Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Students must have access to a consistent group of children in a licensed early learning program with infants, toddlers, or preschool age children (infants – 6 years) for one hour a week, in order to complete required observation assignments.

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

1. Explain the skills and strategies needed to make accurate and objective observations of groups of children based on child development principles.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the connection between observations and appropriate guidance, management, and planning for groups of children.
3. Use standard assessment tools commonly used in the field of early childhood education in order to address challenging behaviors and issues in early learning environments.

Students Will:

·        Participate in weekly large and small group discussions.

·        Complete required observation and guidance assignments and personal reflection statements.

·        Complete an integrative observation assignment utilizing observation techniques to conduct a case study of a child (age 0 – 6).

·        Complete an integrative observation assignment utilizing observation techniques to address or solve a group management issue or problem.

Students will acquire skills and abilities through practice relating to:

·        Event samples, checklists, and rating scales.

·        Record keeping and portfolio building.

·        Group management techniques.

·        Indirect guidance and the relationship between children’s behavior and the environment.

·        Communication of information derived from observations and portfolios to parents, staff, community members.

·        Relationships between personal belief systems, children’s behavior, and use of guidance techniques.

·        Integration of observations techniques into the Observe, Plan, Do, Reflect, Revise process.