Road Work

In my previous post, Writing Observations in Early Childhood Care Settings, I explained why making and writing observations in early childhood settings is important not only for the Educators but also for the parents to understand the whole and continuous learning journey of the child. There are specific and intentional reasons why we make observations, and not just because we have to do our job as Educators. These are:

• Planning the programs or experiences
• Gauging and knowing if the child has achieved his or her goals
• Describing the child's interest, skills and abilities
• Providing parents with information about their child's learning and experiences

Below is another example of an observation I made on a specific child to describe his play behaviour, creativity and imagination in building and construction and his use of verbal language:

ROAD WORK

A child was playing with cars by himself, then I encouraged him to extend his play by building something out of wooden blocks. This child, then, made a road in a rectangular form. However, he stopped using this road and continued to play with cars using a ramp racer.

At this stage, Jamie joined in and used this rectangular road as a racing track. Jamie, then, placed a few more blocks to build an extension and added some features on his racing track. He used a small block as a hammer and tapped the blocks that he laid on the mat, as if he was demonstrating that he was constructing the roads with a hammer.

Jamie, then, added a Y-shaped block and said proudly, "This is a tunnel!" He also added a bridge feature on the road track.

Jamie found the curved wooden blocks and connected them together. He said that it was the "roundabout".

As he was doing his "road work", Jamie was also demonstrating to another child how each feature worked. He showed how the bridge could be opened and that the wooden block needed to be swiveled so that cars could pass through. In the end, he also added the ramp racer as another feature of his road/race track.

Reflection:

Jamie built this road on his own with every intricate detail that was a product of his imagination and creative ideas. He also showed an ability to communicate his ideas verbally and nonverbally that would help others understand how his construction designs worked. Jamie also demonstrated good social behaviour as he played well with his peers and showed the willingness to share the tracks that he built.

Follow-Up Learning Experiences:

I will provide Jamie with the materials and resources (e.g. building blocks, duplos, etc.) for construction and I will encourage him to draw his designs on a paper. I will take photos of his step-by-step construction and encourage him to do a "show-and-tell" in front of his peers during group times.

Thank you for reading. If you have any feedback, please reply in the comment section below. Thank you and bye for now!