Toddler site visit or interview -

You will visit a toddler classroom for a minimum of 2 hours, inside a state licensed childcare facility, preferably an NAEYC accredited center, and create an original classroom layout for a toddler classroom that supports the learning objectives, and growth and development stages and changes throughout toddlerhood.  You will also provide a detailed description of that classroom layout/environment, and a brief "Day in the Life of..." schedule to provide a snapshot of the classroom in action.  Tell why you chose to arrange the schedule in that way, and how this meets the developmental needs of young children.

Option B (to replace the 2 hour on-site visit)

Infants and their Interactions:

Create 5-10 interview questions and conduct a face-to-face interview with a parent. The interview must capture the following information:

• Human relationships
• Environmental influences
• Developmental domains and stages
• Childcare programs and developmental appropriateness
• Health, safety, and nutrition
• Modern day childcare legal issues
• Parental concerns and communications
• High quality childcare and state regulations for infants
• Risk factors and poverty

Create an ORIGINAL classroom layout for a toddler classroom that supports the learning objectives, and growth and development stages and changes throughout toddlerhood.  You will also provide a detailed description of that classroom layout/environment, and a brief "Day in the Life of..." schedule to provide a snapshot of the classroom in action.  Tell why you chose to arrange the schedule in that way, and how this meets the developmental needs of young children.

Toy Evaluation

Research a developmental learning toy that will support three out of the four development domains (cognitive, language, physical, and psychosocial) in infant and toddler growth and development.  Create a blog that will describe the toy, explain how it is used, and evaluate the effectiveness of the toy meeting the needs of infant and toddler growth and development.

Objective: Evaluate play equipment and learning activities in terms of safety and suitability from 1-3 years based on your understanding of physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development.

Blog Expectations:

1. Identify an appropriate toy for a child 1-3 years. Score the toy on a 0-2 rating scale (scale below).

2. The toy must address at least 2 developmental areas for a child 1-3 years.

3. Explain why or why not the toy would not be developmentally beneficial for a child 1-3 years.

4. Describe 3 activities for families or professionals to do to extend the developmental concepts of the toy, which are appropriate for children 1-3 years in the areas of art, language, math, music, or science.

5. Explain the developmental concepts the child will use during the activities.

Assessment: Appropriate Toys

Toy is age appropriate and at least 2 developmental areas are accurately addressed in detail.

Toy is age appropriate and at least 1 developmental area is accurately addressed in detail.

Toy is not age appropriate and/or developmental areas are inaccurate or missing.