Course Competencies

1. Integrate strategies that support diversity and anti-bias

perspectives
An effective way to expose children to diversity and anti-bias perspectives is
to include images of lots of different places, cultures, and people. One of the
first steps to being sensitive to other cultures is to be aware that there are
people all around the world who live differently than the family and
community in which one lives. After one becomes aware that differences
exist outside you it is ones privilege to learn about others; how they live,
work, play, speak. I think also, along with learning about others children
must feel encouraged to share their own culture and be shown respect. By
sharing and learning about others and their own culture they learn a
balanced respect for others and themselves. Teachers can expose children to
other ways to thinking through the art, song, dance, food, beliefs of others.
This should be a day to day experience. This day to day learning helps
children become accustomed to diversity and embrace it as a normal and
enjoyable part of life.
2. Examine the critical role of play
After listening to a TED talk given by a respected researcher about play,
Stuart Brown, he suggested there is evidence that play is more than just fun.
Play is crucial to normal development in humans and animals. He noted that
after studying several deviant, and criminally minded individuals they all had
been deprived of the opportunity to play in their youth. So, it is suggested
that play makes one mentally healthy. The text, Creative Activities and
Curriculum for Young Children mentions four developmental psychologists
and researchers who advocate play as an important part of a childs
development. Parten, Piaget, Smilansky, and Vygotsky all include play in
their developmental progression. I quote the text as they discuss what each
researcher believed, Play is a measure of a childs increasing social
maturity. Play is assimilation-child makes world adapt to him. Play aids
childs social development. Play directly supports the development of childs
cognitive powers listed respectively. Programs and environments that allow
children the time to play unstructured and free allow children to investigate
their environment, their own bodies, how to interact with others and a
myriad list of other this.
3. Establish a developmentally appropriate environment

A developmentally appropriate environment invites children to explore and

learn. The Montessori schools come to mind. The environment is set up in a
way that children are able to learn practical skills with real objects. The
environments in the Reggio Emilia schools also come to mind. The
environment is set up to encourage inquiry, or in other words the interest of
the child drives their learning, as in an emergent curriculum. A
developmentally appropriate environment goes beyond the physical set up
of the room. The teacher creates an environment that has a balanced
structure of child directed/initiated learning and teacher directed learning.
The teacher meets each child where they are academically and doesnt
challenge them beyond their ability to succeed, but challenges them enough
to grow steadily in their abilities. The teacher also provides a variety of
activities that are relevant to the childrens experiences and culture.
4. Develop activity plans that promote child development and
learning
I think the first rule of developing activity plans is that they must be
specialized to the children being taught. There are general areas of
development that children progress through, but the ways in which concepts
can be taught effectively are endless. In Wisconsin there are standards (WI
Model Early Learning Standards) provided that aid teachers in planning
developmentally appropriate activity plans. The standards revolve around 9
core principles: all children are capable and competent, early relationships
matter, a childs early learning and development is multidimensional,
expectations for children must be guided by knowledge of child growth and
development, children are individuals who develop at different rates, children
are members of cultural groups that share developmental patterns, children
exhibit a range of skills and competencies within any domain of
development, children learn through play and the active exploration of their
environment, and parents are childrens primary and most important
caregivers and educators. The standards help teachers to plan activities that
are intentional, in other words, they aim to teach relevant skills and or
mental abilities appropriate to the early childhood years.
5. Create developmentally appropriate science activities
The aim of science activities in the early childhood years is to introduce
young children to the world and help them better understand it. To this end
developmentally appropriate science activities must help children to
investigate and discover knowledge to quote the text. Activities that offer
children the chance to investigate in a hands on manner allow them to
discover answers for themselves. As the text states teaching children how to

find answers is far more important than giving children all the answers.
Developmentally appropriate science activities also teach children how to
use their senses. This skill can be used in many other aspects of their lives.
Children are also given the opportunity to experiment without the fear of
being wrong. They are given the chance to take risks. This ability to take
risks is not only beneficial in science, but also when children start to learn to
read. Bev Bos brought up the idea that children who are able to take risks
and are comfortable with doing so are able to read more quickly and
proficiently. There are three types of science experiments for children, all of
which are valid and should be included in a program. They are as follows:
formal science, informal science, and incidental science. Formal science
experiences are teacher directed and planned. Informal science experiences
are unplanned and child directed. The teacher provides an environment that
fosters inquiry, but allows children the opportunity to explore on their own.
Incidental science experiences are unplanned opportunities to understand
our world better. An example of this would be finding a snake skin outside or
birds nest and egg shells on the ground outside on the playground. A
teacher didnt plan this, but is able to turn it into an opportunity for further
learning and discovery.
6. Create developmentally appropriate math activities
It should be noted that children start learning mathematical concepts long
before they attend school. Mathematical concepts are found throughout our
homes and world. For example a child quickly learns that two cookies are
much better than one and that shapes and patterns have meaning. So, with
this in mind it is easy to see that mathematical concepts should be weaved
throughout the curriculum and activity centers. Mathematical concepts can
be weaved throughout the day, for example, at story time, when reading
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss, basic skills like rational
counting can be stressed or the question and idea of How many? can be
explored. When considering how to incorporate mathematical concepts into
the curriculum consider the following principles outlined by WMELS.
Demonstrates an understanding of numbers and counting, understands
number operations and relationships, explores, recognizes and describes,
shapes and spatial relationships, uses the attributes of objects for
comparison and patterning, understands the concept of measurement, and
collects, describes and records information using all senses.
7. Create developmentally appropriate social studies activities
Teaching children with social studies activities offers children a chance to
understand the world they live in and worlds outside their sphere of living. It

also offers children a chance to understand how they fit in their world and
who they are. Developmentally appropriate social studies activities first
teach children about their world and help them develop a sense of self. After
creating a solid base activities can then go on to explore other cultures and
peoples in an everyday pattern. As the text explains social studies teaching
about multiculturalism should focus on the common bonds we all share.
They are as follows: they live in a family, they live in a neighborhood, they
live in a natural environment, one or both of the parents usually work for a
living, etc. Some specific areas of interest that could be explored are family,
self-esteem, foods, arts and crafts, music and dance, physical expression,
languages and earth. At the heart of all social studies activities should be a
desire to instill a sense of humanity and understanding of self and others.