first for their apple. The teacher repeated several times do you want brown, purple, or blue as she point to the paper. The papers were actually red, yellow, and green. The child was unsure what to pick and wanted to learn what to say to pick the

right color. The teacher asked is that right? The child laughed and looked confused. The teacher asked the child what were the colors and they said them together as the teacher pointed to them. Piagets theory is that children learn by doing. When they are interacting in activities they are learning from their experiences. Vygotskys theory is that children will learn through others that have a better knowledge on a subject. A child will need to have some skills in self-regulation to be able to learn from others by watching, instruction, and doing. Gardners theory is that children learn differently through at least eight different types of intelligences. A child will have multiple intelligences and will learn those intelligences in different ways. The learning environment supports cognitive growth by giving children an environment that allows children to learn through activities and open-ended activities. Giving children the opportunity to learn through activities give them the chance to learn new ideas, learn from new experiences, and helps their brain to develop in many ways. Doing activities with others and open-ended activities help children to be more aware of themselves and the others around them. The role of a teacher in supporting a childs developing brain and cognitive skills is to offer an inviting environment that gives the children the opportunities to have open-ended activities, be rewarded, and be praised. A teachers role is to give children the freedom to learn through their experiences, be sure that the children are given plenty of time to have open activities, give children the opportunity to make their own choices, and to learn from trial and error. A teacher can make sure that the children in their classroom are being given plenty of time to be allowed to do activities and have certain experiences that will allow them to be more aware of themselves and the others around them.

I feel like this project helped me to better understand the goals of teachers in helping children learn and develop. I believe that this project helped me to better learn how to make activities for children and how children will learn better from activities where they are doing something rather than just listening or watching. I have seen that through assessments teachers and parents/guardians can better see where they child stands developmentally and what needs to be done next to get their childs development back on track, keep it on track, or give the child more opportunities to grow and develop when they are learning above or beyond what their age group or grade may usually be learning. I will take these experiences and remember them for later so that through those experiences I will become a better teacher by allowing my students to have the freedom to learn through open-ended activities, free play, dramatic play, and much more.