By: Carol Fabiyan

The Arts(Visual and Performing): 1.2

Core Ethical Values:

Responsibility, Caring, Respect

Child Development Lab II students will invite registered playschool children and their parents to a morning orientation. The students will interact with the playschool children while the parents familiarize themselves with our classroom/playschool environment. The students and playschool children will participate in activities involving language arts and performance arts. Also, the children will complete a curriculum-related craft.

Target Audience:

Preparation: 5 – 7 class periods; Presentation – One morning (two hours)

During class time                                                                                                                                                   

Equipment Needed:

Refreshments, interview sheets, posters, game pieces for performance arts activity, prebaked gingerbread cookies for table activity.

The Arts (Visual and Performing): Students will interact with the playschool children through performance art in order to educate and entertain them. The playschool children will also decorate gingerbread cookies.

Language Arts Literacy: Students and the playschool children will create posters that will be linked to the theme of the orientation, “Candyland”. Students will conduct interviews with the children and write down their responses. The students will also develop and implement two lesson plans that they will create during the orientation.

Consumer, Family, & Life Skills: Students develop time management and organizational skills during the preparation period by ensuring that all of their activities are prepared by the day of the orientation. Students also develop their critical thinking abilities by coming up with activities that are age appropriate for the playschool children. When working with the children, the students will be developing career skills in the field of child care and/or early childhood education and development. Students will also develop interpersonal communication and networking skills by interacting with the parents of the children. 

Hurdles Encountered:

Hurdles: Reaching out to the parents of the community.

Solution: Plan and prepare well ahead of time. Make lists of responsibilities and complete them in an organized manner.

Students directly interact with the playschool children and participate in activities with them that are entertaining, educational, and develop the children’s creativity.

The Child Development students work together when decorating the room, making the cookies, and coming up with activities that revolve around the overall theme of the orientation.

The students use creative and language arts as a form of effective interaction with the children, as they develop their own life and career skills as caretakers for young children.

The students develop a sense of responsibility because the development and safety of the child they are looking after is in their hands. The students learn to care for the playschool children, and are respectful to the children and their parents when interacting with them.

Celebration:
The orientation itself is the celebration, the culmination of the work. Often, an additional bagel breakfast is also planned.

Students develop valuable career skills and experience.

Parents of the children come to the orientation to observe the learning environment that their children are in. Students may also be asked by the parents for further childcare assistance (i.e. babysitting)

Students will complete a reflection form at the conclusion of the orientation day.

Students fill out self-assessments during the preparation and presentation of the orientation day.