4.3 Shows recognition of your own potential prejudices & projections, noting ways you hope to overcome them 

English is my second language but it is the first language I was formally taught and learnt in school.  I was born in the Philippines and before I turned 5 my family moved to Papua New Guinea.  We lived there for 13 years and I attended international primary and high schools. Because of these circumstances I was privileged, from an early age, to have classmates and teachers from different cultures and parts of the world.  My family moved back to Philippines after I had finished year 10 and I was fortunate to study university where I learnt to appreciate and understand my culture more.

Before I started school I could speak and understand Tagalog but I never received any formal lessons in school, I don’t think I understood or spoke much English then either. It was difficult for me back then, because unlike the other children I had to learn to speak and understand English at an older age whereas many of my classmates had been hearing and speaking it since birth.    

I appreciate the challenges children who have English as their second language go through because I can say I have been in their shoes. At the same time I believe we have an advantage because we are fluent in two, others sometimes more, languages. Because of my experience I hope to be more supportive but not limited only to children with English as their second language.

4.2 Describes how parents, peers & communities may see, feel & shape young children’s early literacy & numeracy experiences 

Week12 Reading Blog

Analyst – What does this do to me?

4.1 Critiques other plausible perspectives on early literacy & numeracy awareness & immersion  

During our tutorial this week we searched for children’s storybooks on the Internet and critiqued them on any implied or hidden messages, bias and stereotypes they might have within their text.  The story I chose was “The Gruffalo” children's book written by writer and playwright Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler. The book’s target audiences are children aged three to seven years old.

The story is about a little brown mouse that eludes being eaten by several predators as he walks through the woodlands, by deceiving them with accounts of an eccentric monster that he is to meet. The plot twist is that when the Gruffalo does appear he too has plans to eat the mouse.  The mouse persuades the Gruffalo that he should not eat him but instead fear him and convinces the Gruffalo to follow him back through the woods to watch the other predators run in fear. The Gruffalo is not aware of his reputation and is led to believe that the mouse is the true source of the creature’s discomfort. The Gruffalo concedes to his craving to gobble mouse and instead returns to the woods, while mouse is left to enjoy his nut.

The Gruffalo is a story about survival

The story highlights relationship of size to power. The bigger the animal the more power they have and intelligence

The little mouse, because of his size has lease power, but he used his intelligence to save himself from being eaten by the other much bigger animals. Being small he could not afford to be stupid.

The Gruffalo was portrayed as a big powerful animal, he is the largest of all the animals and has the most power over them, and he could afford to be less intelligent.

After further reflection and research i came across a blog with a different perspective of the hidden messages in The Gruffalo.  This particular blogger shared that it is a story about the "analogy of the corrupt nature of celebrity, media and how one can ultimately achieve one's goals only through deceit"

http://littleliteraturereview.blogspot.com.au/2010/11/gruffalo-analogy-on-nature-of-celebrity.html

Before we had the tutorial discussion I did censor majority of my own children's experiences.  The thought processes that went into those decisions were not as deep compared to what we went thru during class.  I now understand the learning experiences that we introduce or engage children in, build on how they emerge as individuals and how they interact and react to their world. As educators it is important to always bare this in mind, while working hand in hand with the family and community.

3.3 States the strengths & possible limits of your own ability to observe & offer literacy & numeracy experiences with children less than 4 years of age 

I always wanted to be a hands on mom. This was one of  the main reasons why my husband and I made the decision to come to Australia.  Our four children will always be my biggest motivation to be a better person. From the time they were in my womb I prepared as much as I could to be ready for them when the time was right.  I listen to the right music, because I read that even in the womb a baby could hear sounds from the world outside, I took my vitamins and ate as healthy as I could, because every thing the mom ate eventually goes to the baby and I prepared myself mentally because I read and I knew that many things beyond my understanding and beyond my control would start happening in my life. 

My children have given me invaluable insights into how I interact with children less than 4 years of age. At the beginning of the course I believed that there was very little difference between how I treat and react to my own children and the children that I taught. As I learn more about how to become a better early  childhood educator  I begin to realise that there are many concepts, ideals, prejudices, projections and beliefs that need adjusting. Many theories, approaches, resources,  contexts, frameworks, researches, observation and experiences yet to learn.  If only I had learnt them when I still a young mom, then I could have been a better prepared mom. 

My children continue to be my motivation and inspiration, only now I have more, the children who smile at me and call out "hi Nicky!!!" when they see me at their centre. 

3.2 Shows competence in observing & planning for literacy & numeracy experiences & environs, adapting to specific learner needs, interests & contexts 

Sand tray name writing

Expected learning outcomes

·Children are effective communicators

· Identity

. Help children to become familiar with their names

Context for the session

·    During group time the other week. Children practices writing their names


·   Children showed varied range of fine motor skills and ability in writing their names and familiarity with letters

Session focus

·      Materials

o   Shallow trays

o   Thick pencils

o   Sand

o   Laminated cards with children’s name

·      Space and pre-session organization

o   Sift sand from sand pit

o   Clear table to place sand trays and name cards

Teach and Learning Strategies

·      Remind children how they practiced writing their names the other week.


·      Have children look thru the laminated name cards for their names. Encouraging them to become more familiar with what their name looks like compared to the names/spelling of their classmates


·     Show children how to use the sand trays to practice writing their names by coping from their name cards.

Reflection and evaluation   

·      The children were familiar with the materials so it did not take long to show them what to do with the sand trays and pencils.


·      Several children played with the name cards and hid them in the sand.


·      After several attempts the children reverted back to scooping and pouring the sand, as they would in the sand pit.


·      Others just looked for their names but made little attempt to write in the sand.


·      So the children did end up doing some writing, reading, hunting, digging and scooping.


·      More than a little sand ended up on the floor and tabletop.


·      The next day the sand boxes were taken out again and the children did some more writing, reading, hunting, digging and scooping. 




Background:  The day before this activity was conducted, the children were asked sit at the tables to write their names on white sheets of paper whilst copying from laminated name cards. Many children found it difficult to grip the pencil. Some were too scared to make an attempt to put any marks on their paper.  One particular boy only attempted to write after I had made faint dotted outline of his name.  It seemed they were scared to have their permanent mistakes clearly visible. After one attempt they quickly showed their paper to the teacher before rushing of to a much more exciting activity.  This experience led me to reflect of alternative ways to encourage those children who were not inclined to engage in writing exercises.

3.1 Offers a careful interpretation & analysis of children’s early literacy/numeracy skills & interests 

Emergent literacy in making play dough

For my month long placement, I had the opportunity to work at a community children’s centre.  On this particular day the group I was observing were asked to sit in a circle while they listened to their educator. The children were between the ages 3-5.  That morning they would be making play dough, the educator held a piece of laminated paper.

 “Can anyone tell me what this is?” she asked. 

“It’s a recipe!” the children answered

“And what does a recipe do?”

“It tells us how to make something.”

“How?”

“You read the recipe and it tells us what to do.”

The students were fully engaged and eagerly participated in making the play dough. Referring to their recipe they took turns to add the ingredients and then mixed them together to make the dough. The children all agreed that the play dough would be colored yellow.

Most of the children in this group exhibited signs of emergent literacy. They showed understanding of key literacy and numeracy concepts and processes by identifying the function of a recipe as a means of instruction on how to make play dough. They used measuring cups and spoons to measure the exact amount of ingredients needed. They were able to identify a recipe and know its function.

This clip shows how the little girls' emergent reading is taking shape. She reads (pretends to) though the book "Cat the cat Who is that".  Most of the texts used are rhymes words and she looks to the illustrations to help her identify the words.  There are instances where she has memorized the text and she finished the sentences when she asks for help.