CULMINATION PAPER HD 450 1

CULMINATION PAPER

HD 450

BY: EVANGELINA MADRID-KERR

7/19/16
CULMINATION PAPER 2

Abstract

The following culmination paper is of the different after school program that I

observed and compared. At each of the sites I will discussed my finding through my observation.

My focus will be on how each of the site s help or didnt children develop by analyzing

childrens social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development. I will relate my observation to

the theorist that was most similar to the programs objective. And how it affected the childrens

behavior/ development or lack their of.

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OBSERVATION

Each of the programs that I will be observing are after school programs, all

located in the Santa Clarita area. These program have different methods of assisting children,

some where Authoritarian, other Submissive, and some where a little of both. The names of the

locations, I observed where. The Boys and Girls club which was an after school program

available to low-income families, S.U.S.D. which was a after before and school program/

childcare, and Cynthias Family childcare which was a day program & after school program.

S.U.S.D. after school program had the feel of a very curriculum basis and not

individualized at all. As (Curtis, D. & Carter, M. 2008) define it as a factories served as a model

for education. Children are looked at a source of income and not the human beings that they are.

Where it is a teacher job to meets compliance, schedules, and mandated curriculum components.

The environment was very schedule oriented and didnt allow the child to explore or show

creativity. Instead it was very robotic and children were expected to be doing the same thing as

others, which I seen a lot of Children lose interest real quick, and instead of the teacher coaching

or encouraging, the children were being reprimanded for not being on task. Interesting though

this was protocol at SUSD.

At SUSD after school program the children were separated by age groups as age 5-8

being K-3rd, and ages 9- 11 being 4th and 5th graders, with 4 staff were present during the

observation. The facility was set up to be child accessible, with chair being small tables at their

level, blocks and material were all at their eye level. These children had reading/ homework

time, snack time, playtime, and mat time where the children would come in and watch T.V. So

these children were in school from 8 am to 12-2:30 p.m. and after school are still in a scheduled
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environment. My observation of the facility was that there were no individual projects going on,

and they repeated the same format as school.

Boy and Girls club on the other hand had lots of freedom, and really didnt focus on

coaching creativity. I observed a lot of things that were available to them, which children

gravitated to the computers and game room. Only a few children were in the arts and crafts

room, and no one was using the library. They had lots sports like activities as Basketball, Soccer,

and Baseball. During my observation I saw about 6 staff to 40-50 kids ages ranging from 7-18

years of age. I observed the staff more making sure of safety rather than teaching, motivating.

The only place that I observed encouraging or coaching was in the arts and crafts room, and with

sports activities by the coach. The activities were set up to be available, but the children werent

using them. The staff had to many children to attended to give individualized care, which was

understandable due to the staff/ child ratio.

My last observation took place at a family childcare center located in Santa Clairita, Ca.

Cynthias Family childcare center was a small home that was converted to a childcare. It had

normal size classroom with everything at the childrens eye level. Tables were small, chairs just

perfect for the children, toys were at eye level which were store on a shelf that divided the room,

art and craft materials was in another area of the room, but also at eye level. The children from

infant/ toddler, pre-school, and after school elementary children, ages ranged from infant to 12.

There was about 4- 6 children per staff. Each of the staff were very attentive to the children, not

in a sense enabling but more probing, encouraging and motivation. I could here the children ask

to do thing which the staff encouraged by using question that would enhances their creativity.
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ANALYSIS

I was observing the interaction each of the children at each of the facilities that I had

completed pervious observation. Through my observation I could see that each of these children

learn to adapt to all of their environments. The environment play a key role into what these

children focus on, and if it created an environment that encourage the developmental skills. Even

though SUSD was a school base program it was schedule and curriculum oriented in which it

prevented the children reaching their full potential. It was more like a tutoring center, than a

nurturing environment that motivated creativity. In comparassion to the Boys in girls club whos

environment was to lax, and didnt have the materials in plan view, which in plan view

encouraged more play, but not creative play. The environment to me that most supported the

cognitive, social, emotional and physical development was the Cynthias family childcare center.

They focused on the child individually rather than forcing the child to conform, which supported

the childs ability to think. Their eager questions, their ability to remain focus, and how they

reflected it to other things they saw in their home environment.(Madrid-Kerr, E. 2016)

THEORIST

Looking at different theorist the one that come to mind the most is Piaget and his

preoperational Stage which focus on ages Two through Seven. During this stage Singer, D.G

& Revenson, T. (1997) indicate that children this age dont have the mental capacity to form

logical or abstract thought, in which the child is dependent on what it sees. As for the child Via

In this case she correlated the colors related to the holiday to her shirt. As the other children

related it to things or props that where put for the holiday, but did not know what the holiday was

for. Which indicate that the children understood that it was a national holiday and correlated it to
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the decorations everywhere but didnt know why. Healy, J.M. (2004) state during this period of

development children lack the experience which they dont have much of a schemas to relate

the new information to. Understanding that these children at this age need the support from an

adult to show, to inform, to help, which would create new information for them to utilize. Lev

Vygotsky assumes cognitive development varies across cultures, whereas Piaget states

cognitive development is mostly universal across cultures.McLoed (2014) indicates in his

article Lev Vygotsky theory on not all children have the same cultural influence in which they do

not develop in the same pace. A child that grows up in a home that does not celebrate American

holiday would know nothing of the holiday until exposed. That perhaps the children have not yet

been expose to the history behind the holiday. Which would come later when they are taught

history in school. two different theories, in which the first one was from Erik Ericson Identity vs.

Role Confusion, During adolescence (age 12 to 18 years) the transition from childhood to

adulthood is most important. Children are becoming more independent (McLeod, S. 2008) The

individual wants to belong to a society and fit in. Which in Ls case was doing so with her peers

while playing volleyball. L as any young adolescent her age was trying to do was fit in with all

the other peers her age. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, which included five motivational needs,

often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid. The five model can be divided into basic

(or deficiency) needs (e.g. physiological, safety, love, and esteem) and growth needs (self-

actualization). (McLeod, 2013) L was working on her esteem through recognition with her

peers, and Ls mother was a threat to one of her hierarchy of needs (esteem). Or at least in her

perception as indicated when they spoke later after the game. As L stated to her mother Why do

you always have to embarrass me in front of my friends.

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REFLECTION

As I did my observation this time I tired to look at it in a different perspective. I enjoyed

just watching and taking notes on the children and teaches interactions. I removed my

assumption in each situation, and just wrote what I observed. I had various feelings during the

observation. I love how the children wanted more information and continued to ask many

questions. I appreciated that the caregiver didnt choose the colors or the material for the

children, but allowed them to reflect on pervious 4th of July crafts, which encourage the children

to use their own thinking. After everything was finish these 4 years did such a great job, with

limited assistant. It had me thinking maybe I take that process away from my children when I put

only limited craft and supplies out. Taking away their choices. I enjoyed this observation because

I love watching little children curiosity.

References:

Curtis, D., & Carter, M. (2008). Learning together with young children: A curriculum
framework for reflective teachers. St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.

Desired Results Developmental Profile School-Age (n.d.) Retrieved May31,2016 from

http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/drdpforms.asp
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Healy, J. M. (2004). Your child's growing mind: Brain development and learning from birth to

adolescence. New York: Broadway Books.

H. (2014). 2009 Child Development Theorists from Freud to Erikson to Spock and Beyond 1.

Retrieved May 31, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5WsK7Sy4Xs

McLoed,,S. (n.d.). Lev Vygotsky. Retrieved July 04, 2016, from

http://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html

McLeod, S. (n.d). Erik Erikson.. Retrieved June 20, 2016, from

http://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik- Erikson.html#identity

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. (2007). Retrieved June 20, 2016, from

http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

Singer, D. G., & Revenson, T. A. (1997). A Piaget primer: How a child thinks. Madison, CT:

International Universities Press.