Rosemary+Helderman

Rose Helderman thekidsplaceabc@yahoo.com

I am a Family Childcare Provider for the past 23 years and have a degree in elementary education with 4 years of teaching experience in the 5-th grade.

The 3 things I hope to learn or gain over the next month: a) how to best meet the needs of all children with varying needs and abilities b) techniques to make meeting all children's needs easier c) anything to better help me as an educator

The 2 things I can contribute to the topic of serving young children with special needs or disablities: a) I am not sure at this point b)

I don't have a question for the group to ponder at this time.

Session 3: by: Judy R. Jablon, Amy Laura Dombro, Margo L. Dichtelmiller
 * The Power of Observation**

Chapter 5 ~Becoming a Skilled Observer

Do you think becoming a skilled observer just happens? I don't. This is an area that I've always had problems with. Finding the time, what to do with what I've collected, and what kinds of observations I should use at different times of the day. My hope is that this chapter will help me become more skilled as an observer.

First and foremost, observing isn't just going to happen. It takes careful planning -making decisions in advance about what and how you want to observe. As you become more experienced observer, your questioning, decision making, and planning become second nature -a part of your ongoing thinking process. Luckily, observing is ongoing so if you miss it today you may catch it tomorrow.

In observing, a question you need to ask yourself is "what do I want to find out?". As teacher's observe, they engage with children and build relationships with them. Observing this way means that we ask a question, one as simple as "Who is this child?", which gives us as an observer clear purpose. This helps us get to know the child and your skills as an observer and listener combine with your knowledge of child development which allows you to watch as individual children discover something new about the world around them. You should also realize that stating a question doesn't mean that you will find the answer immediately as there are bound to be times when you can't see. You need to keep your observing ongoing and eventually you will see the bigger picture.

When and where should I observe? There are times when observing can be planned like bringing out patterning materials during choice time to see how a particular child does with patterning. You may catch something happening during the day and you begin observing in that free moment thus catching many small moments that add up to a greater understanding.

Recording what is observed can be done in many ways. Deciding what method you use depends on what you want to learn, the activities children are engaged in, your responsibility at the time you are observing, and matching your personal style. Most teachers use several methods, rather than just one. When observing a child's mood, thinking process, method for solving a problem, way of using materials, and quality of interactions with others you may want to use a method that allows for descriptive writing. When observing the materials a child picks to solve a math problem or the colors a child names accurately it would be more efficient to use a method that allows you to make checks or tally marks.

Some ways of recording were brief notes (on mailing labels, index cards, daily sheets), anecdotal notes, running records, matrices, rating scales, tallies, diagrams, sketches, photographs, video and audio taping.

Organizing the information collected involves two steps: 1. record your observations in a way that works for you and 2. organize and store your written observations so you can go back and learn from them. The primary purpose of recording your observations and reviewing them later is to provide you with data for reflection. Looking over your notes may help you decide how to modify your plans for next week or the next day by what you observed. And lastly over a longer period of time it gives you more of a formal assessment of the child and helps you write a needed report, prepare for a child study meeting, or conduct a family-teacher conference. You will see the progress you have made.

In conclusion the two things about your observations and if they are working for you is: 1. Do you use your system? and 2. Does it help you better understand and respond to the children and families with whom you work with?

From Shayla Smith shayla99smith@gmail.com: Observing can definitely be a challenge. But once you start doing it using a method that works for you it will be great. :Looking back at the observational notes that I have taken it's amazing to see how the children have grown and what areas they still need help in. Some days are harder than others to do observation notes. A lot of times I remember key things that I want to write down and some days I have a piece of paper in my pocket and use that for notes. Then I just transfer the information into a note book. I find that it does help me understand a child and you can many times find a pattern in behavior.

Session 4
 * Cara's Kit **

Cara's Kit is a handy, easy to use kit that gives many ideas for those things we find in an early learning program and need adaptations to use. I can see using these adaptations to help with some of the common problems there are in my child care. I also like that it give you a disk with many resources to use to in turn make your own adaptations for problems you are having in your setting.

Session 7


 * Investigate Kara's kit further and either use it with a child you currently have access to OR hypothesize how you would use it with one of the children you know. Talk about it and comment on other's work. **

In using Cara's Kit for a problem that developed this week and a first for this particular child. The child was having an extremely hard time falling asleep at quiet time. A lot is going on in her home life. She repeatedly got off her cot and disturbed the nap time for the other children, was extremely restless, and then when she finally fell asleep she didn't want to get up when quiet time was over. I could have easily removed her from the area the preschoolers rest and isolated her from everyone but I wanted to find the least intrusive method of helping this child. Our normal schedule is lunch, followed by music and movement, followed by story time, and then quiet time. I wanted to find a solution for this child so I looked at Cara's kit. I found: I decided we would continue on with our normal routine lunch, music and movement (we started with our normal music routine but instead of ending with the normal routine we put on quiet music and slowly let our bodies slow down to a relaxing state where we did some relaxing techniques. We laid quietly while I read several sleepy time stories with a stuffed animal of their choice. As I laid down the little ones I let the preschooler's continue to listen to soft, quiet music as they lay on their cots. Slowly I lowered the music down to where they could barely hear it... and guess what... someone was the first one to fall asleep.
 * calming the room with quiet music
 * have children help with setting up for quiet time
 * allowing children to rest with a special toy
 * read a resting time story
 * sit on the floor next to the child

by: Judy R. Jablon, Amy Laura Dombro, Margo L. Dichtelmiller
 * Session 8**
 * The Power of Observation**

Chapter 6 -Using What You Learn

Chapter Six basically wrapped up the book by reviewing what you have learned through the power of observation. Throughout the book they talk about the power of observing in promoting positive relationships and support children's learning. In this chapter they highlight specific ways to use what you learned by making your program responsive to children, to respond to individuals and the group, to conduct assessments and report information, and to work effectively with families.

The practice of observation come down to asking questions, watching/listening/and taking notes, reflecting, and responding. As you observe you gain the insights about the child's strengths, knowledge, interests and skills. You can also detect barriers in the child's learning. Observation begins by asking a question you want to answer. You can watch. listen, and take notes anywhere and anytime. Taking notes, collecting information, taking pictures, and work samples are all meaningful documentation you can use that helps you in answering questions. Reflecting on what you collect helps find answers. And of course, the observing is only meaningful when it is linked to a decision about teaching as we know every decision affects children's learning.

We want to make our programs responsive to children. We can adapt the environment and shape daily routines to help. The book gave many examples of teacher's observations and how they were able to use what they collected and use it to promote positive relationships and support children's learning. It also talked about assessments and working together with families.

Shayla Smith: I thought this book was great! And the examples they gave were a great foundation to someone who isn't sure about observing. They made you think and asked questions that made me think about my own kids. Im glad I picked this book and will be using it as a reference. Its very helpful and gives you ease with the different ways it gives to observe.