Blog 22 - Independent Component 2

(a) “I, Elizabeth Plascencia, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.”

(b) Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.

Two things helped me completed my independent component. That would be my mentor and teachers at the daycare along with the kids as well. An article about kinesthetic learning also helped me learn several tips on how to teach kids with physical activities. Link to article


(c) Update your Independent Component 2 Log (which should be under your Senior Project Hours link)

(d) Explain what you completed.  

I have completed 30 hours of my independent component by observing and participating in learning activities with the kids at the daycare. I helped conduct activities that involve kinesthetic and visual learning which is what kids learn best by at their young ages. Kinesthetic and visual learning is learning with physical and hands on activities. Kids that are so young and curious and want to explore everything around them that grabs their attention. So what way to teach them best by using what they are most attracted to? 
  
(e) Defend your work and explain the component's significance and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  

My independent component two has helped me realize that kids at a young age are willing to explore things that are new to them. Whether they realized that they are learning or not, they are always learning something new everyday. When they're at a daycare they learn what the teachers provide for them. For my component I took advantage of the fact that the daycare actually has a routine similar to a common core education. The activities they have for the kids throughout the day consist of subjects such as art, math, science, some history, and language. I would observe and participate with the kids to see their progression and to help teach them a few new things. This couldn't just be done within a day. It took time to track how well they do and how well they memorize certain things such as the alphabet or their numbers. Over time I noticed that the more the activities are repeated the better that they grasp the lesson. 
 
(f)How did the component help you answer your EQ? Please include specific examples to illustrate how it helped. 

This component helped helped me answer my EQ which is, How can a caretaker best ensure the proper development of a child under the age of five? There are several ways the a caretaker can help ensure a child's proper development. In this case the component actually taught me that a caretaker can ensure that by providing educational activities that aren't necessarily "strict" on the education but that the kids are learning something in the most fun way possible. Keeping them entertained while they're doing the educational activities is what really benefits them. For example, when trying to teach a kid to count up to number ten repetition and communication is essential. As a caretaker you have to say it slowly enough for them to follow along so they know how to enunciate the number correctly. You can also do this in a fun way by having them count objects such as toy insects or legos.

Blog 16 - Independent Component 2 Approval

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

For my 30 hours, I plan on continuing something similar to my previous Independent Component 1. I evaluated that the kids learn most from kinesthetic and visual learning. For this component, I will be doing different activities that involve kinesthetic and visual learning but under different subject areas such as science, history, math, art, and language. I will not be conducting this by myself because I need approval from my mentor and daycare teachers, but with their help I will be able to complete this component. 

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

I will be taking pictures, possibly video as well and logging my hours.

3.  Explain how this component will help you explore your topic in more depth.

This component ties into my component one, but acts more of a part two on it. I know the kids under 5 are more of kinesthetic learners, so with the activities based on different subject areas it will be a beneficial experience for the children and for me.
4.  Post a log in your Senior Project Hours link and label it "Independent Component 2" log.

Independent Component 1

• Literal
(a) "I, Elizabeth Plascencia, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work."

(b) What helped me complete my independent component was of course my mentor, Mrs. Martha, the kids at the daycare (simply their cooperation) and the daycare teachers at Montessori Academy of West Covina.

(c) refer to senior project hours link

(d) What I have done for my Independent Component 1 is observe and interact with the children on what ways they learn best. There are four different ways of learning; visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic. What mostly applied to the kids under the age of five were visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning. By following the routine at the daycare with their lesson plan and some ideas that I had for input, such as working on puzzle pieces with different objects on it, I had gathered enough information based on observing the kids on which ways they learned best. 

• Interpretive
In the collage below you can see several pictures of the kids doing different activities. For safety reason I will not disclose any of the kids names nor have I tried to get any facial shots of their identities. With the activities that they have around them they learn through visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning. They are very hands-on learning children. The two pictures in the center are the crafts that they have made themselves. They learn new things such as their colors and different words. Also, when they play with different objects such as toy house-hold supplies, they learn what those supplies are called and how to properly use them. It's activities such as these that may seem so simple but are imperative for their education and development at such a young age.

• Applied

What I did for my independent component helped me understand the foundation of my topic just by being around the kids. The daycare has a routine and lesson plans for the kids everyday, so being able to observe the different types of learning the kids go through helps me understand how they learn best. Making an observation like this and also interacting with the kids doesn't just take a days work. It takes several days and several hours, which is why I saw it best fit for my independent component one. Just how my mentor once told me, every kid has their own personality and their own flaws. You'll see something different in them everyday. Hardly anything at the daycare will seem repeated because as a caretaker there will always be something different to handle everyday. Now how it applies to my independent component; kids learn new words best when people say it to them repeatedly. And it's a big plus when you show them what the object of the word is. For example, if you are teaching them the word caterpillar you should also show them what it looks like. That way whenever they look at a caterpillar they'll know what it is and vice versa. This is an example visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning. 

This is an example of one weeks lesson plan

Blog 8 - Independent Component 1 Proposal

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

For the thirty hours of independent component one I'd like to conduct several activities with the kids at the day care. Each activity will be based on a core subject such as science, literature, math, or history. My mentor told me that at the day care there are already similar activities that they do with the kids that are educational but instead I will be coming up with ones of my own and "taking over the class." I will then be seeing what activity works best for the kids in every subject and be able to interpret how they learn best. 

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

To meet the expectations of showing 30 hours of evidence I will be taking picture (with the permission of the parents allowing their kids to be photographed) and also possibly taking videos of the kids doing the activities. 

3.  Explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

The activities will help me explore my topic more in the sense of seeing how kids around the ages of 2-3 learn best given that this is the age where they start getting more control of their own bodies and more verbal control. 

4.  Update your Senior Project Hours log.