Module 2: Overview of Development & Developmental Domains (2/5-2/11)

Contents

Module Objectives

In this module, you will:

  1. Identify the characteristics of  growth and development
  2. Brainstorm activities for infants 0-18 months for each domain of development
  3. List behaviors for babies 0-18 months for each domain of development

Activity #1: Review of Developmental Domains

Watch the video below (stop at the 11:00 minute mark), complete this handout as you watch the video

Answer the questions below:

  1. What is the difference between?
    1. growth different from development?
    2.  developmental milestones and  age level expectations/ norms?
  2. How does brain development impact learning?
  3.  Identify at least 1 toy (from the document below) that support a baby’s (0-18 months) development each in the following domains for a baby 0-18 months & explain how an infant teacher would use the toy to support the baby development for that domain.
    1. Social development
    2. Emotional development
    3. Cognitive development
    4. Language development & communication skills
    5. Fine motor development
    6. Gross motor development
    7. Create unique in your responses
Baby Toys

CLICK HERE TO POST YOUR ANSWERS

Activity #2: Review Infant/Family Case Study

This activity has 3 parts:

  1. Review this PowerPoint and the text below on the Infant/ Family Case Study.
  2. Use Hypothesis (I explain how to use Hypothesis in this video) to ask questions and make comments about the project.
  3. When you are finished reviewing the Power Point and text below, log-onto Kahoot! (https://kahoot.it/challenge/01068795?challenge-id=d02a8329-7790-4a2d-be8d-2902407fdcce_1612388903703) to answer the questions about the Infant/Family Case Study.

INFANT/ FAMILY CASE STUDY

To enhance your skills as an infant professional, you will conduct research on an infant and family throughout this semester. You will gather information about the infant and their family, then apply what you have learned from class to paint a picture of the baby and the family. Instead of a final exam, you’ll write a Commentary Paper about a child in the context of their family and culture. You will complete the Infant/ Family Case Study in five stages:

  1. Initial Contact with the Family of an Infant Report
  2. Interview with a Family of an Infant Paper
  3. Observation of an Infant Paper
  4. Commentary Paper, Draft
  5. Commentary Paper, Final Paper

INITIAL CONTACT WITH THE FAMILY OF AN INFANT REPORT

complete & submit form on page 15 of the Assignment Guidelines or on Blackboard

The first step for your Infant/ Family Case Study is to find a family to work with. You should carefully choose the family. Select a family who:

  1. Has a child who was born between August 2019 and December 2020 and is two to 18 months old
  2. Is willing to meet with you for about an hour in the beginning of the semester
  3. Enjoys talking to you about their child and family
  4. Is not someone you already know well*

After your approach the family to introduce yourself, explain the project, and ask if they are willing to participate complete the Initial Contact with the Family of an Infant Report, which is page 15 of your Assignment Guidelines and on Blackboard and OpenLab

*Choosing a family:

It is okay for you to choose a family you know, but please do not use a relative or close friend for this assignment. We tend to have ideas and opinions about the people we know well. For this project, the goal is to learn about a family and child, and that will be easier to accomplish if you do not work with someone already close to you. If you know a family well who fits the age range and other criteria, please let me and/or your peers know so one of your colleagues can work with that family.

When you contact the family via phone or in person, introduce yourself as a student at BMCC who is studying infant and toddler development and learning. Explain that you are approaching this assignment as a professional and will respect the family’s privacy. Although you will ask questions about the child’s birth and earliest years, family members are welcome to respond to only those questions that they wish to answer. You also will be doing an observation to get to know the child. Assure the family that you are not assessing the child.

Please also explain that you are working within a tight time frame. Make sure that the family can be available when you need them. Ask the family if they can be available for additional visits and phone calls in case you have questions or want to gather more than the minimum amount of information.

CONDUCTING & WRITING THE INTERVIEW WITH THE FAMILY

Now it is time to get to know your family in more depth. To ensure everyone stays safe and healthy, conduct the visit remotely. Schedule an appointment with the family to talk by phone or video conference. You will need about an hour to conduct the interview; you may need longer. During the interview, ask the family member for permission to take notes as you talk. If the family would like a note of introduction from me, please let me know.

This interview is an opportunity to gather background material for your Commentary Paper. Here are some categories of questions to ask:

  • Pregnancy and birth
  • First weeks and self-regulation
  • Eating, sleeping, toilet learning
  • Ability to do new things (such as rolling over or reaching, for example)
  • Communication, including linguistic background, what languages the family speaks
  • Gaze and interest
  • Play activities
  • Relationships with key people, who child spends time with, who’s important
  • Reactions to strangers
  • Temperament
  • Family culture, important beliefs and practices that affect childrearing
  • Anything else you think of or that the parent wants to tell you

Try to conduct the interview as casually and conversationally as possible. Ask the family’s permission to take notes during your interview. Together we will develop questions in class that will get the family members talking openly and in detail. Most people love to talk about their children when they know someone is respectful and interested. Please do not give advice.

Conduct the interview as soon as you can – no later than March 7th – so you have plenty of time to write up your notes from the interview in detail.  As you write your paper, do not write what you and the family said verbatim. Instead, summarize what you have learned from the interview for each question.

Interview with the Family of an Infant Paper

~3 pages, typewritten, double-spaced, 12 pt font, standard 1” margins

In this 3-page paper, you will summarize your conversation with the family, sharing what you learned about the family and baby. This will lay the foundation of knowledge and information for your Commentary Paper. Use the notes from your interview to write a paper with the following 3 sections:

Section 1: Introduction:

  • Begin your paper by describing:
    • Who was involved in the interview?
    • When the interview take place? (date and time)
    • Where/ how the interview took place?

Section 2: Summary of the Interview

  • Include detailed information on the following topics:
    • Pregnancy and birth experience
    • First weeks of life
    • Eating, sleeping, eliminating/ toilet learning
    • Ability to do new things (such as rolling over or reaching, for example)
    • Gaze and interest
    • Play activities
    • Relationships with key people (who child spends time with, who’s important)
    • Reactions to strangers
    • Communication (including linguistic background, what languages family speaks)
    • Temperament and self-regulation
    • Family culture, important beliefs and practices that affect childrearing
    • Anything else you think of or that the family wants to tell you

Section 3: Conclusion

  • Close your paper with a concluding paragraph that explains:
    • What struck about the family when you when you were conducting the interview, reviewing the notes and/or reflecting on your interview while writing your paper?
    • How does what you learned during the interview connect to class? Make specific connections
    • What you hope to learn from your next visit with the family, which will be to observe the child?

Conducting & Writing Observation of an Infant

Now it is time to get to know the baby in more depth. To ensure everyone’s health and safety, the observation will be conducted virtually. Pick 1 video to watch and use this footage as your observation of an infant.  Pretend the baby in the video is the infant from your Infant/ Family Case Study family.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C71gk7wi480&list=PLJl2Nb6ClvEGHs1WN2a33PjzaM4rPBN4G

Your observation should be detailed, descriptive and as non-judgmental (objective).

When watching the video look for the following:

  • Where the observation takes place? Describe the space in detail. Who was present?
  • What the baby look like – hair, skin, facial features, body type, and clothing? (if you have seen your Infant/ Family Case Study baby, you can describe them in detail)
  • What the baby does, in general, during your observation?
  • How the baby moves (please include all types of movements)?
  • What the baby looks at, gaze at?
  • What seems to attract the baby’s interest? How can you tell?
  • What toys, materials, and/or furniture the baby uses while you are observing? How?
  • How the baby vocalizes, including cries, babbling, and using real words?
  • What other ways the baby communicates, including facial expressions and gestures?
  • How the baby interacts with people including you?
  • What routines (eating, sleeping, toileting/ diapering, bathing, playing, transitions, etc.) you observe the family engage in? What happens during the routines? How does the baby react?
  • Anything else you notice.

Try to notice and record scenarios. Capture the details of interactions between the baby and the environment, including the people in that environment.

Observation of an Infant Paper

~3 pages, type written, double spaced, standard 1” margins

In this 3-page paper, you will summarize what you observed to share what you saw and learned about the infant. This will build on your foundation of knowledge and information for your Commentary Paper. Use the notes from your observation to write a paper that had the following three sections:

  1. Introduction
    • Provide the following details about the observation:
      • Describe the setting of the observation.
        • Where did the observation take place?
      • Describe the physical space.
        • What furniture, materials, equipment were in the space?
        • How was the furniture, materials and equipment positioned/ arranged?
        • Who was present?
      • Describe the child.
        • How old is the child?
        • Describe the child’s physical appearance — hair, skin, facial features, body type, and clothing.
  1. Objective, Sequential Narrative Summary of the Observation
    • Share a chronological overview of the baby’s actions during your observation.
    • Begin with what happened at the start of your observation.
    • Capture the baby’s behavior, interactions and reactions in descriptive vignettes, or short stories. You should include 4 vignettes/ short stories of what the babies did, and how, from your observation. These vignettes/ short stories should be presented in sequential order. They should describe the baby’s behavior in detail.
      • Use objective, non-judgmental language to describe the baby’s actions, interactions, and reactions.
      • Describe the baby’s behavior and reactions using rich vivid details so the reader can picture the baby’s actions.
    • Close with what happened at the end of the observation
  1. Conclusion
    • Answer the following questions in the final paragraph:
    • What did you learn about the baby during your observation?
    • What struck you from the observation, either while you watching the video or when you were writing your paper?
    • How does this observation connect to what you have learned in class? Make specific connections

Commentary Paper Draft & Final Paper

6+ pages, type written, double-spaced,12 pt font, 1” margins, APA format for citations

In this paper you will have the opportunity to analyze all of the information you have gathered about the baby and family you studied to give a coherent and thoughtful picture of the infant in the context of their  family. You will describe the child and family, then compare and analyze what you have learned about the baby and family to what you have learned in the class. Over the course of this semester, you have gathered information about the child and family in the following ways:

  1. By interviewing/ talking to family members.
  2. By observing the baby and family.
  3. Interacting with the baby

Stage I: Commentary Paper Draft

  • Reread your Interview with the Family of an Infant Paper and Observation of an Infant Paper. Decide what you want to include from each paper.
  • Look over your course readings and materials. Mark pages in assigned course readings, other readings you have done on your own, and other materials from class. Note where in your paper you will want to include those ideas or quotations.
  • Review your class notes. Decide how they support or are in contrast to what you have said in your papers so far.
  • Cite your readings whenever you refer to one. See the APA Guideline starting on page 15 of the Assignment Guidelines.

When developing your draft, ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Is it complete? Have you written about analyzed information on:
  • The child’s appearance
  • The child’s prenatal history, birth, and early days
  • Developmental domains
  • Play & learning
  • Caregiving routines
  • The family & cultural practices
  1. Does the paper refer to six assigned course readings, and class materials?
  2. Are observations and interpretations non-judgmental (objective) and respectful of the baby and family?
  3. Does the organization of the paper make sense?
  4. Is it written in a way that enables the reader to picture the infant and family?

Note:  You are expected to revise your draft based on the comments & feedback you receive to create the final version.

Stage II: Commentary Paper Final

This paper is in place of a final exam.

Activity #3: Self-Reflection

At the end of the semester you will help to determine your grade for ECE 209 based on your Self-Assessment of what you have learned. In preparation for your Self-Assessment, answer the questions below; you will answer these questions at the end of each module so you have a record of what you have learned over the semester. You can answer the questions here on Open Lab or create a journal on Blackboard (which would be private).

  • What did you learn in this week’s modules for ECE 209-Lecture and Seminar?
    • Information/ knowledge
    • Skills
    • Insights (connections you made or “ah-ha’s” you had about the material)
  • How will the material from these modules better prepare you to work with infants?

CLICK HERE TO POST YOUR SELF-REFLECTION