My Ideal

Environment
By Megan Grable

ECED 398
 Location

Marion Forsman Boushie Early Learning Center

Run by the Suquamish Tribe, it is a Tribal Head

Start, Early Head Start, ECEAP (Early
Childhood Education Assistance Program run by
Washington State Department of Children Youth
and Families), and Tribally Funded Early
Learning Center serving children ages six
months to eleven years.
Study conducted in the
Butterfly Classroom
an Early Head Start Class
with 8 children ages one
to two years old.
 I work in the same program as an
administrator. I am going into
the classroom as a practicum
My Role candidate.
7:30- Welcoming Families/ Small Group Activities/ Center Play/ Potty Time (Small group and
Child directed) -Transitions as the children arrive

9:00- Early Head Start Begins/ Welcoming Families/ Potty Time (Small group and
child directed) -Transition singing “clean up song” and “this is the way we wash our hands”

9:15- Breakfast (Large group) -Transition is “Open Shut Them” with a Lushootseed blessing

9:45- Outside Time/ Large Motor Play(Large group and child directed) -transition is singing
“This is the way we go outside”

10:30- Art & Crafts (Small group and teacher directed)/Centers (Small group and child directed)
Special Activity or Event (Teacher directed and large group-happens rarely) -Transition is dependant
on the activity.

11:15- Handwashing /Gathering Time/Toothbrushing (Large Group Activity, teacher directed)-

excusing the kids to centers by singing songs such as “Hickety Pickety” or “Name-O”

11:45- Reading on our Mats/ Potty Time/Transition to Lunch-Lunch transition is “Open Shut
Them” with a Lushootseed blessing
Two Outcomes
● Physical Development
● Cognitive Development
 Physical Development Outcome #1
CDE Foundations

● Fine Motor Skills

By April 2020 Children will
successfully use at least
three fine motor materials
in their play over a one
hour period.
○ The developing ability to move the
small muscles
○ “At around 18 months of age,
children are able to hold small
objects in one hand and sometimes
use both hands together to
manipulate objects.” (CDE, 2009,
pp. 98
Materials in the indoor environment
Sensory table-I will be adding tongs and pom poms to practice grasping, and
pinching.

Dramatic Play-clothes with velcro, baby bottles, swaddling blankets

Art-markers, paint brushes, easel, tissue paper

Blocks- magnet blocks, small plastic animals

Table Toys- lacing, snap blocks, peg board, puzzles

Library-Board books and lift the flap books

Epstein, 2014, pp. 79-80

Interaction strategies in the Indoor and Outdoor environment
Modeling skills for the children on how to use
materials

“Provide small bits of key information. (Cues)

about that skill to help them more quickly and
correctly.”

Be on hand to provide more challenges to scaffold

their skills, by adding more materials or another
aspect to make the skill more challenging.

Offer specific feedback and praise.

Epstein, 2014, pp. 74-75

 Materials in the outdoor environment and how they support
each outcome
Chalk

Bubble wands

Sand pails, shovels

Small push cars


Changes, enhancements or
design elements of the
schedule and how they
support each outcome
(include research citations)
The addition of new interesting
materials that support fine motor
development will allow the children
to try out new skills in a way that is
engaging for them. “Choose
materials that support perceptual
and motor development, focusing on
the children’s interests and how to
expand on those interests.” (CDE,
2011, pp. 130)
 Cognitive Development Outcome #2
CDE Foundations

● Foundation: Attention Maintenance

By April 2020 Children will
spend more than five
minutes on one activity
before moving on to the
next activity.
○ The developing ability to attend to
people and things while interacting
with others and exploring the
environment and play materials
○ “At around 18 months of age,
children rely on order and
predictability in the environment to
help organize their thoughts and focus
attention.” (CDE, 2009, pp. 81
Indoor Materials
Materials in the indoor and outdoor environment
I’ll be adding materials that they are more engaged in, including more complicated
lacing beads, more baby dolls and accessories for the baby dolls, and more food in
the kitchen area. I brought a ramp for the cars to go down with different textures to
add a listening experience to driving the cars. Pillows were added to the library area
to make it more inviting for the children to sit and read a book. Outside the addition
of chalk, both small cars and large push cars, and bubbles will add their interest in
the environment. By adding additional materials to the area with a theme or focus
remaining consistent I was able to keep a good balance on the novelty and
predictable. “The goal should be to offer a sufficient quantity of engaging materials
in the play space, some that are known and some that are novel.” (CDE, 2011, pp.
108)
Indoor Materials
Interaction strategies in the indoor and outdoor environment
Modeling skills for the children on how to use materials

Offer specific feedback and praise.

Asking opened ended questions

Parallel talk or “sportscasting” while they are playing to encourage engagement.

Directing them towards activities that they are interested in to increase the
likelihood of their sustaining attention longer.

CDE, 2011, pp. 110-112

Outdoor Materials
 ● I added the songs as transitions
pieces, with the hope that it will
make the children more apt to
following the routines. This is
supported by the frameworks
Changes, enhancements or
for attention maintenance, “For
design elements of the example, the child may: Expect
schedule and how they favorite songs to be sung the
same way each time.” (CDE,
support each outcome
2009, pp. 81) When children
are able to recognize the songs
as a transition routine they will
start the transition for easily.
Include maps, drawings or diagrams of the changed indoor areas -
Include maps, drawings or diagrams of the
changed outdoor areas - red are changes
Environmental Strategy
Action Plan
 I would like to focus on attention
maintenance.

I’ll be adding new materials to the

block area.

Action plan These Materials include:

● Transportation snap toys

● Magnet snap animals
What do you plan to do? ● Balls
● New cars
● Dinosaur Figurines
● Wooden blocks
● Wooden race track
 I hope that the new materials
will bring a more interest into
the room and with some support
Action plan from teachers allow them to
spend more time engaging and
What is the hoped for exploring the material in the
outcome? Describe in detail. area.

Action plan
How - How do you know
your plan is achievable in the
time available?
I have the materials available to
me and am able to switch out
the items we already have for
new items that will bring more
interest into the centers.
We have a minimum of one
hour centers time where the
children are using the different
centers in the room and will
have a chance to explore these
centers
 We have most of these material at
the center, they are in a storage
Action plan room. I don’t foresee a cost attached
to this, but once I begin bring them
in, I may need additional items to
What materials will you
add to the center.
need? What is the cost?
 I need the other teachers in the room
to agree with my additions to the
class and what I’m using them for. I
Action plan will secure this by asking their
opinions and getting their feedback
Who do you need to support on what will work.
your plan? How will you
secure that support?
 ● I will compile the materials on
Wednesday the 12th
● I will bring them in on
Thursday the 13th and show

Action plan the children how they are used.

● I will observe how they are
being used and what is working
What is your timeline? - break your
on Tuesday the 18th through
plan into steps and give a specific day
the 20th.
and time each step will be achieved
 The obstacles in my plan are the
time it will take the find the right
materials for the room and making
sure I have the space to

Action plan accommodate the whole area.

Also the support of the other

Obstacles - What are some possible
teachers, so far they have been
obstacles to your plan? How will you
inclusive of my ideas, but with
overcome them?
making changes to a whole area, I
will need their buy-in.
Environmental Strategy
Before and After
 What Went Well
The children reacted positively to the new materials put out. Two of them
immediately engaged with the materials and came back to the area several times
over the course of the free play session. In the California Infant Toddler Learning
Foundations talk about what this looks like, “Behaviors leading up to the foundation
During this period {19-35 months}, the child may: Play alone with toys for several
minutes at a time before moving on to different activity.” (CDE, 2009, pp. 81) The
children enjoyed the new area and spent more time in it on one particular toy than in
the week previously.
What you would change or add
The wooden race track pieces were challenging for the children to use, necessitating
the teachers to put them together. Once they were put together the children opted to
walk on them instead of using them for the cars. While it was fun for the kids for a
short time, it did not meet the developmental objectives I was hoping for and I feel
caused some safety hazards once the children began to use them in the wrong way.
I would not have brought those in.

I would like to add more simple wooden blocks, since they were a big hit and many
children at a time wanted to play with them, using them for various play situations.
They combined the dinosaurs and the blocks, and the cars and the blocks
 How the children reacted. What aspects of your outcome were enhanced? What
was the level of engagement from the children?

The children were engaged in the activities, by using the materials brought in.
“Infants demonstrate attention maintenance when they attend to people, actions, and
things they find interesting even in the presence of distractions.” (CDE, 2009, pp.
63) They were most engaged with the new cars, the wooden blocks, and the
dinosaur figurines.

Of the seven children in the classroom these three days, all of them came and
interacted with the new materials at least once. Four of the children stayed longer
than five minutes playing with the different materials and returned several times to
the area through the day.
Works Cited

California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations, 2009,

https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/documents/itfoundations2009.pdf

California Infant/Toddler Curriculum Framework, 2012,

https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/documents/itcurriculumframework.pdf

Epstein, A. S. (2014). The Intentional Teacher: Choosing The Best Strategies For Young Children’s
Learning. Washington (D.C.): National Association for the Education of Young Children.