EDUC 361 Final Exam Notes PDF

CHAPTER 14 Supporting Infants, Toddlers and School-aged Children Describe the benefits of early supports for infants and toddlers with disabilities Slide 10 and 11: Infant and Toddler Programs: An Overview ➔ The number of infants in need of additional supports is increasing....

CHAPTER 14 Supporting Infants, Toddlers and School-aged Children Describe the benefits of early supports for infants and toddlers with disabilities Slide 10 and 11: Infant and Toddler Programs: An Overview ➔ The number of infants in need of additional supports is increasing. ➔ Early intervention is a term often used to describe these additional supports. ➔ It can be difficult for families to access early intervention programs because of their location, cost, availability, and fit for the child’s and family’s individual and cultural needs. ➔ There is often an unequal distribution of government funding and support to Indigenous communities for early intervention programs. ➔ Early intervention can be provided in an inclusive group setting, such as a child care centre or in a specialized program where families bring their infant or toddler for scheduled individualized sessions. ➔ Or it may be through in-home support services, where a professional works in collaboration with a family for an extensive period. ➔ Designing comprehensive early supports needs to be done thoughtfully. ➔ In Canada, each province and territory has adopted unique approaches to providing early intervention and early childhood education and care (ECEC) services for non-Indigenous children and families. ◆ The earlier a child’s special needs can be identified and addressed, the more likely the child and family will experience meaningful results from intervention. Evidence shows that early intervention increases the developmental, educational, and social gains for children and reduces the potential for secondary problems ◆ Another function of early intervention and support is to better allow families to understand their children and become actively involved in supporting their child’s development. When children and families receive support early on, family stress is often reduced with the result that families are better able to envision a more positive and optimistic future for children ➔ Successful indigenous EC development interventions and programs must be planned, designed and controlled by Indigenous communities to reflect their values and lived realities. They encompass Indigenous approaches to health and well-being, and aim to address the many determinants affecting Indigenous peoples’ health. They also incorporate Indigenous cultures, languages, values, and ways of knowing and learning.  ➔ Guralnick maintains that supports in early years “emphasize the significance of forming relationships among all those involved, the importance of designing interventions that are comprehensive and the development of procedures that maintain continuity of intervention across the EC period.” In addition, these supports focus on the holistic development of the child so that, for example, the emotional and/or spiritual realms are integrated into the physical and intellectual aspects of development. ➔ Davies et al (2021) found, by speaking with young adults and families who experience early intervention programs, that they were pushed into multiple programs and services with similar goals, leading to repetition and exhaustion. ◆ For example, occupational therapy is accessed through multiple agencies, such as community early years programs, clinical developmental services, and healthcare settings. Yet families and young adults note that the services from one agency to the next are often identical and each requires its own intake and assessment processes. This happens with other services as well, such as speech and language, physical therapy, and children’s mental health services ◆ At the same time, the young adults and families interviewed for this study found the services to be valuable, “crucial to development, participation and growth” and to the possibilities of “living a good life”. From the perspective of the young adults and families, these services were most valuable when they did not dominate their lives. Slide 14: Reciprocal relationships with families ➔ Positive and caring interactions between family members and educators—reciprocal relationships—are important. ➔ Educators who embrace these relationships know that parents are the primary source of affection and care in an infant’s or toddler’s life. ➔ Positive interactions can help family members feel more confident in supporting their infant or toddler. Slide 21: Infant and toddler supports: a summary ➔ Educators who work with infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families create a day-by-day learning environment that supports interactions between each infant and toddler and their world. ➔ To develop an infant’s or a toddler’s individual strengths, educators provide a variety of situations and activities that give agency to the child and engage the child as a participant. ➔ Infants and toddlers especially need to integrate experiences across several areas of development; they often seem compelled to look at, touch, and suck on an object. Define the term enabling environment as related to supporting infants and toddlers Slide 13: The importance of enabling and responsive care and education ➔ Newborns are vulnerable to negative environmental influences (such as inadequate nurturing, insufficient medical and nutritional care, and/or lack of clean water and decent housing in some Indigenous communities). ➔ Growth and development are at their most critical stage when infants are most dependent on others to meet all their needs. ➔ Infants flourish in an environment where there are strong adult–child relationships. ➔ Some infants are more vulnerable than others; all infants, however, are vulnerable to some degree, even children who are healthy and responsive at birth ◆ Very low birthweight (under 1500g) and extremely low birthweight (under 750g) infants, as well as those who are medically fragile or at high risk → usually require intensive caregiving ➔ No matter how safe, sanitary, healthy, and well supervised a learning environment may be, infants and toddlers need educators who are actively engaged and responsive if they are to thrive ➔ By its very nature, a responsive environment encourages and supports active exploration when educators provide individual infants and toddlers with opportunities and options for ◆ Gaining access to what is happening in the environment ◆ Making choices ◆ Engaging in experiences that evolve from a simple to a more complex level ◆ Creating an impact on their environment Slide 14: Reciprocal relationships with families ➔ Positive and caring interactions between family members and educators—reciprocal relationships—are important. ➔ Educators who embrace these relationships know that parents are the primary source of affection and care in an infant’s or toddler’s life. ➔ Positive interactions can help family members feel more confident in supporting their infant or toddler. ➔ Guidelines for sustaining positive interactions with family members include ◆ Sharing important information with parents about their children ◆ Demonstrating respect for a family’s culture, language, and life choices ◆ Having appropriate information that enables educators to answer questions about learning, growth, and development and available community resources ◆ Responding respectfully to parents’ questions, comments, and concerns  ➔ Supporting Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities ◆ Children develop best when they have secure, consistent relationships with adults who are responsive ◆ The goal of supporting infants and toddlers with disabilities is twofold: To enable infants and toddlers to explore and master their sensory environment To enable infants and toddlers to use their capacities and abilities in ways that are individually meaningful and productive ◆ It’s important to note than an enabling environments and a responsive environment go hand in hand → learning opportunities may be lost if an educators doesn’t respond to infant and toddler exploration Explain how families and educators can promote infant and toddler learning through sensory stimulation Slide 15: Creating a sensory stimulation environment ➔ Infants and toddlers usually respond to sensory stimulation and social stimulation. ➔ When first getting to know an infant, educators learn to follow and attune to the infant’s individual rhythms and emotional states: sensory profile. ◆ In this way, educators support an infant’s ability to self-regulate emotions ◆ E.g → educators may learn that their soothing responses to crying help the infant to become calm; educators also share the child’s attention to, interest in, and delight in exploring different stimulants. ➔ The actions of an infant or a toddler are often contingent on the educator’s responses. At the same time, educators and families are shaped by the infant’s own responses or lack of responses ➔ Infant/toddler overstimulated → the educator will reduce the stimulation and wait for the child to reorganize and refocus on other stimuli ➔ infant/toddler’s motions, communication, and expression of emotions = educators responding in turn with reciprocal motions, words, and emotions in synchrony with the child ➔ A secure and trusting educator-child relationship is straightened through the expression of positive emotions and mutual responsiveness ➔ Emerging competencies such as infants abilities to see, hear, taste, smell and move about enable them to be active participants in sharing a variety of experiences with others in their world ➔ Toys, activities, and materials that stimulate the sense include those that encourage the infant or toddler to develop abilities to see sights, hear sounds, touch and feel textures, and move the body in and through space ➔ Some infants and toddlers who don;t move about and explore their environment are still leaning to organize and represent their experience internally  ➔ The acquisition of complex competencies (such as movement) is dependent on the mastering of previous more simple competences ◆ E.g → the infant who rolls from side to side has already mastered head lifting and moving the shoulders, arms, and legs both independently and in sync. As the infant rolls, the sensation of movement and lifting their head to see a caregiver’s face or an attractive toy provides an incentive to continues making this movement ➔ The input of sensations and movements that these actions provide may not be there for an infant experiencing a neuro-motor disability that affects balance and movement (supports like physiotherapy and OT can help infants and toddlers engage in more exploratory moves ➔ The task of the family + educator = providing movement experiences that are challenging, yet result in relatively few frightening falls, bumps, or otherwise unpleasant experiences ➔ As an educator helps an infant/toddler build confidence in moving about and exploring the environment, the child is likely to show increasing interest in physical activity and may even come to enjoy rough-and-tumble play ➔ REMEMBER: infants should never be rocked, shaken, or swung roughly; lifted rapidly and abruptly; or thrown into the air. Infants/toddlers cannot adjust posturally to quick extremes of motion. Serious injuries to the head, brain, neck, and back may result ➔ Some infants/toddlers appear to enjoy all kinds of movement experience; others may show a certain sensorimotor profile and be overly sensitive, sometimes in one sensory modality more than another ◆ Still other infants/toddlers may be able to comfortably use only ONE SENSE AT A TIME. ➔ It’s best for family/educator to introduce a new experience when the child is in a calm state, in familiar surrounding ➔ Experience that cause distress need to be modified/stopped and reintroduced under different circumstances or when the child has learned other competencies ➔ Responsive educators protect infants and toddlers from becoming overstimulated and support the child’s recovery from overstimulation when it does occur. Slide 19: Supporting the infant and toddler to differentiate responses ➔ They may retain undifferentiated social, intellectual, and communication responses longer. ➔ If they are unable to receive information through one or more of the senses, they may overreact or withdraw. ➔ Either response can prevent the infant from becoming actively interested in what is going on.  ➔ Educators may find it hard to initiate an interaction with the child. Discuss why it is important to recognize infants and toddler’s learning accomplishments. Slide 16: Responding to the learning of new competencies ➔ The educator’s sensitivity is critical in recognizing the competencies and accomplishments of the infant or toddler with disabilities. ➔ Sometimes the child’s achievements in learning are overlooked; learning of each new competency—no matter how small—must be viewed as a joyful event. ◆ To properly appreciate these achievements, educators need to recognize that the potential for learning, growth, and development exists in all areas for every infant and toddler ◆ Educators need to be aware, that the strengthening of one area, through appropriate supports, usually contributes to learning and development in other areas ➔ A major responsibility of the infant and toddler educator is to appreciate all aspects of learning, both evident and merging ➔ Infants and toddlers with disabilities exhibit a wide range of competencies and needs ➔ Developmental sequences follow the same pattern for children within the same social c=and cultural environment (anything that interferes with these developmental sequences may hinder the learning of new competencies) ➔ One sense cannot fully compensate for another ◆ E.g #1 → A child who has low vision may become highly competent at identifying objects and events through touch, but the information gained through touch may not be complete ◆ E.g #2 → An infant may hear an educators’ voice but not orient their eyes or head movements in that direction. Describe how educators can, through respectful and sensitive interactions, support infants and toddlers to respond and adapt, maintain psychological balance, differentiate responses, and initiate new responses. Slide 17: Supporting the infant to respond and adapt ➔ Infants with disabilities may be less responsive and less vocal and thus appear to be less attached to a caregiver. ➔ Differences in responses commonly associate with attachment include these: ◆ Delated or infrequent smiling or vocalizing ◆ Tenseness, limpness, pr unresponsiveness when handled  ◆ Difficulty initiating engagement with others (e.g., a new born may not toot for sucking milk when hungry or initiate eye contact when in the caregiver's arms) ➔ Similarly, premature and low birthweight babies may struggle to form attachments because of reduced physical strength or immature neurological development. ➔ Babies who are premature and very-to-extremely low birthweight usually require prolonged time in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Sometimes they’re hospitalized throughout their first (sometimes second) year of life because of complications related to medical condition identified at birth ➔ Advances in hospital care for infants born preterm in Canada reveal that: “between 2004 and 2017 alone, the survival rate of preterm babies in Canada increased by 25% thanks to new and improved practices. But there are still challenges and risks when infants are born preterm”. Definitions are at the end of the chapter ➔ Two frequently reported conditions for premature and very low birthweight babies hospitalized in NICUS are: (1) brain bleeding or intra-cranial hemorrhage (2) broncho-pulmonary dysplasia ➔ Medical conditions like brain bleeding and severe respiratory distress and their subsequent medical treatments may have long-lasting impacts on the health and emotional well-being of children ◆ Caring educators and caregivers seek ways to compassionately engage with infants and toddlers who experience these conditions ➔ It’s important to recognize how medical experiences during the first weeks or months can shape infant-adult interactions ➔ Infants may struggle to regulate external stimuli (like sounds, light, and temperature) and internal stimuli (like the sensations of breathing and swallowing) ➔ Infants not responding to invitations = getting fewer responses from others. Parents/educators need to be available and ready to respond in kind when an infant initiates an interaction or respond to stimulation from the environment ◆ E.g → if an infant/toddler similes spontaneously, the adult smile back; if the infant/toddler smiles again in response to the adult’s smile, the educators smiles once again and perhaps adds an effect pat or word ➔ Premature and very low birthweight infants with medical complications usually are considerably less responsive than infants who are born without medical complications ➔ Research conducted in NICUs suggest → medically compromised infants are soothed by singing and kangaroo skin-to-skin therapy (newborns are placed skin-to-skin with a caregiver, usually on the caregiver’s chest  ➔ During kangaroo skin-to-skin therapy, the baby and caregiver synchronize their breathing and the baby’s temperature regulates Slide 18: Supporting the infant to maintain psychological balance ➔ Weak reflexes or the absence of muscle tone may interfere with the ability to control responses to the environment; some have difficulty becoming aroused, while others become too easily over-aroused. ◆ E.g. → the predisposition to respond to the face of a parent/educator with a matching facial expression may overflow and engage the infant’s entire body - the head, arms, legs, fingers, and toes. The infant is not able to dampen the intensity, so the response to stimulation involves the whole body in an undifferentiated way. ➔ Other examples of responses may be connected with the child’s temperament, including: ◆ Extreme sensitivity or marked lack of sensitivity to everyday occurrences such as being picked up ◆ Early reflexes and behaviour patterns that persist, making it difficulty for the child to initiate, stop, or redirect their behaviour ◆ Exhaustion due to spending disproportionate amounts of energy in trying to control or direct neuromuscular activity (as in the child with cerebral palsy) pr expending excessive energy in trying to seek out and process new learning ➔ Among the many roles the educator has is assisting the child in becoming an active participant in learning opportunities in the immediate environment ➔ Another is communicating with the infant or toddler in ways that let the child know that their messages are being heard and respected. ➔ To help enable an infant or toddler to maintain a psychological balance, the educator may adopt supports like these: ◆ Observe the infant and toddler’s own rhymes for sleeping, eating, and bowel movements ◆ Observe patterns of frequency and levels of intensity in arousal to and recovery from stimulation ◆ Reduce situations that provoke extreme sensitivity by balancing external stimuli (e.g, an unfamiliar toy) with internal stimuli (the toy’s texture is familiar) ◆ Introduce new activities when the child is most calm or alert (after a nap) ◆ Provide a stimulus shelter or comfort zone (an area with minimal stimulation) within the playroom. Slide 19: Supporting the infant and toddler to differentiate responses ➔ An infant or toddler with disabilities may retain undifferentiated social, intellectual, and communication responses longer.  ◆ E.g → in social interactions, the infant may not show the selective interest in parents or educators. ➔ If they are unable to receive information through one or more of the senses, they may overreact or withdraw. ➔ Either response can prevent the infant from becoming actively interested in what is going on; at the same time educators may find it hard to initiate an interaction with the child. ➔ Examples of when infants/toddlers require support in differentiating responses include when the child ◆ Responds in a global, all-or-nothing way; when the educator sings a song, the child shakes their body without establishing a visual gaze, expressing any sounds or mimicking gestures ◆ Resists changes and transitions to other activities or settings; the child may resist being gently lifted and held from their crib to a play mat area after a nap which requires a change in body positioning ◆ Resist adaptations, extensions, and opportunities to interrelate or to combine elements and experiences; when shifting from a one-to-one play mat activity with the educator to sitting with other babies where there are more sounds, noises, and visual stimulation ➔ It takes competence and insight for an educator to help an infant/toddler learn to modify what they can do and make differentiated responses ➔ As a first step, the educator can help the child process incoming stimuli ◆ E.g → a puppet or a toy that looks, feels, and sounds unusual might elicit a total approach or a total withdrawal reaction ◆ If the infant can experience first the touch and then the sound of the object, the experience may become enjoyable ◆ With some infants, an effort to touch the puppet still may generate a whole-body response ➔ When the child is therapeutically positioned in a manner that inhibits much of the overflow, the infant’s energy can be directed at making controlled arm movements that allow for successfully reaching for and touching the puppet. By helping the infant inhibit some response so that others can be functional, the educator has enable the infant to differentiate and use a more focused response from among their outgoing responses, and that inturn may generate pleasure or satisfaction for both the infant end educator ➔ The best learning opportunities occur when the new experience is a natural outgrowth of an old and familiar one ➔ Extensions of earlier experience need to be introduced gradually, while remaining rooted in what the infant or toddler already knows ➔ Family members and educators can also assist in several other ways:  ◆ Provide many slightly different opportunities for the infant or toddler to do the same thing. For example, there can be balls and blocks of many sizes, plastic cups of different shapes, chairs of different designs, and mechanical switches that are activated in different ways. If the child already walks confidently on a smooth, flat surface, this ability can be challenged by putting out a bumpy mattress to walk on. If a child with a seizure disorder must adjust to wearing a helmet for head protection, happier experiences can be offered as starters, perhaps wearing different kinds of hats in preparation for adapting to the helmet. ◆ Offer new experiences similar to previous experiences and use familiar materials to ease transitions. An infant or toddler may find bath time pleasant when sitting in a special seat in the bathtub. Using the same seat when introducing the child to the pool is likely to help the child adapt to being in water in a different setting. ◆ Change one dimension of an experience. When infants or toddlers are going outdoors to play on the grass or sand, an educator can take along familiar play materials—balls, for example. As a toddler starts to play with the toys “in the same old way,” the toys are likely to respond differently by not moving as freely on the grass or sand. As a result, the toddler may establish a connection between the previous and the new information about the toys and how differently they react in different settings. Such experiences motivate a child to explore the newly exhibited properties of balls (and other play materials) as educators working with family members transfer the toys from one situation to another. Slide 20: Supporting infants and toddlers to initiate new responses ➔ An infant or a toddler with a disability may use energy to maintain internal equilibrium, making it more difficult to acknowledge external events; or if the child becomes aware of external stimuli, the response can be one-dimensional, addressing one source while ignoring others; or use only one sense to experience an object. ◆ E.g → the may be so engrossed in watching an educator’s facial expressions or hand gestures during a rhyming activity that they don’t process any sounds or speech accompanying the rhyme ➔ An infant with a perceptual motor condition mat follow the movement of an object with their eyes, but not try to reach for or grasp the object as it moves out of visual range – indicating, perhaps, that the infant has not yet found ways to integrate and coordinate looking and touching Opportunities for infants and toddlers to impact their environment ◆ Opportunities for repeated focus on stimulation, a competency may be extended and reinforced  ➔ High-contrast materials (like a black and white combinations) help infants and toddlers with vision losses to use their residual vision ➔ Prompting strategies that increase pay behaviours include changing the presentation of a toy, placing a toy in the child's hands, and activating a toy and letting the child complete the task ➔ With toddlers, frequent pairing of words and actions helps them integrate different sensory stimulation ➔ Active contact with play materials allows infants and toddlers to experience some control over their environment ➔ All infants/toddlers, including those with disabilities, benefit from opportunities to manipulate objects and experience a sense of agency and autonomy ➔ All children benefit from manipulative materials that invite them to engage with and produce some change or effect on the environment. ➔ Engaged educators seek to make materials accessible so that all children can explore, manipulate, and control play materials and everyday objects. ➔ The educator may do any of the following: ◆ suspend toys from activity frames; ◆ place foam hair curlers over paint brushes or crayons for an easier hold; ◆ attach toys to play boards or wall surfaces; ◆ place toys on a tray; ◆ attach objects to blankets or mats with Velcro loops (especially good for children who are not mobile); ◆ deflate beach balls for easier grasping, throwing, and catching; and ◆ fit the child with a Velcro mitt and attach strips of Velcro to toys to make them more accessible. ➔ Once play materials are accessible to the child, play goals can focus on these aims: ◆ increasing the duration of the child’s play ◆ encouraging various ways of manipulating play materials ◆ introducing a wider range of toys and manipulative materials ◆ inviting the child to initiate or sustain engagement with the desired or selective activity. Times for sharing and learning ➔ The daily rhythms of feeding, diapering, bathing, dressing, and helping an infant or toddler relax or go to sleep are prime times for an educator to interact calmly and playfully with the child ➔ An infant’s or toddler’s behavior is communication: when an infant cries, it usually is a signal that the infant needs something (such as food, diapering, comforting, company) ➔ Crying is usually the child;s way of both losing control and attempting to gain control  ➔ Trust develops when the child’s cries are answered in a prompt and caring way ➔ Depending on their level of pain or distress, and on temperamental characteristics, some infants sleep for short periods, wake often, and cry and scream for prolonged periods. These behaviors can be hard for the educators to interpret and respond to, so caring educators seek to be flexible, understanding, and often creative in dining ways to soothe a child ➔ Depending on the temperament of the child and on their unique needs, when comforting an infant or a toddler, the educator may be able to soothe with movement (rocking), sights (favorite toy), or touching (gentle rubbing or patting touch) ➔ For infants with neuromuscular conditions, swaddling (when the baby tolerates its texture) often provides additional comfort by relieving the discomfiting effect of twitching or jerky limbs or muscles ➔ Hungry babe = the feed time should be happy and sociable time ➔ Mealtimes are likely to be less stressful if a relaxed attitude and environment are maintained - this can be accomplished through appropriate position go in a chair or by seating the infant/toddler securely in the adult’s lap ➔ Cleft palate or lip (contion) may require special feeding equipment ➔ It’s important that all children have meals and snacks with other children as it makes mealtimes important social times Describe the key elements of inclusion before and after school programs for school-aged children. Slide 22 and 23: Before and After School Programs ➔ Most provinces/territories offer some licensed school-age care; legislation is similar across Canada. A key component is that it is regulated outside school hours for school-aged children (6 to 12 years) with some variation. They are either centre- or home-based programs. ➔ A recent Statistics Canada report states that 35% of Canadian children aged 4-11 years participated in any form of before or after school, non parental child care. The report also notes that younger children not surprisingly spend a greater number of hours in before and after school care ➔ The researcher report that “Indigenous children and children belonging to groups designated as visible minorities were more likely to be cared for by a relative and children ho family income was below $40,000 were more likely to participate in before or after school programs ➔ For indigenous children, an after school program led by indigenous educators can promote cultural and language preservation Elements for successful inclusion of children with disabilities: ➔ Educators have regular opportunities to plan with the school and other professionals the inclusion of the child with a disability and to discuss the child’s Individual Plan ➔ The educators find frequent ways to connect with the family of a child with a disability ➔ The educators have a holistic understanding of a child with a disability ➔ The educators understand the interests and preferences of school-aged children ➔ The educators collaborate with families and the school to ensure effective daily transitions ➔ Everyone in the program prioritizes genuine, warn, and caring relationships between educators and children and between the children themselves ➔ Everyone in the program acknowledges human differences and intervenes in situations of discrimination Communication between before and after school-age care program educators and families ➔ An America After 3pm study (2021) highlights that the majority of surveyed parents of children with disabilities believe hat after school programs provide their children with opportunities to interact with peers and to build social competencies and life skills ➔ The parents also reported that their children became more confident and excited about learning when attending an after school program ➔ While parents are clearly enthusiastic about after school programs, one challenge is that educators and families have fewer opportunities to talk about supports for their children with disabilities ➔ Contact and communication with parents in before and after school-age program can be more difficult because older sibling in the same school may pick up children or parents may be rushed at the end of the day when picking up their children ➔ Efforts need to be made to use a variety of communication strategies to build consistent communication with families Slide 23: School-aged children’s interests and preferences An engaging curriculum ➔ Curriculum in the before and after school environment is developed in collaboration with children and is based on their strengths, needs, and interest ➔ The curriculum is focused on a choice of play, creative arts, science, and recreational activities, and not exclusively on homework ➔ Completing homework needs to be an option, not an expectation of the program, ➔ When planning the program, it’s important to incorporate some games and activities that are cooperative and non-competitive  ➔ As school-aged children can sustain attention for longer periods, long-term projects can be planned for and implemented ➔ Taking part in drama or dance productions, doing creative art, making videos, and writing plays are just a few examples of long-term projects in which many school-aged children enthusiastically engage ➔ It’s essential to recognize the importance of social interactions in school-age programs and develop activities where all children are working in small groups ➔ When planning cognitive games and experiences, educators need to be aware that some children may need more visual cues, others may need more tactile cues, and still other may need verbal or written cues to maximize their participation in an activity ➔ Playing games frequently for repeated practice and providing the child who is learning to follow rules with a cue sheet that outlines those rules are ways this can be achieved ➔ Playing outdoors is an essential component of a before and after school program ➔ Achieving it may mean that a child who uses a wheelchair gets the support of a friend in games such as tag. ➔ When a child determined whether physical assistance is needed, their sense of competency is promoted Intervention in situations of exclusion and bullying ➔ School-aged children are often more aware of physical, social, and intellectual differences ➔ Exclusionary behaviours among school-aged children also arise ➔ Children may bully other children whom they perceive as different ➔ Children with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to exclusionary behaviours of their peers, and may react to exclusion by communicating their stress through challenging responses or by withdrawing ➔ It’s important for educators of school-aged children to approach when they observe exclusionary behaviours, and to work with the while group in developing competencies in empathy, problem solving, and conflict resolution ➔ With their growing cognitive and social and emotional abilities, school-aged children can become advocates for others and can learn to intervene and advocate when they observe situations of bias and exclusion ➔ School-aged children can also learn that advocating for a child with disabilities is more positive than overprotecting the child, which reduced independence and a sense of competency ➔ Developing programs that enable total participation requires consistent promotion of the inclusion of all children ➔ Inclusion doesn’t just happen, educators must actively promote it ➔ Making sure a child with disabilities if fully included by:  ◆ Numbering off program participants ◆ Organizing teams on the basis of specific colors of children’s clothes, socks, shows and so on ◆ Having group discussions on finding novel ways to forms inclusive teams Discuss how educators can support school-ages children with transitions from a school environment to an after school program. ➔ Morning + afternoon transition from before and after school program may present challenges for some children ➔ Children often come from a structured school environment to a less structured before and after school-age care setting ➔ A child may have difficulty adjusting to different environments and sets of expectations ➔ Since they share responsibility for the individual child, educators in both the school and the before and after school program need to have a collaborative relationship that provides for consistent communication of information about the child’s strengths and needs ➔ Some children with disabilities have one-on-one support in their school environment and then have to function completely independently in their before and after school program ➔ In some cases, serious behaviors from children makes educators unable to handle them ➔ Ways of coping may include making a change to the schedule, providing choices for activities, or giving opportunities to work and play alone, with one other child or in small groups ➔ The following are needed to ensure the successful participation and inclusion of school-aged children with disabilities: ◆ More program resources ◆ Increased communication between the school, educators of the before and after school-age care programs, and families ◆ Greater advocacy for inclusive school-age care programs Key terms and Concepts - Definitions Brain bleeding or intra-cranial hemorrhage → Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) or intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) refers to the brain bleeding that occurs when blood vessels break and bleed into the brain tissues itself (Birth Injury Help Center, n.d). Broncho-pulmonary dysplasia → A chronic lung disease that most often occurs in premature or low birthweight babies who have received supplemental oxygen or received mechanical ventilation for long periods; damage to these parts of the immature lung makes breathing difficult and can cause issues with lung function. Differentiated Responses → The ability of an infant or toddler to differentiate simpler and more specific responses among global undifferentiated responses to stimuli. Early Intervention → The provision of supports to children who are showing first indications of an identifiable difference in development or are at significant risk for developing a delay. Enabling Environment → An environment that recognizes a child’s competencies and supports the infant or toddler's needs and interests and the learning of new competencies. (E.g. Caring educators provide an environment in which daily routines, play activities, and educator responsiveness demonstrate attunement to the competencies, needs, and interests of the infant or toddler) Equilibrium → The balance between a child's mental framework and what they experience in their environment (Beauchamp, 2022). In-home Support Services → Home visits where early intervention professionals consult, and work in collaboration with parents and family members following a family needs assessment (described in Chapter 4). Psychological Balance → The ability of an infant or toddler to maintain a balance between approaching and avoiding environmental events (stimuli). Reciprocal relationships → Interactions between individuals in which each person gives and receives in response to the giving and receiving of the other. Responsive Environment → An environment in which educators actively engage with an individual infant or toddler and respond to the child’s needs and sensorimotor and social exploration. School-age care → Programs offered before and after school on a regular basis in various settings for school-aged children. Sensorimotor Profile → An infant’s preference for and use of one sensory modality over another for sensory exploration. (E.g. the child who likes to listen to a music box, but only if allowed to look away from the action. Great distress may occurs if an adult insists that the child listen and look at the same time, but it must be remembers that how the educator perceives and responds to a sensation is not necessarily the way and infant/toddler will react to the same sensation) Sensory Stimulation → Objects and people that encourage infants and toddlers to explore their environment through seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling. CHAPTER 15 Creating an Inclusive Environment Discuss the ways in which early childhood education and care environments can be viewed as a social/political place. Slide 7 and 8: Introduction ➔ The learning and care environments will influence—even determine—whether children and their families feel welcomed and have a sense of belonging (democratic places). ➔ Environments and the way they are created will also determine how educators interact with children and the kinds of messages children get about themselves and others. ➔ According to Swim (2006), “Taking time to reflect on the physical environment is imperative as it is considered the ‘third teacher’” (p. 101). ➔ At a broader level, the early childhood education and care environment can also be understood as a specific living place situated within a specific social and political time. This means that an environment is never a neutral or innocent place separated from society and the world of politics ➔ As Pacini-Ketchabaw and Taylor (2015) explain, the place and the kind of place of an early childhood program matter. They see early childhood programs as settler-colonial places, which requires educators to deeply reflect on the complex implications of being located on Indigenous land. They see settler-colonial practices reflected in early childhood environments that idealize and romanticize the outdoors. ➔ For Pacini-Ketchabaw and Taylor, EC programs can be places that explore the interdependency and sustainability of all things on Earth and beyond ➔ Nxumalo and Cedillo (2017), similarly, are inspired by the “many differently located Indigenous knowledge that are rooted in the intrinsic relationality of humans and non-humans within the particularities of specific places. Relationality encompasses  complex relations to the earth, cosmologies, living and non-living beings, and all other matter” ➔ EC environments are also political places in which, for instance, the kind of ECEC system a government promotes profoundly affects the kinds of places children and educators occupy together ➔ EC programs are democratic places and in these places, there’s recognition that connectedness, kinship, and relationships are prioritised in Indigenous worldviews and identities, and evident in their communities where everyone has a role for participating in a communal way of living ➔ EC programs for indigenous children and families are not places of assimilation: rather, cultural diversity is honoured and celebrated Explain how the learning environment affects children’s experiences with exclusion and inclusion. ➔ Beyond thinking of the inclusive ECE and care environments as social/political place, there are many elements that go into it at the program level ➔ Safety, schedule, materials, furniture, routines, and play centres in that space come to mind, but child’s identities as en element are not often considered, particularly for children with disabilities ➔ Curtis and Carter (2015) stress using the idea of “creating a strong identity” for all children when designing a program environment Discuss the values behind the creation of an inclusive environment Slide 10 and 11: The Values of an Inclusive Environment ➔ When educators create play spaces and activities both indoors and outdoors so that children with disabilities are included easily and naturally, then they have conveyed a powerful message about human values: All children can play and learn together. ➔ If a child who uses a wheelchair cannot join in the exuberant activity of a lively bean bag toss and other group games, then the child receives the message that they cannot always play and learning with others ➔ The negative effects of this message of children’s sense of identify and belonging cannot be underestimate, particularly if children are repeatedly excluded from the life and an EC program ➔ Design of an inclusive early childhood education and care environment is based on other values. ➔ First, as stated throughout this textbook, children with disabilities are, above all, children. ➔ Second, educators also value individual differences among children, recognizing that, in an early childhood environment, differences can be more pronounced, as the following examples show:  ◆ Loud and distracting noises are difficult for most children. For children who are deaf or hard of hearing, having sensory integration sensitivities, or are living with ASD, such noises may be intolerable. // Too much visual stimulation on walls and floor can be overstimulating for many children ◆ Moving about in an environment free of clutter, slippery floors, rumpled rugs contributes to the safety and security of every child ◆ Minimizing clutter and confusion enhanced the ability o al young children to engage in sustained activities ; for children with attention or learning disability, reducing distractions encourages sustained engagement in activities ➔ A thoughtfully designed learning environment is a necessary context for an enriched childhood for all children. ➔ It is unacceptable to value and provide one kind of environment for children without disabilities and a different kind of environment for children with disabilities. ➔ In an inclusive environment, educators recognize and value that all children need to experience a range of equipment, materials, and social interactions to engage, for example, in risk taking for their development Slide 12: The Values of an Inclusive environment ➔ The best indoor and outdoor learning environments can be based on a universal design. ➔ Universal design for learning (UDL) means that the program is designed intentionally to meet the needs of all children and families (Underwood, 2013) ➔ UDL represents a shift in our values and thinking about early childhood environments. ➔ Instead of thinking about how a typical learning environment can be adapted or modified and children with disabilities can be accommodated, the environment right from the beginning is designed for all children. ➔ Thinking about the learning environment from a UDL perspective ensures that the program is genuinely inclusive. Describe how educators’ decisions about safety and scheduling contribute to creating an inclusive environment. Slides 13, 14, 15: Creating an inclusive environment: safety and scheduling ➔ Safety: ◆ A safe environment contributes to an inclusive environment. ◆ Safety in early childhood settings and outdoor environments is a major consideration in preventing accidents and fostering all children’s capacity to engage in a program all day, every day. ◆ Traffic lanes free of obstructions and unpleasant surprises (e.g., unmopped puddles of water on the floor, an abandoned doll carriage) are critical for all  children, but especially for children with vision loss and children who use crutches or wheelchairs ◆ One solution may be to provide additional attractive learning centers so that small groups of children have space to play together comfortably or side by side ◆ Inclusive environment = promotes social interactions, conversations and collaborations ◆ Educators who routinely help children restore play areas after each use provide children with valuable=le lessons in common courtesy, as well as regard for the physical safety of children with disabilities ◆ A child who uses a wheelchair only part of the time must larn to park it in an agreed-on place, not abandon it haphazardly ◆ Well-meaning adults concerned about safety may prevent a child with a disability from trying out new equipment ➔ Scheduling: ◆ Many educators have observed that early childhood program schedules are becoming increasingly rigid. One reason for this may lie with greater policy oversight by provinces and territories, which increasingly set out when and for how long certain activities can take place ◆ The push to “schoolify” ECE (eg. homework, readings) has resulted in schedules in EC programs that resemble a highly structured school day for older children ◆ However, schedules for young children (and even older children) can represent structured flexibility, in which all children can pursue their interests, explore, and test limits, and educators can respond spontaneously or with planning to the infinite variations in children’s learning. ◆ Scheduling can be made both structured and flexible by considering the following aspects of it ➔ Scheduling: ◆ Recognizing that time is fluid: children need sufficient time → Educators are attuned to and follow children’s own rhythms or rituals instead of a fixed schedule. The number of minutes spent in stories or transitions or snack time is irrelevant. BREAKS ARE ESSENTIAL. When children are present, the educator’s focus is on interacting with the children, not on preparing materials, not on cleaning up, nor on discussing the program. ◆ Varying activities and groups: alternating quiet and active time → Children can be grouped in a variety of ways throughout the day: large groups, small grou[s, multi age groups, and siblings together. Multi-age groups, which  consist of children of varying ages and abilities, give children natural opportunities to learn a variety of competencies from younger or older children ◆ Sequencing the day: activity periods generally follow predictable and orderly sequences rather than specific time periods. → Most children have trouble when schedules and/or routines are changed. Children with ASD or ADHD can become very attached to the daily schedule ◆ Giving advance notice: time to complete or prepare to end Transitioning within a schedule ➔ A smooth transition within a schedule appears effortless ➔ Educators thoughtfully seek to reduce the number of transitions within a schedule ➔ The underlying principle of smooth transitions is that each child moves individually, at their own pace, from one activity to the next ➔ The individual differences among children provide the gradual movement between activities for the group as a whole ➔ Some children who find transitions upsetting may be comforted by a a transition toy or picture board or card ➔ Successful transitions cannot be carried out unless there’s an adequate ratio of educators to children Describe how educators can create an inclusive environment that promotes living and learning together through self-help/care routines, play, and educator-guided experiences. Slides 17 to 21: Creating an inclusive environment: Living and learning together ➔ British Columbia’s Early Learning Framework (2019) describes the early childhood program as a place in which everyone lives and learns together. ➔ The framework states that children with disabilities live and learn “alongside their peers in all aspects of learning where each child is supported to meaningfully engage, learn, and contribute to the learning community and culture” (p. 103). Creating an inclusive environment: Living and learning together ➔ Self-help/Care ◆ self-help/care competencies are learned behaviours, which means that they can be taught ◆ Routines in EC program can also support families ◆ All children are able to experience the joy and self-esteem that come from learning self-help/care competences  ◆ Children with disabilities often try to do things for themselves, but these efforts can go unrecognised ◆ Supporting interdependence → When independence is highly valued, educators can become increasingly frustrated when a child doesn’t do a routine on their own educators are careful to not overemphasise that children must always learn to do and carry out these routines independently.A child may need assistance if routines in large groups (although best to avoid this) result in overstimulation and loss of self-regulation. Educators need to consider each family;s cultural attitudes toward independence in self-help/care skills Children with disabilities can learn to take care of many of their own needs through various environmental arrangements ◆ Washroom facilities → in EC program, all children need initial or ongoing guidance in learning the steps in a toileting routine. Toilets and sinks must be the appropriate size and height Adequate space if needed for pulling a wheelchair to the toilet ◆ Cubby areas → in EC centers, these can be as near as possible to the outdoor exit and the washroom. This location helps children keep track of coats and mittens as they come in to use the toileting facility ◆ Sleeping areas → placement of cots needs to be consistent and take into consideration an awareness of the specific needs of individual children Learning through play and educator-guided activities ➔ Ontario’s early learning curriculum framework, How Does Learning Happen (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2014), defines pedagogy as “the understanding of how learning takes place and the philosophy and practice that support that understanding of learning” (p. 5). ➔ Educator-guided learning opportunities; large- and small-group activities, one-on-one teaching, and educator-structured or educator- directed activities. ➔ Collaboration between educators and children and among children during the processes of co-investigating and co-constructing an inquiry ➔ Play-based learning includes child-initiated activities, choice of play activities, and other opportunities to explore and investigate toys, equipment ➔ A varied pedagogical approach: no one pedagogical approach matches all the different ways children learn ◆ A varied pedagogical approach is necessary to ensure the inclusion of all children in the living and learning community  ◆ A flexible pedagogical approach that is responsive to the needs of all children is of key importance. ➔ Embed opportunities for focused learning in a regular program: all children participate based on their individual learning goals and objectives. ➔ Accessible equipment and materials: children have access to the learning environment with assistive technology (AT) ◆ The types of equipment and toys can encourage or discourage play and affect the engagement levels of children ◆ Examples of movement AT provided by Judge et al (2008) are adjustable weighted vests which assist with sensory input and can increase attention and concentration ◆ Children who wish to try out AT should ask the child who uses it for permission first Learning through play and educator-guided activities: Accessible equipment and materials ➔ Other examples of assistive technology (Judge et al., 2008) that can be found throughout an inclusive environment and that foster awareness of diversity in learning are as follows: ◆ Creative art area ◆ Dramatic play area ◆ Other learning areas ◆ Outdoor areas Key terms and Concepts - Definitions Assistive Technology → Various kinds of equipment designed to facilitate learning and communication for individuals with disabilities. Induced Incompetence → Children with disabilities experiencing the effects of poorly functioning equipment. Interdependency → All humans and non-humans depend on others to have their needs met AND respond to the needs of others. Orderly Sequences → Events during an activity period that follow a predictable pattern. Self-help/Care → Competencies related to routines in early childhood Settings, such as toileting, dressing, eating, cleaning, and doing one’s share of tidying tasks. Structured Flexibility → A well structured early learning environment that also is always open to children’s individual needs and interests. CHAPTER 16 Facilitating Children’s Intellectual Development with their Worlds Explain the reasons for shifting from identifying children’s cognitive deficits to understanding that all children engage intellectually with their worlds. Slide 7: ➔ Intellectual is used because it implies that children are thinking all the time and actively making sense of their worlds. ➔ The plural worlds is used based on the understanding that children’s learning occurs in many different places and social and cultural contexts, confirming that each child experiences the world differently. ➔ Children with disabilities are not seen as having intellectual or cognitive deficits; rather they are seen as intellectually engaged in their worlds with the participation of others. ◆ This shift helps educators avoid treating intellectual or cognitive competencies as discrete and separate from other competencies ➔ When a child is intellectually engaged with what is happening in their world, this engagement can simultaneously and holistically involve physical, emotional, social, and communication competencies. ◆ This perspective is different from a long tradition of evaluating children with intellectual disabilities through perceptual and memory activities which may or may not be transferred or generalised to other contexts ➔ Focusing on how children with disabilities are intellectually engaged helps educators notice and appreciate the children’s ideas, questions, curiosities, and interests Discuss the problems with “academic work” for promoting intellectual development. Slides 8 and 9: “Academic Work” and Very Young Children ➔ A related problem with the terms deficit and discrete is that they can lead to labelling competencies as “academic” or “pre-academic” and to children doing “academic work.” ➔ The question is whether “academic work” is appropriate for young children. The answer is that academics—rote learning, use of workbooks, prescribed  pencil-and-paper tasks—are totally inappropriate for young children for two key reasons. ➔ First, when academic activities are used, young children can experience extreme frustration and a dislike of learning exhibited through avoidance behaviours such as crying and chronic stomach aches. ➔ Second, Jensen (2008) reminds us that the brain is run by patterns, not by facts; we learn best with themes, patterns, and contextual experiences. ◆ The brain is poorly designed for formal instruction or rote memorization ➔ There's a tendency for educators to prioritize closed-ended cognitive activities for children with disabilities. If this happens, a child with a disability may be excluded from the regular curriculum ➔ An inclusive EC curriculum ensure that children with disabilities have opportunities to engage in playful, open-ended, collaborative, and creative inquiries that are part of the regular curriculum ➔ The chapter builds on earlier chapters in stressing that opportunities for intellectual engagement can be embedded in a regular EC curriculum. At the same time, some children with disabilities also benefit from more individualized support within the context of the regular program. Discuss some factors that influence children’s intellectual engagement with their worlds. Slides 10 and 11: Influences on Children’s Intellectual Engagement with Their Worlds ➔ The ways in which children become intellectually engaged in their worlds are influenced by a number of factors. ➔ Genetic factors and the postnatal environment; the way in which the brain develops provides us with further insights on how brain development affects intellectual growth and learning (Shore, 2003). ➔ The brain has a great capacity to change, but there are some critical periods that are more crucial than others. ➔ Educators and parents take advantage of these critical periods for providing rich intellectual activities. ➔ Negative experiences and lack of stimulation in the early years can have serious and sustained effects; the parts of the brain associated with emotion (affect) seem to show the most difference. ➔ Stress also has an impact on the brain’s function in memory and critical thinking. ➔ Readiness, as a concept, recognizes changes in children’s competencies to intellectually experience their worlds  ➔ Using the concept of readiness to learn is both an advantage and potentially a disadvantage. ◆ Sometimes, when a child shows developmental irregularities and delays, the assumption is that “the child is not ready. LEt’s wait and see.” While waiting can reflect an understanding that children develop different, for some children, waiting puts on child learning opportunities during a critical period ➔ Harmful attitudes held by adults can also influence children;s intellectual engagement in their worlds ➔ All too often children from racialized groups are more readily and unnecessary identified as having a cognitive delay Discuss some ways educators can intentionally engage children’s minds. Slides 12, 13, 14: Engaging Children’s Minds ➔ Katz and Chard (2000, p. 2) state that “children’s minds should be engaged in ways that deepen their understanding of their own experiences.” ➔ When educators create a range of play experiences in a safe, warm, and caring environment, children have many opportunities to engage their minds and make sense of their experiences. ➔ All children need activities that stimulate curiosity and foster the urge to ask and find answers to questions. ◆ Activities that involve sensory experiences – touching, seeing, hearing, tasting, and smiling are important ➔ Cultural artifacts are also an important source for facilitating children’s meaning making of their worlds ➔ EC educators create and then maintain a learning environment in which children are free to explore and experience materials and activities through their senses in their own way and at their own pace Embed engaging and active learning opportunities in the regular early childhood curriculum. ➔ This section builds on a principle discussed in Chapters 5 and 15 about embedding learning opportunities in the regular curriculum. ◆ The following example illustrate this principle: Matthew, a 5-year-old with a cognitive delay, is making sense of how almost everything in his world can be counted. He tries to count the blocks while putting them on the shelf during clean-up time. His educators notice and appreciate this curiosity and make a game of counting the blocks, going one number further than Matthew’s count.  Later, an educator helps Matthew button his coat, gently guiding his hand and counting the buttons with him. ➔ This is the essence of embedded learning: spontaneous and informal in the context of a regular activity that has meaning for the child (Government of British Columbia, 2019; Dunst et al., 2006). Assistive technology (AT) can help children communicate their knowledge. ➔ For some individuals with disabilities, computers and other types of assistive technology can help them communicate what they want and know: ◆ A computer program to select phrases, words, or letters from a bank of words that are scanned in (developed by a physicist - Stephen Hawking) ◆ A computerized Braille system or voice synthesizer to communicate their knowledge ➔ While computer software programs for young children often focus on teaching discrete skills (e.g math, early reading), they may be one way a child feel comfortable communicating what they know ➔ Nevertheless, at no time should the computer become the primary focus of the curriculum in an EC program ➔ Behrmann (1998) regard AT not as a substitute for the daily curriculum but as a powerful equalizer for young children with disabilities ➔ Other forms of AT that can be used in an EC program: ◆ Nonelectronic but involve materials outside the child’s body → photographs, drawing, fastned to a piece of velcro or by metal rings ◆ Lot-tech system may also involve a collection of objects Describe some foundational competencies that children need in order to engage intellectually with their worlds. Slides 15, 16, 17: Support the learning of foundational intellectual competencies. ➔ Some children with disabilities need greater support in learning foundational intellectual competencies, which set the stage for more learning to happen. ➔ They can be viewed as the intellectual tools children need in order to explore, investigate, and communicate about their worlds. ➔ Wolery and Hemmeter (2011) describe them in another way as “behaviors that when acquired open up new avenues of learning or allow more rapid learning of other skills” (p. 377). Support the learning of foundational intellectual competencies. ➔ Other foundational intellectual competencies include the following: ◆ Ability to attend to learning  ◆ Ability to imitate ◆ Perceptual motor efficiency ◆ Adequate fine motor controls (eye–hand–wrist coordination) ◆ Ability to formulate concepts ◆ Short-term and long-term memory ◆ Ability to follow instructions ➔ All these intellectual competencies are intertwined with one another and with all other areas of development. Wolery and Hemmeter (2011) put it this way: “Behaviors often are categorized into developmental domains, but the folly of this approach is seen in an example such as waving and saying ‘Hi’ to greet a peer. Is it communication, social, motor, or cognitive behavior? It is all four” (p. 373). ➔ This interrelatedness is the essence of the whole child concept of development. ➔ Therefore, while several foundational intellectual competencies are explained next, it’s with the understanding that they are interrelated with other competencies ◆ Attention Span The ability to simultaneously focus on certain aspects of the environment and ignore others is essential for learning Along with factors such as genetics and readiness, children’s ability (or struggle) to focus their attention is strongly influenced by learning environments Drawing on disability critical race theory. Park et al (2021) recapitalize assistance as a practice that supports young racialized children with disabilities to accomplish their own purposes and express who they are fully Eagerness to learn promotes successful learning for children ◆ Imitation and Modelling The ability to imitate is essential to all learning Suggestions for supporting children in learning to imitate ○ Imitating the child )gestures/vocalizations) ○ Provide models such as actions for a song ○ Provide whatever assistance is needed to help the child learn to imitate ○ Support a child physically through an imitative response ○ Provide positive feedback and encouragement to an imitative response ◆ Perceptual-motor Competencies The first has to do with understanding sensory messages. The second is the translation of the messages into appropriate actions  More than one sense involved in a response is called sensory integration Activities involving forms of perceptual-motor competencies: climbing, jumping, riding wheeled toys, building blocks, coloring, cutting Children with delayed perceptual–motor competencies often receive incomplete or distorted sensory messages. All children are continually making sense of their worlds—concept formation ➔ Concepts will be defined as internal images or ideas (mental activities) that organize thinking. ➔ Concepts enable children to make sense of their worlds. ➔ By continuously formulating new concepts, children impose order on the many things they see, hear, smell, touch, and experience. ➔ Concepts developing in young children include; emotions, colour, texture, size, shape, weight, same vs. different, directionality and position in space, and time. ➔ Concept formation ◆ Include discrimination, classification, seriation, understanding of spatial and temporal relationships, memory, and the ability to follow instructions ➔ Discrimination ◆ The ability to perceive likenesses and differences among related objects and events. It is the ability to “tell things apart.” ◆ In inclusive setting, opportunities to practice making both simple and complex discriminations are found throughout the day ➔ Memory ◆ The ability to remember what has previously been experienced and learned is necessary to all new learning; two kinds of memory are long term and short term. ➔ Ability to follow instructions ◆ Some children with disabilities need many experiences in following instructions. ◆ At the same time, educators need to ask the following questions: Is the child paying attention but having difficulty with short-term memory? Do we know if the child can hear (or see) well enough to know what is expected? What do we know about the vocabulary necessary to understand the request? What concepts are necessary to understand the request?  What is known about the child’s competencies in imitation? Are we giving instructions that are too complicated or communicated too rapidly? Are we giving too many instructions at one time? Key Terms and Concepts - Definitions Attention Span → The length of time an individual is able to concentrate on an activity or event. Discrimination → The ability to perceive likenesses and differences among related objects and events; to specify same versus different; to match objects, sounds, or ideas in terms or one or more attributes. Perceptual-motor Competencies → Movement generated by sensory messages, by what is seen, heard, touched, tasted, or smelled. Sensory Integration → The process of more than one sense working together to understand a sensory message and to translate the message into appropriate action. CHAPTER 17 Facilitating Social Interactions and Living Well with Others Describe the values underpinning the ways educators can facilitate social interactions in their program. Slide 7 and 8: ➔ Every early childhood program is a highly social place in which relationality, interdependency, and care are central values. ➔ Scholars who study care in early childhood programs maintain that we are not born as autonomous individuals separate from others; rather, everyone is born in relation with others (Langford & Richardson, 2020). ➔ This inherent relationality means that each person, throughout their lifetime, is always in a state of social connection with others. ➔ In early childhood programs, educators value this relationality and reflect constantly on how to establish and sustain it through meaningful and caring social interactions. ➔ Maya-Rose Simon (2021) writes that relationality has always been central to Indigenous knowledges: “Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing are based on the concept that everything and everyone is connected and balanced through  relationships” (p. 131). For many Indigenous peoples, their identity is inextricably tied to these connections and relationships. ➔ In early childhood programs, all children have a need to connect and be with others; to make a friend; and to feel welcomed, included, and safe in relationships with others. It’s only through interacting with responsive others that they have opportunities to make these social connections. ➔ Children with disabilities may need more support; ways to connect with others may have to be introduced and practised over a considerable time. ➔ Underlying social supports are the values and practice of care ➔ Caring for the social needs of young children includes (but is not limited to): ◆ Respectfully appreciating their social strengths ◆ Being sensitive to the particular situations in which children are learning social competencies ◆ Listening carefully to children’s perspectives ◆ Being open to asking children if an educator's social supports are helpful ◆ Being willing to repair a relationship when conflict and/or misunderstandings occurs Describe what it means to live well with others in early childhood programs. Slides 9 to 12: Living Well with Others ➔ Every early childhood program is a busy, sometimes noisy, place with lots of different people—children, family members, educators, supervisors, other professionals, cleaning staff, ECEC students in placement—interacting, talking, and helping each other; children are full members of this social community, and everyone in the community is learning to live well with others (Taylor, 2018). ➔ Living well with others is a new idea in the field. In the past, a focus has been on the individual child’s development of social competencies. ➔ New ideas about what children need socially have emerged in response to the acceleration of social issues such as racism and climate change. ➔ Now, the focus is on how all humans and more-than-humans (such as animals and forests) live together as well as possible in a shared environment. ➔ At a fundamental level, living with others means living together in a family, in a culture, in educational settings, and in society ➔ But what does it mean to live well with others? This idea is different from a focus on well-being which resides in an individual person ➔ Living well with others focuses on the vibrancy – the life and energy – of a social community like an EC program ➔ Researchers have noted that young children become aware of differences and similarities in people (they notice, are curious and ask questions about gender, race, disabilities, etc) ➔ Research shows that children who grow up interacting in environments that reflect human diversity are more likely to show greater understanding of human differences ➔ In these inclusive environments, educators must answer children’s questions about differences in abilities openly and honestly, using current terminology for a disability or device ➔ Researchers studying child development and the acquisition of social skills often categorize them. ➔ For example, Gordon and Browne (2016) suggested four categories, called the “Four Hows,” for a wide range of social competencies children learn in the early years. (1) How to approach, to get in and be included (2) How to interact, through sharing and cooperating (3) How to engage with difference, such as teasing, bullying, including, and helping others (4) How to manage conflict by problem solving and handling aggression ➔ Other researchers (i.e., Kostelnik et al., 2011) found it valuable to describe the various aspects of social competencies rather than simply defining social competencies; with others, then, children learn the following: ◆ Interacting with different children and adults, in a vaeriety of ways, at home and away from home ◆ Trusting and enjoying known adults outside the immediate family ◆ Recognizing and protesting inappropriate advances from known or unknown adults within or outside the family ◆ Attending to self-help/care needs at home and in public places with consideration for others ◆ using language as the powerful social tool for defending, reading, explaining, solving problems, and getting needs ➔ Kostelnik et al. (2011 also described the complexities – the values, knowledge, and competences – needed to live well with others): ◆ Cultural competence: knowledge and respect for human differences ◆ Planning and decision-making skills: solving problems, making choices and planning ◆ Self-regulation: reflect on feelings and resist temptation and peer pressure ◆ Interpersonal skills: communication and friendly relationships ◆ Positive self-identity: sense of worth, purpose and competence  ◆ Social values: responsibility and honesty ➔ Kostelnik et al. (2014) expanded the description to highlight the role of emotions in social relations. ◆ Emotional Intelligence: recognize emotions ◆ Demonstrates empathy ◆ Gives and receive emotional support ◆ Labels emotions and communicates feelings constructively ◆ Manage frustration, disappointment in a healthy way ➔ These lists of social competencies highlight how complex learning to live well with others is ➔ The lists can be used as a broad framework for understanding that social competencies are best practiced and acquired in a social environment that prioritizes the values of relationality, interdependency, care and living well with other Discuss differences in how children learn to live well with others. Slides 13 to 15: Differences in Learning to Living Well with Others ➔ Children’s learning of social competencies cannot be forced or hurried Different social competencies for different contexts ➔ One difference is related to expectations in various social situations and groups ◆ These expectations vary from one community to community, culture to culture and society to society Different opportunities for social interactions ➔ Spontaneous social interactions may not always happen readily for some children ➔ All children need opportunities for social interaction ➔ Clinton (2013) describes how “babies are born learning. When they interact with others, babies are like little scientists, observing faced and gestures and noting everything around them ➔ Even the newborn is highly competent at taking turns, thus promoting social interactions ➔ Social interactions, in the form of adult responsiveness, are a crucial factor in determining how well a child’s social competencies will develop ➔ Children with disabilities can learn and do social competencies ➔ Overstimulation and overresponding may also interfere with an infant’s ability to make use of a responsive environment  ➔ An infant with a central nervous system (CNS) disorder, for example, may have an involuntary but rigid arm extension when trying to turn their head into a nursing position ➔ In an inclusive program, the most significant and useful principle for educators to embrace is that all children need opportunities for social interaction Differences in Temperament and Emotions ➔ Thomas and Chess (1977) described three types of temperamental traits: ◆ Easy ◆ Difficult ◆ Slow to warm up ➔ Descriptions if children as either introverted or extroverted are related to these types ➔ These personality traits may have genetic linkage, however this is difficult to demonstrate and relatively unimportant ➔ Thomas and Chess (1986) called this goodness-of-fit—educator and children’s compatibility ➔ A study by Hipson and Séguin (2016) continues to demonstrate that, when the child and the educator seem to have compatible temperaments, the equator is more likely to facilitate prosocial behaviour in that child ➔ Educators must be able to recognize and respect the varying temperaments of children as well as their own Differences in Coping with Change and Stress ➔ Stressors in children’s lives can significantly affect their social interactions with others, and potentially affect educators’ responses to the children. ➔ A thoughtful and respectful approach for understanding how children cope with change and stress is to be curious rather than furious about a child’s behaviour (this is a caring approach). ◆ This curiosity also communicates that responsibility for understanding how a child is coping with change and stress lies with the educators rather than the child ➔ The predominant overdiagnoses of Indigenous children in Canada are behavioural and mental health disorders, which suggests a potential bias in the labelling of these diagnoses ➔ Feeling overwhelmed with schedule/routines within a program, = child feeling stressed ➔ All children need frequent adult attention to feel a sense of belonging ➔ Once attention is paid to all the successful social interactions a child has (rather than the challenging ones) with educators and children, then the child’s social competencies can be acknowledged and celebrated  ➔ Sometimes young childrenhave frequent strong emotional reactions to chandge and stress. These reactions in which a child appears to lose control are sometimes referred to as temper tantrums ◆ The advice often given is for adults to ignore this type of reaction ➔ Learning more about the child’s experiences is an important step ➔ Aggressiveness may be a result. ◆ Young children may become aggressive temporarily as a way to cope with a difficult motion that arises, such as when being separated from a parent ◆ Aggressiveness can be a call for help and thus could be viewed as a strength in communication ◆ Aggressiveness may signal mental health issues, such as anxiety or depression Identify and discuss ways to promote a sociable environment for all children. Slides 16 to 18: Creating a Sociable Environment for All Children Four key ways educators can intentionally encourage, support, and sustain social connections between children in the EC program: (1) Environmental structuring: Educators arrange features of the physical environment to foster social interactions. Sometimes, educators decide to reduce the number of materials to encourage turn taking and sharing, but this approach actually reduces the possibility for social interactions because waiting children will leave the activity disengaged and frustrated Conversely, in some situations, having too many of the same material or equipment tends to promote solitary play How materials and equipment are set up can also influence the extent of social interactions among children Overall, some learning centres (such as sand, clay, and blocks) promote more social interactions among children than do other learning centre (such as the cognitive area, where one chair at a table with one toy signals that a solitary activity is available) (2) Curriculum approach: Different approaches provide more or fewer opportunities for social interactions. Comparisons between two curriculum approaches ○ 1. Educators in a preschool room identify each child’s learning needs. Activities are planned for each child so that they can practise needed skills. Each child is assessed for their progress in skill development ○ 2. A group of children discover ant hills in the playground. Other children gather around to look at the discovery. Everyone has  questions about what the ants are doing. The educators and children decide to investigate these questions It’s immediately possible to see that there are many more possibilities for social interactions in the 2nd curriculum approach, which focuses on collaborative inquiry-based projects initiated and sustained over time by educators and children (3) Avoid creating competition among children and promote intrinsic motivation: Children are motivated to engage in activities with others because they feel a sense of pride in their accomplishments. Promoting competition among children = establishing an uneasy learning environment The only competition or comparison that enhances learning occurs when a child’s progress is commented on against that child's earlier behaviour Positive inner feelings of pleasure and personal satisfaction describe intrinsic motivation Many research studies demonstrate how caring interactions with educators are sources of great encouragement for young children ➔ The following are brief descriptions of educator actions that serve as powerful motivators for young children: ◆ Verbal responsiveness. Examples: producing relevant comments, interesting questions, answers to children’s questions, exclamations of recognition and encouragement that focus on some specific aspect of what the child is accomplishing, such as, “Paula, you laced your shoe all by yourself!” In general, the focus of this encouragement is on the child’s ideas, effects, and accomplishments. ◆ Physical proximity. Examples: quietly standing or sitting close to a child and showing genuine interest by watching, nodding, smiling, or listening. ◆ Physical contact. Examples: touching, hugging, holding a child’s hand, tussling, rocking, or otherwise physically comforting a child. (Educators must note and discuss the occasional child who avoids or shrinks from adults’ touches remember to ask for permission first.) ◆ Physical assistance. Examples: providing support on the climbing frame, pushing a swing, helping a child achieve balance on a walking beam. ◆ Providing things that children want. Examples: providing a favourite nutritional snack, play materials, and activities. (4) Direct support: Educators may need to provide direct support for children learning to engage and communicate with other children. Direct support of children with disabilities by educators can be seen as a continuum – from educators noticing social interactions during play  activities as they arise naturally and spontaneously, to educators supporting children in joining and staying with peer groups, to educators more systematically supporting a child Play is the major avenue for early learning of every kind Children with disabilities may require more adult support in learning how to play Children with ASD need support in learning symbolic play competencies; without this support, inappropriate use of materials, such as hammering the cookie cutters with the rolling pin, might occur ○ The child may benefit from educator-facilitate play Guralnick (2013) has identified 3 plays tasks important to children: 1. Joining a peer group 2. Conflict resolution 3. Sustaining play with peers ◆ Incidental Social Learning: naturally occurring Educators can promote incidental social learning quite easily by being alert to social interactions that occurs naturally among children Other children also occasionally act as coaches for children with disabilities. Sometimes there peer-tutoring episodes occurs spontaneously: ○ One child helps another to rearrange and separate their finger when putting on gloves ○ A child indicates which cube goes where when two children happen to be involved in sorting colour cubes for storage The inclusion of all children does not automatically lead to children with disabilities playing with others It has been apparent that spontaneous social interactions among young children, with and without disabilities, occur infrequently ◆ Joining a peer group : invitation to play An educator might physically guide the child to a play activity that is known to be enjoyable for the child and help the child to settle in If children and educators collectively meet to discuss their play plans for the morning, a child can be helped to choose an activity after several other chile have made their choices Another option is to provide guidance through a visual aid - this approach is useful for the child who may need a bot of time to make a decision ◆ Resolving conflicts : all children need to learn to stand up for their rights and show self-assertion  In working with children to resolve a conflict (if they aren’t able to resolve the problem themselves), a good amount of time is needed It’s important that the educator not solve the problem for the children All children need practice in conflict resolution, a much-needed competency for everyone throughout a lifetime In rare situations, an educator may need to act more directly in resolving a conflict ◆ Sustaining play with peers: continuing play Educators may need to support the continuation of a social interaction between children, but subtly, to avoid distracting any child. Depending on the situation, the educator might: ○ Move closer, kneel, and watch with interest, but avoid eye contact to keep from interrupting the children’s mutual focus ○ Smile and nod if a child turns toward the educator, but keep the focus on the activity, not the child ○ Bring additional materials to extend the play, placing them close to the activity ○ Provide encouragement that continues the play Educators also need to help all children learn to be explicit about what they are doing in certain situations Sharing and taking turns offer opportunities for play exchanges among children Yet, sharing can be hard for most people because it involves giving up something The educato’s responses to friendly interactions between two children also make spontaneous sharing easier ◆ Systematic support: teaching how to: Improvisational play For some children, more systematic planning and support are required for their competencies to develop Educators can work together to identify which competencies a child can learn incidentally and which may require a more systematic approach A list of critical social competencies required to live well with others: ○ Observes peer ○ Approaches peer ○ Greets peer ○ Responds to peer’s greeting ○ Invites peer to play ○ ETC  Educators can also teach peers to interact with children with disabilities in such a way that the social competencies of the learning children are enhanced Peer-tutoring episodes are possible in any part of an EC program: ○ E.g., During music, two similar instruments might be provided, with th