Amelia Saunders

27 February 2017

SLO 5

During the spring semester of 2016, I created an optimal environment for infants and

toddlers ages 1 to 2. During these years, children are within the sensorimotor stage of cognitive

development according to Piaget. This stage is characterized by the fascination of the senses and

motor movements together. Children at this age can typically be found putting everything within

reach into their mouths as they begin to comprehend the world around them. This is also a time

where children are beginning to comprehend the concept of object permanence, or that objects

continue to exist despite being unable to see them. This can be characterized by repeated actions

of dropping items only to have them returned in the same form. With these understandings, I

worked to create a developmentally appropriate environment that enhanced childrens desire to

explore and learn. Each area of the classroom was carefully crafted to meet the developmental

needs of our youngest children. The assignment also required an accurately scaled layout of the

environment. This assignment truly indulged my creativity and understanding of effective and

engaging learning environments.

The environment for the project truly revolved around the importance of play

opportunities for the young children that create an effective curriculum. I personally would

define an effective curriculum as an entity that is carefully planned by the teacher. Curriculum

includes the opportunities and materials provided to students in a manner that encourages active

participation and exploration. Both indoor and outdoor environments were displayed to foster

specific curriculum in my project. As discussed by Feeney (2013), planned curriculum is the

intentional learning experiences designed by a teacher, or team of teachers, in response to what

they know and observe about children (p. 440). Therefore, I intentionally provided opportunities

that fostered exploration. For example, within my optimal environment I included a large area

for motor development within the indoor environment. At this age, children are beginning to

walk and move with greater confidence. With this understanding, I included a Softstage area to

encourage children to climb and explore. A Softstage is made out of foam blocks arranged to

encourage climbing and walking. For this play activity, children will challenge their abilities to

climb to the top of the foam area. Once they reach the top, there are mirrors lining the walls,

encouraging students to recognize themselves as beings, an important step for this age group.

Along with creating a curriculum built on opportunities to explore, I took careful consideration

in the materials provided to students to foster the curriculum. As we know, children at this age

make leaps and bounds in both large and fine motor development. To meet the fine motor

development of infants and toddlers, I created an outdoor sandbox that included various objects

that furthered their play activities. Within the sandbox, I included rakes, buckets, and shovels.

The space also included a cooking area, complete with cooking ware and utensils. According to

Gainsley (2011), educators are able to enrich and extend childrens learning by intentionally

adding toys or materials and interacting with children in ways that support specific key

developmental indicators (p. 5). For the infants, the items were placed to promote

developmentally appropriate manipulation of objects in a sensory environment. Overall, effective

curriculum was created in my optimal environment in the opportunities fostering child

exploration as well as through the carefully planned materials placed within the space.

The curriculum also focused on meeting the state standards. While infants do not have

their own set of teaching standards, California did release the California Infant Toddler Learning

Foundations in which we used to create different activities in each of the areas of the classroom.
For example, we designed activities in the Math and Manipulative area of the classroom to foster

the students understanding of how things move and fit within a space, as seen in the California

Infant Toddler Learning Foundations (California Department of Education, 2013, p. 56). To

foster this area, I planned to include different puzzles to test students abilities to understand

spatial relationships. I also included opportunities for students to explore musical activities in

developmentally appropriate ways. According to the California Infant Toddler Learning

Foundations (2009), it is important for children of this age to understand that their actions lead to

greater effects, known as cause and effect (p. 65). Through the use of instruments available for

young children to use at their leisure, they will begin to understand the cause and effect of

playing musical instruments. They will begin to comprehend that when they hit instruments, a

resulting sound is produced and heard by those nearby. Such an understanding will be necessary

in all areas of learning, not only music. Finally, I created activities with a focus on literacy for

young infants and toddlers. According to the California Infant Toddler Learning Foundations

(2009), children need opportunities to develop an interest in print or interest in engaging print

within books (p. 53). With this understanding I included activities within my book nook. I

decided to include various texts in the book nook as well as provide felt animals and story pieces

to tell their own stories. I expected these items to provide exciting opportunities for children to

meet the goals of typical development depending on the standards.

Over the course of the semester, we were expected to evaluate curriculum and learning

environments of the locations we observed. During the course, we had to evaluate the spaces

using both the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) and the Infant Toddler Rating

Scale (ITERS). The Infant Toddler Rating Scale, while extensive, focused on the items in the

environment. Some of the items focused on us counting the examples of diverse children
expressed in the space, another had us count the total number of well-kept books available to

young children. This rating scale truly gave me a greater understanding of the necessary steps to

be taken to provide students with an effective and efficient environment for young children. Such

understandings were applied to my own project especially in the area of literacy. As I learned

from the Infant Toddler Environmental Rating Scale, strong classrooms must have at least 12

books available to children at all times that are to be rotated. I therefore made it an important

point to include more that the minimum requirement for the children in my classroom. Overall, if

I go into a field that can use either the ITERS or the ECERS, I feel prepared and excited to do so.

I also utilized the CLASS, or the Classroom Assessment Scoring System. This assessment

focuses on the conversational environment created by educators. The assessment had us analyze

the types of conversations occurring both between the students themselves and the instructors.

Within my own optimal environment, I took careful consideration into the types of conversations

I would be conducting in the space. Within the reflection of the project, I discussed the

importance of language modeling, something I continue to believe today. Language modeling is

when you show examples of positive language use to young children in an effort for them to

repeat such usage in the future. Through language modeling I would hopefully positively impact

the language development of those in my space. Overall, the importance of evaluating spaces and

curricula will continue to hold importance as I create my own classroom in the near future.
 References

California Child Development Division (2009). California infant toddler learning foundations.

Sacramento, CA: California Department of Education.

Feeney, S., & Moravcik, E. (2013). Who am I in the lives of children?:an

introduction to early childhood education (9th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Gainsley, S. (2011). ,Look, listen, touch, feel, taste: the importance of sensory play. High Scope

Extensions. 25 (5): 1-4. Retrieved fromhttp://www.highscope.org/file/NewsandInforma

tion/Extensions/ExtVol25No5_low.pdf.