Part Two - Reflection
1.
What specific developmental information did you learn about the child selected in the video?
Sofia is very keen to explore all she could do with the ball of clay in her hand. She has been using her fine motor skills to play with clay as she stuffs the clay into the spoon and digs it out from it, to put it into the can and so on. Sofia even explores the clay by putting it into her mouth (sensory exploration of taste). But Sofia seems to be not very good in interacting with peers (socially) and doesn’t use words to communicate (linguistic), which shows she has not learned to
talk yet. 2. How could you use this information to create learning goals for the child?
Since Sofia seems to be very engaged and showing interest in the clay activity, I could design similar activities to encourage her to further develop her fine motor skills. Also, I could make Sofia engage in more group activities, like circle time, reading stories, picture books, open question time etc., which would help her develop her interactive skills with her peers and would also help her to talk more and develop her language skills. She could be prompted to repeat words or sing songs to focus on language development and consequently make her confident to interact better. Thus, my learning goals for Sofia would be focused on developing her language and social skills.
3. Describe how the method(s) you selected is developmentally appropriate practice:
The method that I chose for observing Sofia was the anecdotal notes. The anecdotal notes as a method of observation and assessment are: Authentic because they are factual and written records. Moreover, educators can use anecdotal notes to document actual experiences, unforeseen development consequences, levels of involvement in any play or activity, curiosity, and other motivating elements. Purpose: Anecdotal notes assist instructors in planning experiences for children based on their knowledge of their developmental stages in all areas. They're also great for communicating with parents and caregivers because they're based on facts rather than opinions.
