Review the Laureate Education media segment How to Observe Children in the Learning Resources. Familiarize yourself with developmental milestones for young children between the ages of 3 and 5. Then, watch the Laureate Education media segment Child Development: Preschool Children and complete the following:

Based on your observations of children between the ages of 3 and 5, provide the following:

Anecdotal descriptions for each of the developmental domains:

• Social-emotional
• Cognitive
• Language
• Physical

Three anecdotal descriptions that capture the interrelationship between developmental domains

Guidelines for anecdotal descriptions: Your anecdotal descriptions provide an objective summary of what you observed in the areas of social-emotional, cognitive, language, and physical development. For each description, be sure to include specific language that captures the nuances of development. Your descriptions should focus on one or two children and be a half page to 1 page in length for each developmental area and for each description of an interrelationship.

Following completion of your anecdotal descriptions for both age groups (birth to 2 and ages 3 to 5), write a 2- to 3-page reflection paper that responds to the following questions about your observation experiences:

• How do the observation data you gathered and the process you used to observe inform your ability to conduct observations in the field?
• What questions emerged during the observation process about the children in the media segment and the overall experience of observing? Did you experience challenges in remaining objective? If so, what were these challenges?
• As you reflect on the observation process and experience, what questions arise?
• What else would you like to know about the children you observed (related to individual and environmental factors)? What strategies could you use to gather this information?
• How did the data you obtained during your observation deepen your understanding of children’s development and learning and the interrelationship between developmental domains?
• What additional information do you need to acquire about how children develop? How could you obtain this information?
• How did what you observe exemplify what you are learning about within the course?
• How does data gathered during observation support your current role and/or future role in the field?

Discussion

Imagine the following scenario:

You have accepted a position as executive director for your state’s child care resource and referral system. As part of defining your new role, you have decided to conduct a survey to see what key issues exist within your state’s early childhood education system related to service quality, access, and implementation, and how you, as a leader and advocate, can address these issues.

The results of your survey indicate that many of the resource and referral agencies within your state are struggling with issues related to funding and a perceived lack of professionalism. Individual agencies, for example, have had a challenging time convincing policy makers that the first years of life are critical in terms of development and learning and are essential periods of time requiring high-quality care and education. As well, agencies have had challenges with the image of professionals in the field, with many early childhood professionals expressing that others view them as “babysitters” despite their extensive training and education.

After taking the time to think about effective connecting points for addressing these issues, you decide that a common education point—one that would benefit both policy makers and consumers in terms of their perceptions of the field of early childhood in general, and child development in particular—is the importance of brain development in the early years. 

Post an explanation of how you will share information on brain development with early childhood stakeholders to support their understanding of the critical importance of brain development on healthy development and learning. Your explanation should include the following:

• A research-based advocacy message that you feel is essential for stakeholders to hear
• What role (if any) you believe early childhood professionals have as advocates related to current brain research and brain development, and how this role can best be enacted
• Your goals and plans for dissemination of brain development information
• Potential obstacles and misinformation as well as levers that you feel might inhibit or benefit your ability to disseminate information regarding brain development