Assessments in early childhood 


Personally, as an ECE, I truly believe making assessments is a valuable way to deepen an understanding of  the children I work with and  the data gathered allows me to make meaningful  self-reflection as well as more approachable adjustment in curriculum design and lesson-planning. It requires great energy and attention to details about what happens to the child but it is also truly enjoyable.


The purpose of assessments


One of the key purposes of assessments in early childhood is to monitor and track their development across all developmental domains. However, I tend to focus on self-regulation in emotions, social interactions and language domains. For example, Child W and Child B have fought for one particular fire truck more frequently recently. It usually ended up with biting, screaming and crying. These two boys are only 2 and 3. I realize the whole point was not that fire truck. Instead, they needed language and social skills support. I told Child W if Child N has it first, and I encouraged him to  play with other toys while waiting for his turn. I also taught Child N to tell Child W that “ I am still playing. You can have it after me.” 


Sure, it took a few practices but eventually, I witnessed a breakthrough. After a couple of weeks modeling and reinforcing these behaviors, one morning, Child N was playing with the fire truck and I glanced at Child W and he had the intention to grab it. Instead of doing it, , Child W looked at me and said, “ Agnes, I am playing after Child N.’ I responded immediately, “ Great! I am glad you remember to wait for your turn.” A few minutes later, Child N passed the fire truck to Child W. I also praised Child N right away by saying “ Thank you, Child N, for sharing the toy with Child W.” The smiles on their faces truly made my day.


The other significant point of assessments is to identify an individual's needs and provide support. Each child is different so I like to make formative assessments and keep it in mind. I like to give them one on one time, even just 5 or 10 minutes. It can be sharing hugs or having small talk. It can be practicing  their fine motor skills by doing some activities they enjoy or reviewing letters and numbers. 


These moments not only help me strengthen the relationship with each child I work with but also give me a better opportunity to see the progress in their growth. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  Why I support product arts in early education Before answering my own question I think it is important to make clarification about the difference between proceed arts and product arts in early education. The main purpose of the product arts is to support fine motor and executive function skills while the processed art emphasizes on inspiring creativity and exploration.  So.what is produced arts? It is simple! The child knows what the “product” looks like when they begin the project. It is led by a teacher and a child is required to process the given instructions or perform certain specific techniques to achieve the end goal. To me, in the early education setting, product arts not only provide structure but also flexibility and variety. What does it mean?  1. Variety in material and techniques When the center chooses the arts and crafts, various materials and agents are considered to keep children engaged and excited. For example, we made a beehive with a piece of bubble...
Read more
Image
  Connecting the world—the Olympic Day at the daycare The 2024 Olympics in Paris is the most highlighted and cheerful event this year. To bring our little friends to “participate” in these glorified sports games, an Olympics theme week and Special Day has been set on their school calendar.  Introduction to the Olympics We opened the Olympics week by introducing the history of the Olympics and the sports played in this event. The main focus was on the colors and the meanings of the rings. We also talked about the cities that have held the Olympics, emphasizing  the hosting city, Pairs, this year. I showed the little ones where Pairs is on the globe and reviewed the continents and countries learned last year. I also drew some of the pictograms  and had the little ones to guess what sports it is, even having them imitate the pictograms, which led to much fun.  Preparing for Olympics Day Then, in the next few days, we had been “preparing” for the Olympics Day by try...
Read more
Reflection on our  professional recognition and value  Recently, lots of short clips and videos about teaching have been popping up on my IG. I have noticed that many of them are talking about teaching strategies, the techniques of handling behavioral issues or management. Most of them provide great tips for the teachers to practice in the field. However, I haven’t seen much about  how we can support ourselves to cope with the stress and demands so we do not get burned out? First, I think we need to  face the reality that being a teacher, especially working with young children can be undervalued, comparing the hours and stress we have to take to what we receive.Many people might just show their appreciation by just “saying” it instead of genuine recognition.I remember once I had an interview to renew my visa and the officer asked about my occupation. I answered I am an ECE, early childhood educator, and he frowned his eyebrows, looking confused. My son said “ oh, she...
Read more