Guidance logs assignment(loris)

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Running Head: REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

Reflective Practice Assignment

Junnifer Villanueva

Loris Bennett

Guidance and the Individual Child

ECEP-132

April 4, 2012

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REFLECTIVE PRATICE

Part 1- Objective Observation

Time: 10:30 a.m.

Date: February 23, 2012

Date of Birth: November 16, 2010

Child Name: Finley Agnant

Observer’s Name: Junnifer

Setting: Play area in the room

Context: Benjamin took away the book I was reading for Finley.

At 10:30, February 23rd, the children were playing in the play area and I was sitting on the

mat and on my right side was a tray of books. I observed Finley, she was taking the books and

she picked up the Quack, Quack book and she gave it to me. She sat on my lap and I read the

book to her and I asked her to flip the pages, and she used her forefinger. It appears that Finley

like the story because she was listening and responding by following my instruction. She had

experienced the fine motor development by flipping the pages. Benjamin who was sitting close

to Finley was playing a car. Benjamin moved close to Finley and took away her book that we

were reading. She reacted by pulling back the book.

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REFLECTIVE PRATICE

Part 2 - Decision

I would use redirection as my guidance strategy to distract Benjamin. I will tell him to play

with the car and show him how to make the car move or run to divert his attention. According to

Piaget, “In tertiary circular reaction (12-18 months) children begin a period of trial-and-error

experimentation during the fifth substance. For example, a child may try out different sounds or

actions as a way of getting attention from a care giver”. Retrieved from

http://psychology.about.com/od/piagettheory/p/sensorimotor.html

In this situation, Benjamin’s way of getting attention was taking the book away from Finley.

This is part of the child’s development. Another theorist that will link to this situation is Lev

Vygotsky and according to Lev Vygotsky (1978), much important learning by the child occurs

through social interaction with skillful tutor. The tutor may model behavior and/or provide verbal

instructions for the child. Vygotsky refers to this as a co-operative dialogue. The child seeks to

understand the action or instructions provided by the teacher or parent then internalize the

information, using it to guide their own performance. Retrieved from

http://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html

Diverting and distracting strategy is appropriate for this situation because it is helpful for the

youngest children. Diverting and distracting is a form or redirection in which an adult

immediately does something to distract a child from the forbidden or dangerous activity. The

adult then gets the very young child involved in a different activity (Marion, 2011, p132).



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REFLECTIVE PRATICE

Part 3-Action

To apply the redirection and distraction strategy, I will get down to his level and I will tell

Benjamin to play with the car. By showing him how to play with the car like making it run,

pushing to make it move or open the car doors. I will hold his hand and demonstrate to him how

to push the car. I will get to his level and have eye contact in giving him the instruction. I will

kneel down the floor for flexibility in moving from one place to the other. Benjamin’s attention

towards the book was diverted on the car and he was playing with it. It seems that the strategy I

applied work with this particular situation.

Part 4 – Reflection

Strengths

Got to the child’s eye level and make

eye contact.

I am comfortable on one-on-one

interaction compared to small groups.

I used a firm voice.

Needs

I need to role model to the children in

order for them to understand.

I need to be more confident when

solving the problem.

.I need to learn and practice the

different positive guidance strategies.

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REFLECTIVE PRATICE

Part 5

Discuss the changes that you would make and why you would make them.

The changes I will make is to provide choices to Benjamin. I will give him the choice to play

with the car or join with Finley while I read the book to them. By offering choices it will help

children develop independence and making wise choices is a skill we have to teach young

children. They will be able to develop their self-esteem in practising making choices. Providing

choices is appropriate to all ages.

Relationship with Children:

a. Explain the most important thing you have learned about guiding children and how you

learned it.

The most important thing I learned about guiding children is that there are many positive

guidance and discipline strategies to use depending on the situation. I learned it from the class

and apply it in the placement, and using direct and indirect strategies in guiding the children.

Another thing is we are not allowed to use Time Out instead use Renewal time to children and be

an authoritative teacher.

b. Describe your ability to promote the self-esteem of children and provide supporting

example.

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REFLECTIVE PRATICE

By offering choices and giving the child the chance to make decision is one way of promoting

self-esteem to the child. Deciding what to choose is a skill that the child needs to develop.

c. Describe how you worked with children, both on one-to-one basis and with small groups

of children.

On one-on-one basis, I go down to the child’s eye level. I engage in play by talking and asking

open-ended questions with the child. I use positive words and calm voice. I used guidance

strategies like redirection, calming technique, giving choices whenever possible and ignore

behavior.

In small group of children, I engaged with each activity. For example, in the play area with 8-9

children, when 1 child is playing with ball I will bounce/roll/throw the ball. The other child is

playing with the push toy, I will talk to them on what they are playing, and this is more on

spontaneous activities.

d. Explain how the corresponding artifact/sample represents your ability to develop

meaningful relationships with children.

Artifacts like pictures and posters showed how much you engaged with the children thus creating

a meaningful relationship. Children’s documentation like art work and the planning sheet I

prepared are strong evidence to prove that the activities are developmentally appropriate.

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REFLECTIVE PRATICE

Part 1 Objective Observation

Time: 10:00

Date: February 24, 2012

Date of Birth: December 17, 2010

Child Name: Jelicia Jackson

Observer Name: Junnifer

Setting: Place near the cubbies and table where the children eat lunch

Context: Jelicia has an attachment behavior and she cried and cried when mommy leaves the

center.

Last February 24, 2012, Thursday at 10:00 a.m. I observed Jelicia upon her arrival to the

daycare. Mommy carried her when they enter the room. She was not crying. Mommy took off

Jelicia’s jacket and put her on the chair while she was putting her milk, juice and yogurt in the

fridge. At this point, she started crying and mommy bade her goodbye and left. She continued to

cry and cry.

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REFLECTIVE PRATICE

Part 2 – Decision

For the first few minutes, I would ignore her crying hoping she will stop. She still

continued to cry and cry, so this time I would use calming technique. I will take her and let her

sit on my lap and hold to comfort her. Talking and telling her that mommy will come in the

afternoon to pick her up. Calm down and you can play with the other children.

According to John Bowlby, he was the first attachment theorist, describing attachment as

“lasting psychological connectedness between human beings” (Bowlby, 1969, p.194). Bowlby

believe that the earliest bond form by children with their caregiver have a tremendous impact

that continuous throughout life. According to Bowlby, attachment also serves to keep the infant

close to the mother, thus improving the child’s chances of survival. Retrieved from

http://psychology.about.com/loveandattraction/a/attachment01.htm

Calming technique is appropriate for chronic crying child. The child will feel the comfort

and assurance from you by holding her and talking to her. Children often have difficulty

controlling themselves when they are under stress or when they are anxious. We can help them

best, not by punishing, but by doing the following: recognizing signs of anxiety and stress;

preventing over stimulation and teaching calming techniques (Marion, p.140).


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REFLECTIVE PRATICE

Part – 3 Action

I took Jelicia from where she was sitting and let her sit on my lap. I wiped her tears and wet

face from crying. I told her to calm down, you are fine. You can play with your friends. I offered

her some toys that she might like to play. She was still crying. I tried to sing row, row, row your

boat to all the kids in the room. Jelicia was looking at the other children who were shaking their

shakers following me as I sang to them. She stopped crying and observed the other children but

she was still sitting on my lap. I noticed that she felt okay. I put her down and she started playing

by herself.

The calming strategy works in the situation because she was held by me, meaning she felt

secured. During transition time from play to eating, the staff will be divided into two because 2

staff will feed and I will be engaged in playing with the children while they are waiting for their

turn in eating lunch. Jelicia is a type of child who needs to warm up with the environment and

caregivers.

Part- 4 Reflection

Strengths

I have a positive attitude through both

words and actions.

Needs

I need more verbal guidance practice.

I need a firm and loud voice to get the

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REFLECTIVE PRATICE

Positive relationship with the children.

They automatically like me.

I have good interpersonal and teaching

skills.

children’s attention.

Require more experience in handling

the situation.

Part 5


Given the chance to do again, maybe I will to try change the environment to promote

behavior changes by taking Jelicia for a short walk inside the center. I will take her to the

kitchen and we will get the spoon or bowl for snacks. In this way her mind will be distracted and

she might stop crying. Touring or showing to her other places in the center like the toddler

rooms, office and kitchen; she will learn and familiarize the center’s environment.

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REFLECTIVE PRATICE

Relationship with children:

a. a. Explain the most important thing you have learned about guiding children and how

you learned it.

The most important thing I learned about guiding children is you must be very patient, firm and

affectionate too. Some children have chronic crying and as an adult or caregiver we must

understand the reason why the child is crying. Using firm voice in giving instructions and

understanding the child’s feeling is also important and I learned it through practice, practice and

practice.

b. . Describe your ability to promote the self-esteem of children and provide supporting

example.

In order to promote self-esteem of the children we need to provide an authoritative care giving

style. Authoritative caregivers are demanding in an appropriate way. They are highly responsive

to what the children need (Marion, 2011, p.178).


of children.

I used calm voice and give firm instructions to children in working with them both in one-on-one

and small groups.

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REFLECTIVE PRATICE



Artifacts and samples are proofs for documentation showing what the children have done and

learned. Interacting and engaging with the children represent my ability to develop meaningful

relationship with them.

Part 1 – Objective Observation

Time: 9:45 am

Date: March 2, 2012

Date of Birth: December 10, 2010

Child Name: Benjamin Gourdet

Observer’s Name: Junnifer

Setting: On the table doing an art activity

Context: Benjamin was sitting on a chair and scribbling his crayon on a paper that was taped on

the table. Yashwen who was sitting next to him took the colored plastic (round shape)

away from Benjamin, so he took it back and made Yashwen cry.

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REFLECTIVE PRATICE

One morning the ECE in the center was setting up an art activity. She taped a paper on the

table and ties the crayon with a string. She also put a colored plastic (round shape) on the table

for the children to look and experienced seeing all things in red through the plastic. Benjamin

was doing the art by scribbling the crayon on the paper. He was also looking at the colored

plastic, looking at the other children. Yashwen who was sitting next to him took away the

colored plastic he was looking. Benjamin took it away from Yashwen , thus making him cry. I

was observing both Yashwen and Benjamin doing their activity with the ECE. When this

situation came in, I talked to them and I apply my guidance strategy.

Part 2 – Decision

The decision I used was giving information on sharing. Giving information on sharing is

when you tell a child about how to share with each other by taking turns in looking at the colored

glass. This means Benjamin will look first and when you are done, and it will be Yashwen’s

turn now. The process will be you look first and I will look next and vice versa until you are

finished. Consider teaching children real skills as a way of giving them positive social

experiences with others. For example, how to ask for something, they might need to learn how to

take turns, how to enter a group, or how to respond to someone’s anger (Marion, 2011, p182). I

would also use another strategy which is modelling. According to Bandura, “Most human

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REFLECTIVE PRATICE

behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others, one forms an idea

of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a

guide for action.” Retrieved from http://www.learning-theories.com/social-learning-theory-

bandura.html

Showing or modelling the children on how to share is another strategy that I can use in this

situation and it is age appropriate.

According to Lev Vygotsky, any guidance strategy based on his theory relies heavily on

adult-child dialogues, talking about tasks that a child can accomplish with adult help. Children

gradually learn how to control their own behavior when adult scaffold their understanding of

social interaction (Marion, 2011, p.40).

Part 3 – Action

I walked down to Yashwen and got down to his eye level and made an eye contact and told

him that Benjamin was looking at the colored glass first. I told both of them to share, Benjamin

will look at the colored glass first and I will watch them and if Benjamin will not share I will tell

him that it is Yashwen’s turn to look now, be. I will model to them the process of sharing

because they might not understand it yet. Share the colored glass because we only have one in

the room. Learning how to share is a good practice and it will make both of you happy.

http://www.learning-theories.com/social-learning-theory-bandura.html


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REFLECTIVE PRATICE

Part 4- Reflection

Strengths

Used firm voice.

Got to the child’s eye level and make

eye contact.

Solved the problem in a positive way.

Reacting to the situation.

Needs

Need more verbal guidance practice.

Need more confident in solving the

problem.

Require more experience in handling

the situation.

Part 5


Given the chance to change I will try to offer choices. I will give Benjamin the choice to

play with a car or play with the colored glass? Offering him choices and let him decide is an

important skill a child should develop. Redirection is another strategy I can use. Giving him a toy

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REFLECTIVE PRATICE

to play is redirecting him and distracting his attention so he will forget to look for the colored

glass, then Yashwen can play with it.

Relationship with Children:

a. a. Explain the most important thing you have learned about guiding children and how

you learned it.

Another important thing I have learned in guiding children is eye contact. Get down to the

child`s level in talking or giving instruction. Through eye contact they will understand you and

they will be able to follow.

b. . Describe your ability to promote the self-esteem of children and provide supporting

example.

In order to promote self-esteem to the children acknowledge both pleasant and unpleasant

feelings. For example, a child is jealous of a new baby brother. This child is experiencing

unpleasant experience, acknowledged him and he will feel better.


of children.

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REFLECTIVE PRATICE

I used positive guidance strategy in working with children both in small groups and one-on-one.



Artifacts and samples represent the product of my activities. It will show what the children do,

how they do, the lesson they get and other things will be captured by the pictures as a proof of

the activity.

Self-Evaluation

I have learned a lot through completing the guidance log assignment. I have worked with

many children and I have learned that it is not easy guiding children. It takes a lot of patience and

practice in guiding them. In this assignment I learned that there are many different direct and

indirect guiding strategies we can use. Some strategies are appropriate to infants and toddlers

like diverting and distraction while others applies to older children like substitution, renewal time

and others. Every child is unique so different strategy will suit each child’s situation. I need to

practice, practice and practice to get more experience.

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REFLECTIVE PRATICE

References





Marion, Marian. Guidance of Young Children. (2011).Eight Edition, Pearson Education, Inc. ,

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458. pp.40, 132,140,182.





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Guidance logs assignment(loris)