resources for a child development elective course

[Momto6inIN]

My DD would like to take child development. She has lots of hands on experience with younger siblings, and would like to run a free 2 morning or afternoon per week daycare/preschool in our home for kids of families we know as a practical project for the course (along with a write-up justifying her activity/curriculum choices backed up with research), but I need some general overview texts/videos/books for some textual input before she starts the practical part. I can search Amazon but wondered if any in particular were considered standard or exceptional. Any suggestions?

[Momto6inIN]

Anybody?

[hopeallgoeswell]

My daughter asked for an early childhood education class for this fall.  I found this from 7sisters homeschool: https://7sistershomeschool.com/product/early-childhood-education/.  I will probably pair it with their Human Development course for a full credit.  Best wishes!

Edited June 30, 2019 by hopeallgoeswell

[Guest]

There are some free modules (if you don’t want a validated certificate) on early education on PBS TeacherLine that might be interesting. The ones for family daycare providers would probably give her some practical ideas. 

In addition, I’d get her a membership to NAEYC, and have her read their publications, and go to local events if there are any. I’d suggest doing a child health and safety class designed for child care providers if possible as well. Usually those are offered locally and are inexpensive, since child care providers and teachers have to recertify frequently (usually every 3 years). 

[rjand6more]

I was also going to suggest the  7 Sisters curriculum.

Sounds fun.:)

[katilac]

On 6/27/2019 at 2:27 PM, Momto6inIN said:

 and would like to run a free 2 morning or afternoon per week daycare/preschool in our home for kids of families we know  

On a practical note, I would implore her to consider charging at least a token amount. People, homeschoolers included, are notorious for not respecting your time or effort if you don't charge for it. 

[learning123]

I haven’t looked at the 7 sisters curriculum, so this may be a moot reply. However, one of my child development classes in college was structured around categories of development (eg. social, sexual, moral, physical) and focused on one “guru” per area. For example, Erikson  for social, Kohlberg for moral, Piaget for cognitive, Freud for sexual, etc. Sorry, I can’t remember texts we used, so not of much help here...

But one book I can highly recommend that I originally had to read for courses is Stern’s Interpersonal World of the Infant. I just liked it. So much of the infant studies assume vegetation and reflex on the part of infants (I hope I’m using hyperbole here) and this book was great for continuing to break down those presumptions. Also studies that can be obtained from JSTOR or other databases- you can probably access through your library website- could be used for research papers; all kinds of topics here, such as neonatal memory originating in the prenatal period, social development and attachment of children of depressed mothers, etc. Zero to Three puts out a nice publication that is available at some libraries and is easy to read and informative.

One of the most practical yet rich learning experiences she could do would be to administer a normed developmental assessment test to her siblings and to the children you know.  It is fascinating to be able to see differences in the way children who are absolutely normal develop; we know this as moms, but to quantify it on a test and write a report to the parent makes it “creditable” and fun for a high schooler. (If you could get your hands on a Bayley Scales of Infant Development, it is a fun test with all the bells and whistles)  Maybe a college curriculum library would have tests she could use? Or she could ask a place that offers therapy (speech, OT, PT) if she could observe; there is a lot of learning what is normal by observing how delays work out.  Maybe youtube would have videos of administrations of normed tests as well as having other helpful topics in child development.

And there are lots of interesting syndromes that affect development. Good research projects here! Genereviews (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/GeneTests/review) is the source med. people look at for this. Again, learning the norm by seeing what is not...

: ) 

I hope she has a great time!

 

[Kendall]

My son, who is also an older child of many siblings and was/is very good with children, would suggest consciousdisciplne.com or better yet the book by the same title or Easy to love, difficult to discipline has similar material by the same author (and is shorter) . As with all books, there will be a thing or two to throw out, but he has worked part time as a preschool teacher for 3 years and has gained very effective skills through this.  One big thing he has learned is to view his time with the children with a focus on connecting with them rather than taking care of them. 

The nominal charge could pay for supplies. i agree that without payment people often don't show BUT if it is a chance to leave your child somewhere for free? I think they will show up!

Edited July 3, 2019 by Kendall

[Momto6inIN]

9 hours ago, katilac said:

On a practical note, I would implore her to consider charging at least a token amount. People, homeschoolers included, are notorious for not respecting your time or effort if you don't charge for it. 

Good point! These would be by invitation only to a few select families from church that we know well, so I'm not too terribly worried about it, but that is definitely something to consider.

[Momto6inIN]

1 hour ago, learning123 said:

I haven’t looked at the 7 sisters curriculum, so this may be a moot reply. However, one of my child development classes in college was structured around categories of development (eg. social, sexual, moral, physical) and focused on one “guru” per area. For example, Erikson  for social, Kohlberg for moral, Piaget for cognitive, Freud for sexual, etc. Sorry, I can’t remember texts we used, so not of much help here...

But one book I can highly recommend that I originally had to read for courses is Stern’s Interpersonal World of the Infant. I just liked it. So much of the infant studies assume vegetation and reflex on the part of infants (I hope I’m using hyperbole here) and this book was great for continuing to break down those presumptions. Also studies that can be obtained from JSTOR or other databases- you can probably access through your library website- could be used for research papers; all kinds of topics here, such as neonatal memory originating in the prenatal period, social development and attachment of children of depressed mothers, etc. Zero to Three puts out a nice publication that is available at some libraries and is easy to read and informative.

One of the most practical yet rich learning experiences she could do would be to administer a normed developmental assessment test to her siblings and to the children you know.  It is fascinating to be able to see differences in the way children who are absolutely normal develop; we know this as moms, but to quantify it on a test and write a report to the parent makes it “creditable” and fun for a high schooler. (If you could get your hands on a Bayley Scales of Infant Development, it is a fun test with all the bells and whistles)  Maybe a college curriculum library would have tests she could use? Or she could ask a place that offers therapy (speech, OT, PT) if she could observe; there is a lot of learning what is normal by observing how delays work out.  Maybe youtube would have videos of administrations of normed tests as well as having other helpful topics in child development.

And there are lots of interesting syndromes that affect development. Good research projects here! Genereviews (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/GeneTests/review) is the source med. people look at for this. Again, learning the norm by seeing what is not...

: ) 

I hope she has a great time!

 

Such great ideas, thanks!

[Momto6inIN]

54 minutes ago, Kendall said:

One big thing he has learned is to view his time with the children with a focus on connecting with them rather than taking care of them. 

Such a good reminder ❤

[katilac]

6 hours ago, Momto6inIN said:

Good point! These would be by invitation only to a few select families from church that we know well, so I'm not too terribly worried about it, but that is definitely something to consider.

When it's people you know well, when it's friends, that's when you have to be even more careful . . . because she isn't going to want to make a deal out of anything once it happens, kwim? And that's the people who often feel in return, they know us very well, we're friends, they'll understand if we don't show up or if we pick the kids up an hour late. 

Also, keep in mind that there will costs involved, even if she keeps it very simple. Supplies aside,  she needs to factor in lots of extra bathroom visits, along with lots of paper towels and 409 for cleaning up after them, lol. Even if the charge is minimal, have it, and have the parents sign an agreement like they would at any preschool. She can find examples online, but stuff like: what is the pickup and dropoff procedure?  What's the time frame, what exactly do they do, who can pick the kid up, all these things should be spelled out. Sick policy.

You want to list a fairly strict late fee policy even if you anticipate cutting some slack. I figured out that if you list late fees on their bill, and then scratch off the charge or write 'no charge,' people are pleased with you but it also serves as a reminder for them. Another trick is to have those kids ready. Everything should be cleared away when pickup time begins - no toys, they can sit and talk quietly while waiting. When the clock ticks over to that last minute of pick-up time, they need to be standing up with you by the door, ready for immediate handoff. She needs to send a strong message that her time is important and that drop-off and pick-up times matter. On the same note, keep convos extremely brief at these times and address it in the handbook: During drop-off, I am dealing with the children and getting ready for the day; during pick-up, I am dealing with the children and I also have to write up the day's notes once they leave. Because of this, drop-off and pick-up are not good times for anything except brief conversations. If you need to speak with me in more depth, please let me know and we'll arrange that. If she doesn't do these things, she will have people standing around chatting for twenty minutes, thirty minutes, and more. Particularly if they are killing time before an extra-curricular, lol.

Again, it is even more important to address this upfront with people you know well and especially people you consider friends. If it turns out she absolutely doesn't mind and she has the time, she can always ease up. When I have teens in a class, I'm pretty lax about making them leave 'on time,' because they don't bother me and, more importantly, I don't have to watch them, lol. I can do my own paperwork or get on the phone. With the littler kids, I can't do that, and they have to go home in a timely manner.

[Kareni]

I'd suggest you check your insurance policy in case there are restrictions against having something like this in your home. Not to be an alarmist, but what if one of the children suffers an injury in your home? You might wish to speak to your agent. While you don't intend to charge, if there is an insurance charge, you could consider asking the parents to cover that fee.

As regards a text book, you might use a search engine to search for "Child Development syllabus." I imagine some of the syllabi will provide helpful information.

Regards,

Kareni

[Guest]

I just found this site when looking for PD hours for me that were low cost/free, and the classes might be useful. They are based on Head Start standards. https://sesamestreetincommunities.org/professional-development/courses/

[Momto6inIN]

1 hour ago, dmmetler said:

I just found this site when looking for PD hours for me that were low cost/free, and the classes might be useful. They are based on Head Start standards. https://sesamestreetincommunities.org/professional-development/courses/

Those look fun, thanks!