Busy with this case study (below), finished most questions although having difficult with part c) and not sure if i am on the right track for part e) and f). Any suggestions/comments/feedback would be much appreciated... thank you very much
Case study 5
Dante, aged 3 years 11 months, has brought in his museum entry tickets to the service to talk about at ‘news’. He and his family went to the Australian Museum on the weekend to see a dinosaur exhibit.
Later in the day you notice Dante walking around the outdoor area collecting sticks in a bucket. The educator supervising in the area asks him ‘Dante can you tell me about what’s in your bucket?’
Dante pulls a stick from his bucket and holds it up. ‘Guess what this bone is from? A tyrannosaurus’ (Pulls out another stick) ‘A stegosaurus’ (Pulls out another stick) ‘This one looks like a fossil.’ He holds up another stick ‘this is a triceratops horn. Triceratops lived in the Cretaceous Period’.
The educator makes comment, ‘Dante I think you’re a scientist who studies bones, a palaeontologist.’ Dante nods and moves away from the area looking for more sticks.
Answer the questions that follow:
a) Briefly outline how you could become involved in Dante’s play?
Answer :
I could help him gather sticks and ask open ended questions about them, engaging in his play and knowledge of dinosaurs, being interested and understanding in what he is doing and showing enthusiasm.
b) What techniques could you use to try to engage Dante in a sustained conversation about his interest? Identify two techniques in your answer.
Answer :
I could ask open ended questions relating to dinosaurs, e.g What do dinosaurs eat? And do they all eat the same thing?
I could set up an indoor sand activity involving making a dinosaur habitat and ask him to show me how to make the habitat as he has so much knowledge about dinosaurs. Always being interested and enthusiastic and patient with him..
c) In the scenario it would appear that Dante has been looking for bones on his own. List two strategies that you could use to encourage Dante to include others in his play.
Answer :
Two strategies to encourage Dante to include other in his play :
- ????
d) If other children decided to join in Dante’s play, outline how you would respond to a situation where the children showed difficulty in understanding or communicating with each other.
Answer :
I would observe the situation first and see if they managed to sort it out between them, if not, I would step in and gather all the children playing, ask Dante to explain first to the other children what he is doing and give them an opportunity for them to ask any questions to Dante relating to Dinosaurs, helping him/ them if needed, by doing this, they still are able to be independent and sort it out themselves with a little guidance from me and still letting Dante be the one to lead and help the other children in the adventure. Giving the children encouragement and praise will help them to feel supported if they are finding it hard.
e) Consider Dante’s interest and knowledge of dinosaurs then use the table below to compile a list of the resources, equipment and experiences that could be provided to challenge, intrigue and surprise him; and that will ultimately deepen and extend his knowledge and understanding of dinosaurs.
Answer :
List of Resources/Equipment/experiences :
Making a dinosaur habitat out of items found in the garden
Providing books on dinosaurs
Watching clips movies on the computer about dinosaurs
Reading stories that have dinosaurs in them
Using plastercast, creating dinosaur footprints
Getting a palaeontologist to come in for a talk to the kids
Creating dinosaur dress ups
Providing dinosaur pictures to colour or paint in
Creating dinosaurs with play doh
Providing toy dinosaurs to play with
Dinosaur stomping game (act like different dinosaurs)
f) Identify one resource, piece of equipment or experience for each type of play in the table that follows.
Type of play Experiences to intentionally scaffold learning
Onlooker play Watching the kids that are dressing up as dinosaurs in the pretend play corner
Solitary play Reading/Looking at books about dinosaurs in the reading corner
Parallel play Playing with the same type of plastic dinosaur but not playing together with them
Associative play Play dough, sitting together but doing their own thing with the play dough
Cooperative play Playing the dinosaur stomping game led by the teacher.
g) Briefly outline how intentionally extending on Dante’s interest within the curriculum will help him to build a strong sense of belonging and connectedness with the service community.
Answer :
By intentionally extending Dantes interest in dinosaurs within the curriculum, I can get the other children involved in this interest making Dante feel acknowledged, respected and secure within the group, showing him that his interests are important and his knowledge can be shared to help others know more. Dante and the other children can play together and build healthy, respectful happy relationships/ friendships, which will bring a sense of belonging and connectedness for Dante and the other children.
h) What steps could you take to facilitate Dante’s family becoming involved in the learning that is occurring?
Answer :
By documenting (observations, taking photos etc.), ask Dante to bring in some of his dinosaur collection to do a show and tell, asking Dantes family to come in to watch. I can share with Dantes family his daily happenings within the service and show them the activities that he has done involving dinosaurs, making them fully aware of his enthusiasm for dinosaurs and all the knowledge he already has about dinosaurs and has given to others, perhaps providing them with extra resources such as books or films that he can read or watch at home to enhance his knowledge and keenness to learn more about dinosaurs, this will give both Dante and his family a sense of belonging and connection with his time at childcare and help them build on their relationship together at home and support Dantes learning.
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