Aussie Childcare Network Forum

HI,
I am having a lot of trouble answering the first part (a) of this question and subsequently part b and c, seem to be having a complete mental block!!! Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated, thank you very much

Question :

Read the following background information and observations of Dexter, then in the space provided:
a. Record what you think the observations tell you about Dexter’s strengths, interests and needs.
b. Identify four experiences or opportunities that you could implement to support Dexter’s development and progress.
c. Outline the interactions you would suggest to meet his individual needs.

Background information about Dexter
Dexter lives with his family who recently moved from England to Australia. Dexter’s father works in the banking and financial services industry, and commutes to work each day by bus. The commute is approximately 30 minutes each way. Dexter’s mother is a Midwife, and has recently started working at the local hospital.
Dexter is 2 ½ years old, and has an older sister, Annabelle, aged 4. Both attend the service on a full-time basis. Dexter is in the 2-3-year-old room, Annabelle is in the 3-5-year-old room.
Dexter’s mother has told you he has a strong interest in animals, in particular elephants and lions. She made comment that, at home, he chooses to play with his animal figurines over many of his other toys. He also likes dinosaurs and bath time. It is not uncommon for Dexter to take his animal figurines and toy dinosaurs into the bath to play with them in the water.

Observations

Observation 1
Dexter was sitting on the mat stacking blocks on top of each other. Every time his tower collapsed he cheered, clapped his hands together and rebuilt it.
Observation 2
Dexter was squatting on the floor in the indoor area of the 2-3-year-old room; in front of him were three jumbo plastic beads, each square and green. Next to him was the storage tub with more beads of assorted shapes and colours along with the threading laces.
He reached into the tub with his right hand, pulled out a threading lace. Attached to the lace, and tied in a knot, was a green round bead. Dexter looked at this bead, and said ‘it’s a circle.’ He picked up one of the square beads from in front of him, and using his right hand threaded it onto the same lace. He then picked up another of the beads from the floor and said, ‘It’s a square’, before threading it onto the lace.
He picked up the third bead from in front of him, looked at the one already threaded onto the lace, and said ‘it’s the same’. Showing Michael, aged 2, who was sitting next to him, ‘Michael look, it’s the same’. Michael responded ‘Yeah!’ Once Michael responded, he threaded the bead onto the lace.
He then found another bead at his feet. He picked it up, brought the bead closer to his face, as if to inspect it, before putting the bead into the tub and getting out a green one to thread onto the string. ‘You’re making a colour pattern,’ I said, showing him all the green beads he had put onto the string and he replied ‘Yeah, Becca!’
Observation 3
Dexter was in the outdoor art area. He was standing at the painting table, and picked up a shaving brush with his right hand. He was gripping it tightly, with his smallest finger near the bristles and his thumb at the rear of the brush – as though he was holding a javelin. He dabbed the brush into the blue paint tray, and then dabbed the brush hard onto the paper in front of him. He is not looking at the paper. He repeats this movement several times, dabbing in various places on the paper. By about the sixth time, there is no paint left on the brush. He looks at the paper, then at the paint trays. Dexter then dabbed his brush into the red paint tray. Again he dabs the brush hard on to the paper while looking around the area. He repeated this three times. Each time the brush hit the paper, he made a quiet ‘Ahhh’ sound. Dexter stepped away from the table, looked at his paper, tossed the brush onto the table and ran towards the sandpit.
Observation 4
In the art corner, a table was set up with two containers of paint, paper and some foam stamps. Dexter and Michael were both standing at the table. Megan asked ‘would you like to do some stamping?’ Both Dexter and Michael nodded. Dexter started to stamp his paper. After a few stamps, Dexter stamped his right hand, and made some hand prints on his paper. Michael was watching Dexter and he decided to do some hand prints as well. They moved their hands all over their paper, until, with a little giggle, Dexter stamped his nose. More giggling and Michael stamped his nose too. When they looked at each other it made them giggle again. Megan commented ‘oh, you have made face paint’ and they giggled even more.
Observation 5
Dexter was in the sand pit filling a bucket with sand using a spade. He grabbed a spade from Michael. Michael squealed, and pulled at the bucket Dexter was using. Dexter hit him with his hand. Michael let go of the bucket and started playing with a truck.
Observation 6
Dexter tried to take a truck from Michael. Rebecca was watching and intervened. Rebecca said to Dexter, ‘ask Michael for a turn’. Dexter looked at Rebecca, dropped the truck and walked away.
Observation 7
Dexter was in the sand pit sitting next to Cullum. Both were engaged in filling empty buckets with sand. Dexter pulled a spade from Cullum’s hand, and then hit him on the head with it. Cullum threw sand at Dexter. Rebecca intervened, saying ‘No, that is not what you do to your friends. If you would like the spade you have to ask Cullum’. Dexter watched as Rebecca gave attention to Cullum.
Observation 8
Dexter was sitting in the sand pit by himself. He dug his spade into the sand and then poured it back into the sand. Dexter looked around, and then retrieved a sieve that was in his reaching distance. Dexter picked it up and put it next to him. He turned around and picked up his spade and again dug it into the sand, lifting his spade and moving it towards the sieve, he poured the sand into the sieve. Watching to see if all the sand had gone from the spade, he put the spade down and then picked up the sieve and holding it with two hands, he swished the sand through the sieve until it was all gone.
Observation 9
Dexter was sitting on the floor looking at some books when he picked up a book full of pictures of different babies. I sat down with him and we began looking through the book. ‘That’s me!’ Dexter said, pointing to a picture of a baby smiling. He turned to the next page, saying ‘look, that’s me!’, again pointing to another baby picture. Dexter continued this for while saying ‘that’s me’ to every picture until he came across a picture of an upset baby, ‘that’s a naughty baby’ he informed me, pointing. He continued flipping until he came across a picture of a baby girl, ‘that’s Anna’ he said.
Observation 10
Dexter was sitting next to Willow when the threading beads were placed in front of them to play with. Willow reached for one first. She picked up a red lacing thread with a blue circle block knotted to the end of it. She pulled on the lace. Next, she picked up a purple bead. Dexter, who had been watching her, held the end of the string for Willow as she attempted to put the bead on the lace. The first attempt was unsuccessful as the bead dropped to the floor and rolled away. Dexter gave chase to the bead and bought it back over to Willow who smiled and took it from him when he passed it to her. She attempted again to thread this bead and was successful. As the bead slid to the bottom of the line, Dexter passed her another bead which happened to be yellow. ‘What colour is this bead?’ I asked. Willow just looked at me and Dexter paused for a moment, ‘ello’ he said trying to pronounce the word ‘yellow’. I smiled at him and nodded my head as he reached into the box and picked up a yellow threading lace and a green bead. He threaded this bead and it slid straight to the bottom and off of the end of the string. He laughed at this and held up his lace for me to inspect. ‘There’s no knot in this string, I’ll help you fix it’ I told him. He picked up the bead, along with the lace, and passed them both to me so I could fix it. Once this was done, he reached over to me for it. Taking it, he said ‘thanks Becca’ and sat by the box threading more beads.

Answer so far :

Strengths :

Recognising Colours and shapes
Shows a preference for using his right hand
Is able to play independently
Verbal and non verbal communication with teacher

Interests :
Animals in particular elephants and lions
Dinosaurs
Playing in the sand pit
Threading
Shapes/colours

Needs :

More group play, learning to share and play together
Support and Build on confidence in playing with others
Extension in learning more about shapes and colours
Extension of fine motor skills, holding a paintbrush correctly
Encouragement to build friendships with other children
To feel a sense of belonging

Hi,
Just wondering if anybody has had a chance to have a look at my question?, to know if i am on the right track would be great and any advise would be greatly apreciated. Thank you very much

Thank you Lorina, your feedback is always greatly appreciated. Do you think there is anything I have forgotten?, just feel like I haven't identified everything look forward to hearing from you

Thank you Lorina, I have now finished the questions, would you mind taking a look and letting me know what you think, I am not sure if i answered part c correctly. Much appreciated, thank you

Strengths

Recognising Colours and shapes
Shows a preference for using his right hand
Is able to play independently
Language skills/ Verbal and non verbal communication with teacher


Interests

Animals in particular elephants and lions
Dinosaurs
Playing in the sand pit
Threading
Shapes/colours

Needs

More group play, learning to share and play together
Support and Build on confidence in playing with others
Extension in learning more about shapes and colours
Extension of fine motor skills, holding a paintbrush correctly
Extending his language skills
Build friendships with other children
To feel a sense of belonging


b. Developmentally appropriate learning possibilities
Identify four experiences or opportunities (learning possibilities) that you could implement to support Dexter’s learning and development. In selecting your activities, give careful consideration to what you know about his strengths, interests and needs so that you can plan accordingly. You need to also outline why you have selected the particular activity or opportunity for Dexter – e.g. what are you aiming to achieve by implementing the experience with Dexter and how will it help him achieve learning outcomes outlined in the EYLF.
Each activity must be age and developmentally appropriate. If unsure, return to the units of competency Provide experiences to support children’s play and learning and Support the holistic development of children in early childhood, the information in these units will help you decide if your selections are appropriate or not.


Activity or experience

Activity 1:

Making dinosaur fossils and digging for them Brief description:
Make a salt dough adding in brown food colouring, roll into balls and flatten, push the plastic dinosaur figures into the dough to make imprints of them, bake to harden and paint imprint with watered down brown paint. Fill a large tub full of sand or section of an area in the outdoor sandpit , on the opposite side of the imprinted dough stick pictures of different shapes or letters or colours and then bury the dough fossils in the sand. Have the children dig for fossils using a mini spade and place them in the baskets labelled with the same shape/colour/letter. This activity will appeal to Dexter as he has a love for dinosaurs while extending his learning for shapes, colours and letters. The activity can be played in groups by the children taking turns which will also teach the children to share and to have patience waiting for their turn.

Rationale (state why you have chosen this experience – e.g. what are you aiming to achieve by implementing the experience with Dexter and how will it help him achieve learning outcomes outlined in the EYLF.)
From my knowledge through the observation I have chosen this activity for Dexter as I was aware from his mother he liked dinosaurs. I wanted to give him a sense of belonging by providing an activity which I knew he would like and be happy doing. I also chose this activity as I knew his strengths in shapes and colours and I wanted to create an activity that could extend his knowledge and also introduce him to new letters/colours/shapes. By making the dough fossils he could work together with his friends to create the activity which will encourage him to collaborate with his friends and build his confidence within the group. Also by using the paintbrush, he can practice and progress in his fine motor skills. When doing this activity within a group, Dexter will be able to practice his sharing skills and learn to build considerate, respectful relationships with his friends by learning to taking turns and have patience. This activity will help him work towards the Learning Outcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity, helping him to feel safe and supported within the service and for him to learn how to react in relation to others with care empathy and respect.

Activity 2:

Sorting shapes in a Sensory bin
This activity is great for sensory exploration and involves catching and scooping up coloured shape buttons and sorting them into the matching containers. The catch, scooping and releasing action mimics that of a child using scissors and provides a safe and fun opportunity to develop scissor skills.
Sorting Shapes in the Sensory Bin is a fun activity for children to learn about shapes, colours while developing their fine motor skills.
You will need a small tub, 4 small containers, handy scoopers, shape buttons, and black aquarium rocks.

Rationale (state why you have chosen this experience – e.g. what are you aiming to achieve by implementing the experience with Dexter and how will it help him achieve learning outcomes outlined in the EYLF.)
From the observations I was able to determine Dexters’s interest in shapes, I have chosen this activity to extend his learning of shapes and to build on his fine motor skills, control and coordination. Helping Dexter to problem solve and to overcome challenges as well as helping him to gain the confidence within the group by providing him with activities he enjoys doing. Building on his mathematic skills by recognising shapes and their characteristics. This activity will also help his concentration and help him to be involved with other children within the service. As Dexter is relatively new to the service and has come over from another country it is of upmost importance to make him feel welcome and comfortable in his setting and integrate him with the other children of the service. The learning outcome I am working towards with this activity is Learning Outcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity, helping him to feel safe and supported within the service and Leanring Outcome 3 : Children have a strong sense of well being.

Activity 3:

Group Activity, reading to the children about animals and making an animal habitat
At group time, children can sit in a circle and listen to the animal book being read, talking afterwards about the book with the kids and encourage children to participate, asking them what their favourite animal is, what noises the make etc.. Extending the activity by providing an animal activity table, Fill up a water trough and create an underwater zoo with all different types of plastic aquatic animals, corals, rocks, etc. Provide picture books on the table for the children to look through and learn more about the animals.

Rationale (state why you have chosen this experience – e.g. what are you aiming to achieve by implementing the experience with Dexter and how will it help him achieve learning outcomes outlined in the EYLF.)
By communicating with Dexters mother, I am aware of Dexters love for animals and also playing with water. I thought by having a group activity such as reading an animal book would help Dexter to integrate into the childcare setting and by using an interest of Dexter he will feel more comfortable and will be able to show his interest and knowledge to the rest of the children, therefore giving him a sense of achievement and belonging within the group. I extended the activity with an animal activity that includes water, again as I know from his mum he likes to play with his animals in the bath at home, he will enjoy this activity and it will further his interest and learning on animals. By creating a group activity run by myself I can see how Dexter interacts with the children and encourage and praise his behaviour within the group. The learning outcomes I am working towards with this activity are Learning Outcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity, helping him to feel safe and supported within the service and Learning Outcome 3 : Children have a strong sense of well being, Learning Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners - Children transfer and adapt what they have learned from one context to another, Learning Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators - Children interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes

Activity 4:

Painting with cotton buds
Provide an activity table set up with different coloured paints, paper and some cotton buds. Allow children to use their creativity, display their work once dry.


Rationale (state why you have chosen this experience – e.g. what are you aiming to achieve by implementing the experience with Dexter and how will it help him achieve learning outcomes outlined in the EYLF.)
Through the observations of Dexter I became aware of his need to practice with his grip while painting and to further his fine motor skills. By providing Dexter with the cotton buds to paint with he can practise his pincing and gripping skills with a thinner object than a paint brush which will encourage him to use the correct technique and build his finger muscles. Displaying the childrens work once finished will give them a sense of achievement and their families can admire their great work and build on their childs confidence. By using an alternative to a paintbrush, Dexter will perhaps be more interested in doing the painting and therefore encourage him to have a good go. The learning outcomes I am working towards with this activity are Learning Outcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity, helping him to feel safe and supported within the service and Learning Outcome 3 : Children have a strong sense of well being, Learning Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners - Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity..

c. Interactions you would suggest to meet Dexter’s individual needs
Outline the interactions you would suggest to meet one of Dexter’s identified needs. Keep in mind that a need can often be a strength that can be extended on, and can also be skills and understandings that children are ready to learn, and that will help them complete every day activities.

Identified need :

Support and Build on confidence in playing with others

Suggestion interactions :

Provide opportunities for Dexter to express himself, talk with him, get to know him, build a confident, trusting and caring relationship with him

Providing toys such as blocks, dolls, dress-up clothes, trains, and cars will promote social interactions.
I can promote interactions by teaching Dexter and other children specific ways to ask other children to play, to share toys, to take turns, to express affection and to help other children. Read books that talk about sharing, playing together, feelings, emotions, etc. Use puppets to encourage him to show his feelings.

Always be a good Role model, having respectful and trusting relationships with my colleagues, families and the children.

Assisting Dexter to control his aggressive behaviour will encourage the formation of friendships, help him negotiate the difficult things with other children.

I can effectively promote social interaction by encouraging Dexter to play together and by praising him when he does so.

Planning small group activities that require cooperation and sharing will help motivate Dexters’s socially interactive behaviour.

Involving and communicating closely with his family to build a respectful relationship with them, providing both them and Dexter with the support required to feel comfortable and part of the service.

Provide Dexter with activities/ experiences that involve his interests and likes, building his sense of belonging

Respecting his needs and never force him to play with others.

Thank you