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The first vignette is six minutes and nine seconds, and we are introduced to Megan. Megan is four years and eight months old (fifty-six months total). I like converting a child’s age into months because it seems the DRDP (California Department of Education, 2015) and California Preschool Learning Foundations (Child Development Division, 2012a) use months as measurements for a child’s age. Anyway, Megan is wearing a smock, she is facing a blank canvas, and she is holding a paint brush. The first thing that stood-out to me was Megan’s highly developed fine-motor skills. She never fumbles or drops the paint brushes. And she mostly stays “within the lines” while painting. Although she does mix colors on the canvas towards the end of the video, it is my subjective observation that she did it on purpose. Another subjective observation is during the close-up shot of Megan’s face (4:02), she is so focused, sticking her tongue out, tilting her head. Megan uses a pen that is hanging by a string above the canvas to autograph her finished work. I love everything about that painting area: the brushes, the cups of paint, the newspaper underneath to protect the area, the painting smock that Megan is wearing.

Additional things that I noticed in this vignette was that there is lots of loud, ambient child noises in the background. Megan is aware she is being filmed. I noticed an “easel” sign with a picture above Megan’s painting.

Megan’s age puts her in Erik Erikson’s stage of Initiative versus Guilt. Preschoolers like to initiate activities and emphasize doing things ‘all by myself’ (Paris et al., 2019, p. 17).

According to the Child Development Division (2012a), at around sixty-months of age, children will identify and use a variety of shapes in their everyday environment. They will also combine different shapes to create a picture or design (p. 157). Megan, although she is only fifty-six months of age, exhibits these traits in the vignette.

Additionally, Megan demonstrates increasing coordination and motor control when working with the paint brushes. Megan continually adjusts her grip on the brush, and we never see her drop the brush (Child Development Division, 2012b, p. 9).

I found this quote from our textbook and I found it fascinating:

The painting progress of children is not as well-documented as their drawing progress. In general, children begin by simply experimenting with brushstrokes and the process of applying paint to a surface. Children’s first paintings are usually solid sections of a single color, two colors, or three colors at the most. The brushstrokes begin to change directions, and shapes emerge. Finally, children begin to attempt representational paintings. The subject matter of such paintings varies depending on the child, the teacher, and the environment (Paris et al., 2019, p. 249).

I am going to use a strategy called “webbing” that I found in our textbook. “Webbing provides endless planning opportunities from simply observing the activities, skills, and interests exhibited … a web can begin from a skill to develop, but it can also be used in a Theme/Unit Approach (Paris et al., 2019, p.71).

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I am going to use a strategy called “webbing” that I found in our textbook. “Webbing provides endless planning opportunities from simply observing the activities, skills, and interests exhibited … a web can begin from a skill to develop, but it can also be used in a Theme/Unit Approach (Paris et al., 2019, p.71).

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This method uses brainstorming to create ideas and connections from children’s interests to enhance developmental skills. Webbing can look like a “Spider’s Web” or it can be organized in list format. (Paris et al., 2019, p.70).

Regarding the math activity for Megan, I would use a hands-on activity (fine-motor-skills) involving sorting, and classification. We learned earlier in the semester that foundational math concepts are best learned through concrete experiences that may not seem to be related to mathematics. During snack/lunch time I would task Megan with sorting and classifying the recyclables (for used bottles, paper, and plastic). Classification, as defined by Child Development Division (2012a), involves sorting, grouping, or categorizing objects according to established criteria (p. 145). Recycling promotes a closer connection with the natural environment and fosters an appreciation of its value (Derman-Sparks, 2020, p. 137).

The webbing featured in Figure 4.2 has fine-motor-skills as the starting point. Wow, how convenient! So according to that web, for Music/Movement, I would have Megan craft “shakers,” with beads and recycled water bottles! It aligns perfectly with the recycling sorting activity too!

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Here is a running record with objective and subjective observation notes:

This vignette is five minutes seven seconds long.
[0:26]
Hunter is 1 year, 10 months
Subjective opinion: Hunter is in Erik Erikson’s stage of Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt. Mobile toddlers have newfound freedom they like to exercise and by being allowed to do so, they learn some basic independence” (Paris et al., 2019, p. 17).
[0:36]
Hunter has his hand/thumb in his mouth and is holding a blanket in his left arm.
[0:50]
Teacher: Look Hunter, a caterpillar.
Hunter: *indistinguishable language*
Teacher: oh you want to water the plants.
Hunter: *nods*
Teacher: Okay let’s go water the plants.
[1:45]
Hunter standing away from the boys at the sensory table watching them wash dolls with water and wash cloths. Hunter approaches table, and begins to remove all the dolls and washcloths from the water.
[2:22]
During dramatic play time, Hunter has a toy vacuum, and is squirming with it while his peers are sitting at a table serving fake food.
[3:18]
Hunter on wooden beam.
[3:58]
Hunter acquires blocks, creates an avalanche of blocks, and starts laughing. Hunter bumps his head while trying to acquire more blocks but recovers quickly, gets up, teacher approaches, Hunter sits back down with blocks laughing.
Subjective opinion: these blocks are great sensory materials in my opinion! I remember them from my childhood. The blocks have a large cardboard texture, make muffled-hollow sounds, are different colors, and are lightweight.
[4:53]
I notice that the railings are covered with anti-head trauma material. And the child in the red-striped shirt is munching on a toy taco for the duration of the vignette.

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The only skills that Hunter has modestly displayed are his gross motor skills. Hunter is seen walking around the room, and walking on the wooden beam.

An outside experience that incorporates nature and science would be modeling how to blow bubbles and watching the bubbles as the wind carries them away. This sounds very basic, but I think Hunter would love this. Need to use edible bubble-water though because I noticed Hunter loves to put things in his mouth. Although this is something measured in four-year-olds, blowing bubbles can also promote interactions with peers (part of  Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory) … by holding the bubble wand for another child so they can blow bubbles too (Child Development Division, 2012a,  p. 12)

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Image courtesy of Theorist–Bronfenbrenner (n.d.).

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I cannot tell whether it is because they have small hands, or they are actually using wider pencils … the Child Development Division (2012a) lists the width of the marker or pencil (so that it is easier to grasp) as Assistive Technology. Other forms of assistive technology include a clipboard to hold the paper in place, and visual aids.

Tyler, Malik, and Dontasia are all under sixty-months, and they are all on-track in their writing development according to the Child Development Division (2012a). The three children all demonstrate increasing emergent writing skills. They are all using assistive technology. They all hold the pencil with finger grasp to write/draw, and they write letters or letter-like shapes to represent words or ideas (p. 70).

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Tyler, Malik, Dontasia In-Depth Observations

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Tyler, Malik, Dontasia In-Depth Observations

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More specifically, Tyler (52 months) narrates his writing, step-by-step. He communicates each letter as he writes them down on the paper. Tyler writes strings of symbols that look like letters and writes actual letters, which are varied in directionality (p. 70). For Tyler, I believe he is ready for all the assistive technology to be stripped away. This means writing his name without the visual aid, and perhaps starting a “weekend journal,” where he can write down what he did over the weekend. This would be an example of placing Tyler in his Zone of Proximal Development, and we can provide scaffolding in the form of assistive technology if needed. Mcleod (2019) defines scaffolding as an adult continually adjusting the level of his or her help in response to the learner's level of performance.

Malik (53 months) is silent when writing. Malik writes actual letters, which are varied in directionality as well. As he writes with his right-hand, his left-hand is holding the paper in place (p. 70). I would recommend Malik use chalk and go write outside on the pavement. Using chalk instead of a pencil gives a way different sensory experience.

Dontasia (49 months) also silent, is writing with a pencil, paper, and clipboard underneath. There are no letters discernible in Dontasia's writing. I would recommend Dontasia put on a painting smock, and just paint. Similar to what Megan did in the first vignette. This will further hone her fine-motor skills.

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I stated this earlier, but Megan’s age puts her in Erik Erikson’s stage of Initiative versus Guilt. Preschoolers like to initiate activities and emphasize doing things ‘all by myself’ (Paris et al., 2019, p. 17). Megan is seen in the vignette alone at the easel. But the math and music/movement activities I suggested for her I feel would require more social interaction.

Honestly it looks like Hunter just woke up from a nap. He seems socially distant for half of the video. Therefore, I want to try to engage Hunter both academically and socially. I want him to work as a team with his peers and get involved in meaningful learning experiences to enable positive development. I believe blowing bubbles would be an enticing activity that would touch on the first level of Bronfenbrenner's theory, the microsystem. While blowing bubbles with his peers outside, Hunter is in direct contact with his immediate environment, and teachers. The interactions occurring during this activity would be “crucial for fostering and supporting the child’s development” (Guy-Evans, 2020).

The third vignette is a showcase of Vygotsky’s ZPD and scaffolding in action! Tyler, Malik, Dontasia are all using assistive technology (scaffolding) in the forms of visual aids, a clipboard, and large pencils. The activities I suggested, also incorporate Vygotsky’s ZPD and scaffolding.

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Theorist–Bronfenbrenner. (n.d.). Red Rocks Community College. Retrieved June 3, 2021, from https://www.rrcc.edu/sites/default/files/early-childhood-education-bronfenbrenner-circles.pdf

Guy-Evans, O. (2020, November 9). Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/Bronfenbrenner.html

Child Development Division. (2012a). California Preschool Learning Foundations (Volume 1). California Department of Education. http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/pn/rc/

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2020). Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves, Second Edition. The National Association for the Education of Young Children.

California Department of Education. (2015). Desired Results Developmental Profile: Preschool-age Children. http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/drdpforms.asp

Feeney, S., Moravcik, E., & Nolte, S. (2019). Who Am I in the Lives of Children? An Introduction to Early Childhood Education (11th Edition). Pearson Education.

Paris, J., Beeve, K., & Springer, C. (2019). Introduction to Curriculum for Early Childhood Educators: Version 1.1. College of the Canyons.

Mcleod, S. (2019, March 24). The Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/Zone-of-Proximal-Development.html