Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Observation - Little Mud Puddles Preschool (CD 50 Class Note)

Observation: indoor space, safety and sanitation considerations, aesthetics, organization.
Materials:

The Little Mud Puddles facility has ample indoor and outdoor space. Indoor it has four classrooms and one learning center. The learning center is approximate 4-5 times larger than each single classroom. It is divided into five sections. One area is called the blocks area. They have big piece wood blocks in different shapes, rectangles, squares, cylinders, triangles. Lego blocks and tracks in square shapes. There is soft material that looks like real bricks for children build. All are neatly arranged on low shelves. On a big piece of carpet is a tiny town with rail road with tracks, houses, traffic signs on it. On top of the shelves are colorful baskets filled with animal toys. One area is for manipulatives.
There are three or four shelves there. Each shelf is loaded with boxes of manipulative toys such as snap blocks, tangram, lacing letter beans, peg number boards, letter and pic match blocks, connected cubes, latch board to learn open/close, puzzles of animals, colors, letters, food pyramid. The dramatic play area is the children’s favorite area; it is fenced by little shelves and an “arch door.” There is carpet in the middle and a small table with six small chairs. There is a mirror and stand for dressing up, such as in fire fighter clothes, helmets, capes, doctor clothes, princess dress and so on. It has a kitchen including sink, cooking stove, microwave, washing machine, shopping car, registers, all kinds of food toys. Also there is a telephone booth with a toy phone in it. Small stairs lead to a cozy little reading area, with some books on book shelves, a thick fuzzy carpet on the floor with pillows and push toys. Three children at a time are allowed up top.
Beside the play house are two long tables, eight chairs to a table. Usually teachers work with small groups of individual students while other students are playing. Behind the tables against the wall are boxes of cars and airplanes, a doll house, and a train table, with trains in drawers. Two bathrooms are located at the end of the learning center near the hall way. Bathrooms are kept very clean; each bathroom has three toilets, a trash can and a sink with three water hoses; a box is hung on the wall to load plastic gloves. The wall is also beautifully painted--the girls’ bathroom painted pink lavender with castles, boys’ is painted blue, with two ship windows, one with fish, the other with whales. One side of the wall has ten windows, the other side is painted with Disney characters-Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Winnie the Pooh. The center looks bright, colorful, clean. Twice each day the children come to the learning center, one hour in the morning, one hour in the afternoon.
Outdoor, play structures and materials:
The play ground is shaped like a letter L. Entering the play ground one immediately sees two blue square metal tables with a long bench around four sides. Wooden frames above allow children to work in the shade. One wooden bench separates the table area from one of the play structures, which is a fire truck, painted yellow, with stairs and a slide at the end. It is a fairly low fire truck, with four wheels, and two steering wheels, with a little bench for children to sit on. This area is covered with bark. Across the fire truck is a bench between two small trees. Next to the bench are two low signs with tricycle symbols. This is where tricycles are supposed to park. Altogether five tricycles are in the play area. Next to the fire truck is long green grass area. It is basically soft artificial grass. That is an area for children to run around on, play hula hoop, or sometimes a balance beam is placed there for children to walk on. Next to the parking sign is a play house with green roof, red windows. Outside the window are flower boxes, two doors, there are two chairs in the play house, in the middle of the play ground. Next to the play house is a ball play set with a yellow, red, blue basket for children to throw the ball. There is a large sand area shaped like number eight. One end of the sand area has water. There are shovels, plates, tea pots, plastic animals, buckets, trucks, old boats, strawberry heart-shaped containers. At the left corner of the play ground is a gas station and food station with a sign that says, “place order here.” Two speakers are on poles. At the right corner of the play ground is a play structure shaped like a house with stairs, slides and window. The colors are yellow, red, blue, white.
Telescope and driving wheels are on this play structure, which is under a big pine tree. It provides shade. There are five balls floating around. There are a few storage containers against wall of the play ground; there is a water fountain with stool for children to reach up, a water hose next to it to clean the floor. Children go to the playground twice each day.
Classroom organization, types of materials, storage arrangements, accessibility, quality and safety of materials:
My observation took place is class room 3, which is for four year olds. Two teachers share this room, each has 12 children. On entering the classroom, on the right side of the upper wall, there are letters, each with a picture associated with it. In the middle of the wall is a clock. Beneath the letters are two boards, one for Teacher Gayle’s class, the other is for Ms. Carla’s. Ms. Gayle’s board is decorated with hearts from her 12 children. On the left side of the classroom are cubbies that each child may hang clothes, and store other belongings. Above the cubby on the wall is a small pin board decorated with a Valentine theme, February’s newsletter, and staff pictures. On top of the cubby are CDs, a radio and a fish tank with one fish in it. The last cubby is loaded with cups and napkins. Next to it is a storage shelf, and next to it is a low sink with a drinking fountain. Above the sink is a locked cupboard. On the wall next to the sink is a box filled with plastic bags, and a big trash container next to the sink. The sink toward the end of the left wall, is next to the south facing wall, with four windows, each window with a heart on it. Each window also has one plant. One of them is African violet, the other three are herbs. A rack against the window for drying paintings is next to an easel. Next to the easel is a shelf with boxes of scissors, coloring pencils, tapes, binoculars, a science kit play dough tool, construction papers, stones. On the wall above is a calendar. Next to the shelf is a cabinet, with pictures of kids, teachers and their families. The last wall next to the cabinet has four windows, above which are fish tank-shaped papers that say “We are learning to count!” Then there are 11 fish tanks on the wall, the first has zero fish, the next one has one fish, two fish-up through 10 fish. Under the first fish tank there is a post that says, “Now I know my colors.” Then there are different pictures for different colors.
Beneath the window is another shelf with ten shoe boxes neatly arranged, inside the boxes are learning materials, some are cut pictures, some are related with shapes, numbers, phonics, patterns, and matching cards such as things that go together. Next are a few big boxes of legos, tracks and trucks, and building blocks. Another shelf is loaded with cooking toys, such as utensils, cups, forks, plates, and also toys that match five groups of pictures. First is the vegetable group, next the fat sweets group, then the fruit group, the grain group, and last the milk group. Next to the shelf is another storage cabinet for teachers to put files, and sleeping mats are there. At the entrance of the classroom is a low round table stand for books to display; next to it are two small soft benches for a reading area. Two long tables are inside the classroom where children may eat, or do other activities. The toys and materials in the classroom are in good condition; the storage area is low enough for children to reach. Inside the classroom I see just a valentine decoration, but in the hall by the learning center I see different cultural holiday decorations.
Adult roles, non-verbal interactions, curriculum:
I went to classroom during their learning time. The children had just come in from the play ground to the learning center. It was story time, and while some listened to the story others went to use the bathroom and wash hands. They soon came back into their own classroom. Ms. Gayle is sitting in a low chair with 11 children sitting around her, crisscross apple sauce. They are discussing the five senses. Ms. Gayle reads a book about our five senses. After reading, she points to the parts of her face, and the children say what they’ve learned. For example, she points to her eyes, and the children say, “We see with our eyes;” she points to her ears, the children say, “We hear with our ears;” she points to her nose, the children say, “We smell with our noses;” she points to her mouth, and the children say, “We taste with our mouth.” She raises her hands, and the children say, “We feel with our hands.” After this Ms. Gayle asks open questions such as, “What things we will hear if we are outside?” Some kids say, “Police car.” Then she asks, “Will we see the police car or hear the police car?” Some kids speak out, “We will hear the police car.” Ms. Gayle raises her left hand, puts her right index finger to her lip, then calls the one who has raised a hand to answer the question. “What will we smell when we are outside?, What will we feel when we eat ice cream?,” she asks. Altogether the group activity lasts ten minutes. After circle time the children go to the table for an activity. An assistant teacher comes in to help with one group because Friday, Ms. Gayle has a special needs student, and likes to work one-on-one with him at the activity table. Today the children have three things to do. One is tracing their names, second is cutting a picture starting with the letter “W” (then pasting it on paper). The third activity is to make a book The children are learning how to use scissors and cut on lines, and put numbers in order. Most children can do this on their own.
Special needs child:
The special needs child really needs the teacher to tell him what to do step by step. Cognitively he is fine, but is struggling with fine motor skill and social emotional skill; he is easily frustrated and has a small tantrum. Some kids at the same table ask Ms. Gayle, “Why do you always have to help him? He is a baby.” Ms. Gayle says, “No, he is not a baby. He just needs to learn how to use crayons, and glue sticks.”
Curriculum:
While Ms. Gayle works with the boy, she also pays attention to the rest of the kids; she will direct them on what to do after they complete their work. She encourages each child to do their best on their own and at the same time she recognizes their hard work. She lets each child know when their letter is done neatly. “How nice of you to put everything back after your job is done,” she says. “How nice you are for waiting your turn to ask for help.” Children who finish these three activities can now free play. Most children go and pull shoe boxes out so they can play sorting the shape game, match the picture game, match the rhyming words, connect the patterns; some play puzzles, some play at cooking. Ms. Gayle says to me, “This kind of play is age-appropriate learning. We give them age-appropriate material and let them explore with it and play with it, and they will learn through the play. The table activity we did earlier is not really age-appropriate, but the parents want more academic activity--they like children to bring paper home to see they are learning something.”
Daily routine: Curriculum reflective of whole child.
Children reach school at 8 a.m., and free play for 45 minutes. At 8:45 group starts: teacher does roll call, they sing songs, learn letters, numbers, colors through the songs, learn the calendar, and weather. From 9 to 9:45 the children go outside to the playground.
At 9:45 they come back to the learning center and listen as one teacher reads stories—children take turns using the bathroom and washing hands. At 10 o’clock they go back to their own classroom, have a snack and free play. By 11 o’clock they do circle time and learning time, which I went to observe. From 12 to 1:00 is lunch and clean up time; from 1:00-3:00 is rest and nap time. From 3 to 3:30 is snack time and from 3:30 to 5:00 is the afternoon program. During the morning and afternoon program children are encouraged to do science and cooking activities, beyond exploring the learning materials and toys; also dramatic play helps social emotional growth. Communication and language skills are learned through exposure to books, story times, songs, puppet plays, or through dramatic play. Each day children have a chance to practice art activity such as painting, pudding art and play dough. Children spend two hours each day at the play ground, once in the morning, once in the afternoon. The Hooked on Phonics program is available to any child that is ready; typically, one teacher will work with four kids in a group at a time to learn extra phonics. The school also offers various enrichment classes, such as Mandarin, Music, and Gymnastics.
Services provided for special needs children and their families:
Three autistic children attend the center. Two have special therapies; however, the student in Ms. Gayle’s class does not yet have a set therapy plan—the teacher has been requesting the guidance of Teachers to observe each child, yet normally don’t have time to make a daily entry in the child’s file. Each month they do enter notes as to each child’s progress. Methods of assessment: Two methods of assessment are used: one is observation, the other is use of the Humanist National Child Assessment form.
Number of adults, teacher-to-child ratio, interactions between adults:
One assistant teacher takes turns going to each classroom to help three and four years olds--two teachers for 24 children; the two year-old class has three teachers with 90 children and 17 staff. Teachers work as a team and take turns doing story time and planning class activities. Usually 12 kids to one classroom, except meal and nap time. At playground time usually two classrooms of kids are mixed together, and at that time teacher can switch and share the duty of keeping an eye on the children.
Staff development and preparation time, professional behavior of staff:
Staff meetings are held every week, to exchange ideas and have input. Usually meeting at lunch time and lunch provided by the school. Between the teachers there seems to be no gossip, no complaints to coworkers. There is a way to address issues with the principal. Teachers respect each individual student, with no bias to ethnicity or ability.
Programs meet the diverse needs of the families they serve:
Staff members come from different culture backgrounds, which can meet different needs of different families, if there is still a conflict teachers and principle will arrange a meeting to meet with the parents, address the issue, the key is respect each individual family understand their value, reach a common solution to serve the child and family better.
Parental interaction and involvement:
Parents are encouraged to have their voices in the program. Conference meetings are four times a year, Mother’s Day Tea Party, Daddy’s ice cream night, Christmas singing party, Open house, school field trip are all involved in the parents. Email parents when needed. Community involvement: Halloween and Christmas times involve the community. Local neighbors come to school to take pictures, and have pony rides, Santa visits school to have pictures with children.

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