The Registry Preschool Credential

Self-Assessment: Preschool Teaching Practices

Be concise in answering the statements/questions in each box. The NAEYC criteria for National Accreditation is the basis of this
self-assessment to demonstrate alignment with the Standards and to familiarize students with this national accreditation process.

Describe how your curriculum plans reflect an emphasis on play-based learning.

The children are encouraged to pick their own materials and be creative with their ideas. In the art
activity they are encouraged to use a variety of materials.

Describe how you support ample time for child-directed play and child choice of play materials.
Children are able to play freely for long periods of time. This helps them to explore what they want to
and be creative in their own ways. I have noticed that some like to stick to the same areas which really
shows their personality. When they are having to clean up they are given notice beforehand so they do
not need to stop their play abruptly.

Give examples of how you join children in learning centers during play/work time to extend and
deepen children’s learning and model play and prosocial skills.
I have joined children in playing to get them thinking deeper. For example, we have played in the
kitchen area and the kids love to serve me food. I ask them to bring me things such as something to
drink or a fruit. This way they are still having some freedom to choose but also is more specific in
giving them something to look for.

Give examples of situations when you supported children’s social play skills by helping them enter in
to, sustain, and enhance play with peers.
I have helped a certain child who likes to stay off by themselves. I encouraged her to go and play by
others. It helped her at first to just play next to them. When she was comfortable, she asked to play
with the children. They were positive and accepted her into the play scene.

Give examples of how you lead varied opportunities to help children learn physical games with rules
and structure, stimulate a variety of skills, enhance sensory-motor integration and development of
controlled movement (balance, strength, coordination. How is the YoungStar criteria for 15 minutes of
teacher-led activities met?
The kids learned how to play duck duck goose on a rainy day. They were able to move around with
control and also run around the circle and sit down fast. This was fun to witness as they would go
around the circle a couple times forgetting to sit down.

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 The Registry Preschool Credential
Self-Assessment: Preschool Teaching Practices
Give examples of how you support varied opportunities for children to develop a sense of competence
and positive attitudes toward learning, such as persistence, engagement, curiosity, and mastery.
Recently there was a child who was upset and did not want to play a game because she said that she
always loses. I encouraged her and told her that it’s okay to lose and all that matters is that you try and
have fun. I reminded her that sometimes we lose but sometimes we win, and you will never know until
you try. After a while she joined in playing the game.

Give examples of how you plan varied opportunities for children to develop communication and
vocabulary by responding to questions, communicating needs, thoughts, and experiences, describing
things and events, conversations, and experiences such as field trips.
After doing activities I like to ask the kids what they did and how they did it. This way they are able to
recall the event or activity in detail. They are able to think about what they did, so they will be able to
explain their thoughts. This also helps check for understanding and see what the kids learned.

Give examples of how you support the development and maintenance of the child’s home language
whenever possible. Do you try to learn familiar words, terms or phrases in child’s language? Are there
opportunities for children to see other languages in print?
All of the kids have English as their home language. Spanish is still incorporated into their routine.
They like to sing the months or days in Spanish. They also learn the colors in English and Spanish.
They are working on counting in Spanish as well. Some of the books and posters have different
languages on them also.

Give examples of how you model functional use of writing and help children to discuss the many
ways writing is used in daily life. Do you give children daily opportunities to write or dictate their
ideas? Do you give children assistance in writing the words and messages they are trying to
communicate? Do you support various types of writing, including scribbling, letter-like marks, and
developmental spelling?
Children are able to write when they would like to. They see writing used when the teacher writes
things down and talks about it. The kids are able to write what they want and usually ask for assistance
for what they are writing. They work on their names and getting the lettering down. They try and write
in the lines but also are encouraged to write on their own.

How often and when do you read books children? Give examples of how you engage in
conversations that help children understand the content of the book.
Books are read throughout the day. The kids usually are interested and want to read new books. In the
morning is usually when they read the most. They also read before nap and sometimes when they wake
up from nap depending on when they wake up. During the book I usually will ask questions about what
they think is going to happen or to identify an object on the page. They usually will go into a story
about something that relates to the book.

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 The Registry Preschool Credential
Self-Assessment: Preschool Teaching Practices
Give examples of how you can support children to explore books on their own and provide places that
are conducive to the quiet enjoyment of books. Describe how children have access to a variety of
book types, including storybooks, factual books, books with rhymes, alphabet books, and wordless
books.
There is a library in the room which has a bookshelf of some books. There is a nice seating area over
there for them to read by themselves or with a friend. The book area is located away from some of the
more louder play areas. They have access to all types of books.

Give examples of how you can support opportunities for children to become familiar with print and
connect it to spoken words by making print accessible throughout the classroom. Are items
belonging to a child are labeled with his or her name? Are materials labeled? Do you have print
posters to describe some rules and routines?
There is print located all around the room. Their chairs are labeled with their name as well as their
cubby area. The shelves and bins are labeled as well with what is in the area. There are some posters
around with letters on it and how to make them. They are at easy access for the kids to see and utilize.

Describe when and how you use rhymes, poems, songs and finger plays. Give examples of how you
support multiple and varied opportunities to develop phonological awareness with children, including
syllables, word families, and phonemes, helping to identify letters and the sounds they represent, to
recognize and produce words that have the same beginning or ending sounds, and supporting children’s
self-initiated efforts to write letters that represent the sounds of words.
These things are usually used as a transition before or after an activity. One that they like to do is that
they are going on a spaceship and they need to bring something that starts with a certain letter or the
first letter of their name. This helps them to know what the letter is and different words that also start
with that letter.

Give examples of how you support varied opportunities for children to gain an appreciation of, and to
learn new concepts and vocabulary, and express themselves creatively in ways that reflect diversity
through art, music, drama and dance activities.
The kids are able to listen to different types of music and move around the room freely. Most of them
have a lot of fun with that. They also like doing different movement activities to certain songs.
Through art they are able to make new things that they may not have seen before or experienced.