Megan Grable

ECED 401
Documentation of Standard 1
March 27th, 2020

1. Title of the Artifact - Child study for ECED 398

2. Description of Artifact: This assignment was completed during The Intentional,
Reflective Teacher, ECED 398.  In the paper, I selected a child to observe, document, and
assess using the creative curriculum developmental continuum and create a plan for
development based on the data collected.
3. Key Element: 1a: Knowing and understanding young children’s characteristics and
needs, from birth through age 8.
4. How does the artifact demonstrate your competence in this area?
Through the completion of this assignment, I observed a specific child, looking at her
development in ten different domains through the Creative Curriculum Developmental
Continuum. These domains align with the California Early Learning Foundations as well
as what is outlined in the NAEYC Professional Preparation Standards which talk of how
teachers must have an understanding of “physical, cognitive, social, emotional,
language, and aesthetic domains; play, activity, and learning processes; and motivation
to learn—and is supported by coherent theoretical perspectives and by current
research.” (NAEYC, 2012, pp. 29)
By taking a variety of different types of observations of the child I was able to get to
know the child on an individual basis and have a clear understanding of who the child
was. I was looking a more than just the developmental domains, but the environment
she was raised in and the family she came from. I was able to use my knowledge of what
is developmentally appropriate expectations of a child of 18 months to see where the
child was at. I knew that this child needed a supportive environment, engaging
interactions to learn. I learned about her temperament which was slow to warm up at
first, but I got to know her better as I learned that she loved books and wanted to read.
 Through that, I was able to form a relationship with her and get a better understanding
of who she was as an individual child and what her needs are. I use my practical
knowledge of working with the child and coupled it with the creative curriculum
developmental continuum, a research-based assessment tool to build my knowledge of
developmentally appropriate practices.
5. Child Study

1. Title of the Artifact - Culturally Responsive Practices Plan Part Two: Family Perspectives
2. Description of Artifact: Completed for ECED 330 Dual Language Learners and Their
Families. The paper went over an interview I had with a family asking about culture and
their family unit.
3. Key Element: 1b: Knowing and understanding the multiple influences on early
development and learning
4. How does the artifact demonstrate your competence in this area? During the interview
I had with the parent I asked questions to get to know the family, looking at a variety of
topic s about the child and the family. We discussed their cultural background of being
both Suquamish Native and European American and how that has impacted the parent
as well as the children. The mom shared that the child was a foster placement, being a
cousin of the foster mother and that the child was born out of state but now reside on
the Suquamish reservation. Through the conversation, we touched on the family’s views
on dressing, on the importance of formal education, and family roles in the home.
In the NAEYC Professional Preparation Standards, they talk of how we must keep
multiple factors in mind when we are teaching a child including, “influences include
diverse cultural and linguistic contexts for development, children’s close relationships
with adults and peers, economic conditions of children and families, health status and
disabilities, children’s developmental variations and learning styles, opportunities to
play and learn, technology and the media, and family and community characteristics.”
(NAEYC, 2012, pp. 29) During the interview, we discussed the child’s temperament and
learning styles at school and their demeanor at home. The child had a younger sister
 who also lives with them, and they share a room. All of these aspects must be taken into
consideration when we are learning about a child.
5. Culturally and Linguistic Responsive Practices Plan

1. Title of the Artifact – My Ideal Environment

2. Description of Artifact: Completed for ECED 398, a study on a classroom environment
and the changes that can be made to it for the environment to be more supportive of
the children who use it.
3. Key Element: 1.C- Using developmental knowledge to create healthy, respectful,
supportive, and challenging learning environment
4. How does the artifact demonstrate your competence in this area?
This assignment looked at a variety of different factors that must be taken into
consideration when constructing a learning environment, not only the materials and
furniture themselves but the interactions and engagements that must accompany the
environment to make the learning experience meaningful.
Creates a healthy learning environment for young children: While doing the study, I
looked first for how safe the environment was, were there any objects that could be
choking hazards, were there climbing structures that were too tall for the 18-month-old
students? It is important for all the materials and furniture first to be healthy and safe
for the children to use before it is placed in the classroom. I looked at whether the
environment was set up so that the children could independently navigate it and help
them build a sense of autonomy.
Creates a respectful environment: The use of a respectful environment that represents
the students in the classroom is crucial. In the classroom, I observed there were
indications of this, with pictures of the children’s families on the walls, as well as
pictures of the children. There were multicultural dolls in the housekeeping area and the
books represented an array of cultures. The classroom featured drums that the parents
make for the children and the teachers would drum with the kids, singing Lushootseed
songs, a favorite being “yu’yu’bec” (pronounced yo-yo-bah-ch) which means butterfly.
 Creates a supportive environment: the classroom was set up for the children to
navigate the interest areas freely, manipulating the toys and learning from them. My
suggestion for the assignment was to add new materials to the block area so that the
children would sustain their attention longer in the area. It is crucial for the materials
brought into a classroom to be developmentally appropriate for the children and of
interest to the children. In this class, the children loved playing with transportation toys
and plastic animals. There was a mix of planned activities such as a gathering time
where the children would brush their teeth and sing songs, as well as a good portion of
free choice play where the children played in the centers with the teachers engaging
and supporting them through this play.
Creates a challenging environment
One of the most important things that must occur in the classroom is to create
opportunities for the children to build upon the knowledge they already have. This
includes using materials that are new and more difficult for the children to master. I
included some items that I know the children would need additional assistance on in my
study so that I could help scaffold the children’s learning. IN the NAEYC Professional
Preparation standards they talk of how important it is to, “construct learning
environments that provide achievable and “stretching” experiences for each child”.
(NAEYC, 2012, pp. 30) This requires the teacher to get to know where the children are at
developmentally to see what material and interactions, they will need to use to
challenge the child to grow in their development.
5. My Ideal Environment

NAEYC. (2012). NAEYC Standards for Early Childhood Professional Preparation. Retrieved from
https://www.naeyc.org/accreditation/higher-ed/standards