4.3

Outcome 4.3

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

Action Plan/Resource

Prior to undertaking this topic I was unaware of the value that every day routines and experiences can have on a babies foundations of literacy and numeracy learning. Part of this initial mistaken perception was viewing the care of babies in childcare as purely ‘care’, with limited learning opportunities, and the toys being provided to stimulate the babies’ interests rather than achieving more specific learning outcomes. To overcome these views I carefully evaluated and reflected on the kinds of resources that I could use within a nursery room to promote literacy and numeracy immersion. First I came up with a list of resources that I could use with a baby or young toddler, trying to use items that were open-ended and could easily be found around the home or child care centre, not specialised equipment. The list I came up with was:

 

• boxes
• mirrors
• buckets and objects to put inside them (e.g. soft, rubber balls – larger to eliminate chocking risk)
• water and glitter in containers
• puppets
• objects that make different sounds (e.g. wind chimes, drums to bang on)
• sensory materials (e.g. soft cloths/herbs to smell)
• books
• colourful mats
• balloons

 

From this list I then decided to analyse the literacy and numeracy learning that would occur through the use of these materials:

From analysing the use of resources with babies and young toddlers I am much more aware of how much a baby is learning every day. As a teacher I feel I will be much more competent in observing babies’ learning due to this awareness and also in providing open-ended, exploratory learning experiences. This though process has demonstrated the importance of considering why we think about things in certain ways and how we can change the way we perceive learning processes.