As a child care provider, it is so apparent that we learn about different kinds of tests and screenings to be done for young children. These tests can give insight on information that will be used every single day in the classroom. There are a number of medical and developmental screenings used with infants and toddlers (Mindes & Jung, 2015). Establishing a relationship with families is key for a successful outcome to situations that can be frustrating, hard, and upsetting to some families (Mindes & Jung, 2015). It is so important to identify risk for developmental delay or disability early, so the screening instruments and procedures are available to all medical and educational professionals and they are designed to be quick and easy to administer (Mindes & Jung, 2015). The goal is to be able to identify every child who may have a developmental delay or disability. One of the screening tools we learned about in class and that I learned about during my interview with Mrs. Diaz is called Ages and Stages. This involves a short interview with a primary caregiver about the child’s typical behavior during every day activities (Mindes & Jung, 2015). According to Mindes and Jung there are some things to consider when making decisions about implementing a screening tool. They are as followed: Use tools that demonstrated reliable and valid results, do not overinterpret the meaning of screening scores, and implement regular, periodic screening (Mindes & Jung, 2015). The most important thing to remember is that observation is everything, and authenticity is everything. “Good care is routine based, so the baby can learn to regulate his or her behavior in a predictable environment” (Mindes & Jung, 2015). Documentation about daily feeding, sleeping and activities will only help gather data for later use. “Child care providers should not approach assessment casually, documentation of progress toward program outcomes is important as is the identification of potential learning or developmental concerns” (Mindes & Jung, 2015). Some of the best tools to use are: anecdotal notes, running records, developmental checklists, and time and event sampling. The Running Records and Anecdotal Notes Lab 1, Checklist Lab 2, and Scoring and Interpreting T-Scores and Percentiles Lab 5, all required me to use these kinds of tools in the classroom. I thought this was very beneficial because it gave me real experience, and then not only did I have to organize the information, but I had to analyze it, give recommendations, and say what I would do next in the labs. For all of these labs I received either a nine out of ten or higher. This proves that I have mastered these skills and I am able to use these kinds of tools and help them build goals and objectives for the children in the classroom. Other than the labs as a whole I want to focus on two pieces of evidence that also helped build my knowledge on this subject. During an in-class assignment we had to write out what we would say to parents after observing children. I think this is a great exercise to prepare students for the future. For this assignment we had to read blurbs about each child and based off the information decide what the next steps are and how to communicate to that to the parents. I liked this activity, because this was the one thing we had not yet done in person at our placements. We were able to do this in groups to feel comfortable and supported when writing what can be harsh and scary information. I also liked that we presented to the class, we were able to hear what other people said for the same child and compare our thoughts to theirs. The second piece of evidence I would like to talk about is my interview with Mrs. Diaz. As you can tell by now this is something that I have been rereferring back to in almost all of my objectives. I think interviewing someone and getting their perspective on subjects in the classroom, is an amazing way to get insight on what it will be like to be a child care provider. During her interview we talked about the Ages and Stages screening tool that I mentioned earlier. She walked me through the process and I was able to ask her many questions. I learned three major things, it is hard to set aside time to observe children and get the assessments in, it is most important to establish relationships with families fast, because when it comes time to address situations you need a base/ foundation of trust care for one another, and assessments are important to set up the goals and objectives for the on coming months in the classroom.
Evidence:
november_15th_in_class_-communicating_assessment_results_with_parents_.docx | |
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hdfs_interviews_leinwand_fleischmann.docx | |
File Size: | 17 kb |
File Type: | docx |