CHDV 210 Designs for Living and Learning

Chapter Reflections from

Textbook
Description of Material How I think Child(ren)
will engage with
material
Obserations!Reflections
after Teacher in Charge
Chapter 2
Connections and a
Sense of Belonging
"#t the same time$
programs can inite
them into new
relationships and
%nderstandings thro%gh
interactions with their
peers$ ad%lts and
engaging materials&
'rograms can make s%re
children fine familiar
things in the
enironment and also
pi(%e their c%riosit)
with new things& #s
children learn the
lang%age and c%lt%re of
schools and other
instit%tions of power$
earl) childhood
programs sho%ld help
them deelop strong$
indiid%al$ famil)$ and
c%lt%ral identities&
Teachers sho%ld also
plan with a goal of
helping children expand
their empath)$ emotional
intelligence$ and desire
to learn from different
Teacher made persona
doll to be placed in the
dramatic pla) area to
help children work
thro%gh their feelings
and or make sense of a
new enironment&
Thro%gh m)
obserations of the
children$ I hae noticed
that when some of the
children hae felt sad or
are tr)ing to make sense
of something that is
emotional or new to
them the) go into the
dramatic pla) area&
I think the children will
%se the persona doll to
act o%t emotions or real
life sit%ations that the)
ma) be going thro%gh as
a wa) to make sense of
their world& Children
ma) also come %p with
man) other potential
%ses for the persona doll&
I obsered children %sing
the persona doll while
the) were haing a
picnic with the picnic
prop box that I added
into the dramatic pla)
area& There was one
child$ *ennie that I
noticed sitting on the
co%ch the second da) of
m) teacher in charge
week holding the doll
like it was comforting
her& +hen I went oer to
her she said "I miss m)
great grandpa&, Her
great grandpa passed
awa) the week before&
CHDV 210 Designs for Living and Learning
perspecties, (C%rtis -
Carter$ .//0$ pg& 01)&
Children need tools and
materials that can help
them with emotional
deelopment and how to
cope with their feelings
as well as feeling a sense
of belonging&
Chapter 3
Keeping Space Flexible
and Materials Open-
ended
"In addition to keeping
children safe$ )o% want
to challenge their minds$
bodies$ and social skills
with materials that inite
more complex pla)$
collaboration$ problem
soling and creatiit),
(C%rtis - Carter$ .//0$
pg& 12)& It is important
to hae materials that
children can %se in more
than one wa) with no
real right or wrong wa)
to %se the materials&
Teacher made matching
game with pict%res of
different bears& #lso I
hae created a few file
folder games& One is
matching shadow shapes
and color shapes for
"3rown 3ear$ 3rown
3ear +hat Do 4o%
5ee6, The other game is
matching the n%mber on
a frog to the
corresponding dots on
the lil) pad&
I will place this game in
the math area& I think
the children will %se
these cards to pla) the
matching game b%t I
also think that the) will
find their won wa)s to
explore the cards& I also
plan to place a book
abo%t bears in the area
as well& The children
ma) also come %p with
other wa)s to %se the file
folder games as well as
matching&
+hile obsering the
children d%ring m)
teacher in charge week$ I
noticed that the children
wo%ld go oer to the
table and pla) the file
folder games& 5ome of
the children I obsered
matching the brown bear
color shapes to the
shadow shapes& I also
obsered the children
matching the frogs to the
n%mber on the lil) pads&
# few of the children
%sed the pieces of the
games to make %p their
own games %sing the
pieces to both games
together&
"O%tdoors )o% can 7or this chapter$ I plan I hope the children will I obsered the children
CHDV 210 Designs for Living and Learning
Chapter 4
Designing Natral
!n"iron#ents that
!ngage Or Senses
%s%all) find a hint of an
interesting aroma in the
air8 the pleas%re of
to%ching plants$ shells$
feathers$ dirt and sand8
and the so%nds of birds$
r%nning water and
r%stling leaes, (C%rtis
- Carter$ .//0$ pg& 90)&
+ith growing concerns
for safet)$ and a more
sedentar) life st)le$
children are spending
less time o%tdoors so it
is important to
incorporate the nat%ral
enironment into the
classroom&
to place a dessert cact%s
arrangement in the
science area along with a
basket of different rocks
that children ma)
explore or find o%tdoors&
obsere the cact%s and
explore it thro%gh to%ch$
sight$ and een smell& I
think the) ma) %se
microscopes to explore
the cact%s and the rocks
as well&
%sing magnif)ing glasses
to look at the cact%s
garden as well as
children to%ching the
different cact%s plants to
see what the) felt like& I
also obsered one bo)
taking a co%ple of rocks
o%t of the garden and
adding them to the moon
sand in the sand table&
Chapter $
%ro"o&ing 'onder(
Criosit)( and
*ntellectal
!ngage#ent
"In a place filled with
planned opport%nities to
enco%nter these
phenomena$ children
will contin%e to deelop
in(%isitie minds and
reerence for the world&
+ith an intellect%all)
engaging enironment
and scaffolding to
dispositions toward
learning and ac(%ire
skills$ deeper$
%nderstandings$ and
7or this chapter I
decided to make moon
sand to place in the
sensor) table& This is a
teacher made material
%sing$ dried coffee
gro%nds$ corn starch and
pla) sand&
I hope the children will
engage in this actiit) b)
exploring the feel of the
moon sand and also
coming %p with different
wa)s the) can meas%re
or manip%late the moon
sand& I hope that this
ma) spark their c%riosit)
of the moon and space&
One child asked me if
there was coffee in the
moon sand and I
explained that there were
coffee gro%nds in the
moon sand and showed
him what the) looked
like& He replied& "I don:t
like coffee$ I don:t like
the smell, and walked
awa)& I obsered seeral
children sa)ing "it feels
soft&, #lso the children
added s%ch items as the
rocks in the basket I
CHDV 210 Designs for Living and Learning
increasing c%riosit)
abo%t respect for the
ama;ing world, (C%rtis
- Carter$ .//0$ pg&
<..)& Children learn
abo%t the world thro%gh
their senses and crae
new intrig%ing learning
experiences and
materials&
added to the science
area& The children een
added the cars into the
moon sand&
Chapter +
!ngaging Children in
S)#bolic
,epresentation(
-iterac) and the .isal
/rts
"+hen we proide
children with m%ltiple
initations to constr%ct$
express$ and reflect on
their tho%ghts and
feelings$ we adance
their %nderstanding of
s)mbolic representation
and literac)& +e can
offer them attractiel)
displa)ed tools and
materials along with
images and props to
explore s)mbolic
representation and learn
the f%nction of reading
and writing& In other
words we can create
initations that offer
7or this chapter I
decided to create a
flannel board and stick
p%ppets to place in the
librar) area& The flannel
board$ and p%ppets go
with the stor) "3rown
3ear$ 3rown 3ear$ +hat
Do 4o% 5ee6,
I hope that the children
recreate the stor) with
the flannel board and the
p%ppets& I think the
children ma) get
creatie and want to
make their own p%ppets
or add other ob=ects or
people the bear see:s&
I obsered two children
in the librar) area with
the book and the flannel
board& One child >alerie
was reading the book
"3rown 3ear 3rown
3ear +hat Do 4o% 5ee,
while Roman was
placing the felt pieces on
the felt board&
CHDV 210 Designs for Living and Learning
children man) reasons to
want to read$ write$ and
engage in s)mbolic
representations thro%gh
their pla) and image
making, (C%rtis -
Carter$ .//0$ pg& <?/)&
It is important that
children hae man)
opport%nities to create
and recreate literac)
experiences&