January Extra Post

Answer two quest
What is the most important skill a child develops in preschool that helps them best excel academically in kindergarten?

The new year is finally here, 2015, and along with that many new challenges and experiences are awaiting. We [seniors] have faced our first challenge of the year and have finally finished second lesson presentations and are now just that much closer to our actual 2-hour!
Putting aside all the stress and anxiety of our second presentation I actually really enjoyed the whole process of finding my first answer for my EQ: Fine motor skills are the collective skills and activities that involve using the hands and fingers, which are a predictor of achievement involving common neuronal wiring, experience-dependent learning, and direct classroom learning.
So now that I explored a type of physical skill I now want to learn more about a emotional/social skill that  may affect a child's ability to communicate with others that may have an impact in the way the succeed academically in later years.

In my last research check I found this article that helps parents understand their child's issues with social skills and what can be affected because of that.

This is something I really want to know more about and I hope will be a second answer to my essential question. In the meantime I will be looking up some books that discuss what a lack of social skills can do to a child academically and the long term effects. 

Blog 13: Lesson 2 Reflection

1. What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?
I am most proud of the way my PowerPoint was organized and about how I was able to engage my audience with the small prizes I had. I think that when you have something available for your audience it not only makes them pay attention to what you're saying but it also gives you a little ease of mind when you know people are at least looking at your information.

2. 
    a. What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?
         AE      P      AP      CR      NC

    b. Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.
        I think I deserve to at least be considered for a P because I turned in my lesson plan on time,
        my materials and equipment were ready to go, my EQ was clearly visible on my PowerPoint,
        I cleaned up after my presentation, and I do believe I at least made 20 minutes.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?
I think what really worked for me was my activity because not only was my audience engaged but I felt a little more confident afterwards because I took that pause.
 
4. What didn't work? If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?
I know that I probably rushed through my research and didn't say all I wanted to say about it. If I could go back in time I would have taken a deep breath and just focus on what I was going to say because I was fine when I was going to talk but just for a small second I freaked out when I looked out into the "crowd" and I feel like that threw me off.

5. What do you think your answer #2 is going to be?
I think my answer 2 will have something to do with social development in young children. Social development, like fine motor skills, have a subconscious affect on a child and the way they view academics because if a child is more open to people they have an easier time asking for help compared to a child who may be more shy.

Blog 12: Mentorship 10 hours check

1. Where are you doing your mentorship?
    I am doing my mentorship at the Montessori Academy of Chino.

2. Who is your contact?
    My contact there is Ms. Chami, who is my mentor.

3. How many total hours have you done (total hours should be reflected in your mentorship log located on the right hand side of your blog like your WB)?
    Unfortunately I have only completed 11 hours for my mentorship. I am thinking of instead of
    going once a week (Mondays) I will start to go both Monday and Friday for 3 to 4 hours.

4. Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.
    The only difference from what I did in the summer and what I do now is that I am no longer in the
     front office answering phones and what not. I am now in the classroom helping out the kids
     with their work, helping Ms.Mary with grading, and running small errands for Ms.Chami.

Blog 11: Holiday Project Update

1. It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school. What did you do over the break with your senior project?
As I previously mentioned in my December blog post, I mentor at a daycare/school and they were also on break, so I didn't get the opportunity to spend time with the kids. However, my mentor, Ms. Chami and I were talking about coming up with activities to present to the children. So, I scoured the internet, and Pinterest, to find stuff that both benefits the kids and lets them have fun and then I will show what I found to my mentor and we will see what we are going to do with them.

2. What was the most important thing you learned from what you did and why? What was the source of what you learned?
Well my essential question is, "what is the most important skill a child develops in preschool that helps them best excel academically in kindergarten?", so began to think about how a child, or person in general, gains a new skill. I believe we learn something new either by seeing and/or doing. In my opinion, and from what I've seen at my mentorship, a child best learns when they are interacting with something new. So when I was looking up different activities I came across this link which explains what an activity in a Montessori learning curriculum is.
Another thing I learned from my mini activity research, is another solid piece to help me come up with an answer to my EQ, which is that fine motor skills are the most important. I found that information on this link; it also has various activities for a child to do. I read that many children have weak fine motor skills and in effort to improve upon those skills a teacher talks about different things you could teach the child to strengthen those skills.

3. If you were going to do a 10 question interview on questions related to answers for your EQ, who would you talk to and why?
If  I was going to do a 10 question interview on questions related to answers for my EQ, I would most likely talk to my mentor's assistant, Ms. Mary, because she gets to observe the children who are preschoolers/transitional kindergarteners/some kindergarteners for a full school day, five times a week. She knows what a child lacks when they get to the kindergarten level and how to help them and she also gets to help improve the skills of the preschoolers before they get to kindergarten.

December Extra Post

The new year is finally here! A new year brings resolutions and new goals, in regards to my senior project there is a lot I hope to accomplish. I wasn't able to go to my mentorship these past two weeks because it is a school and like us a break was given. However, I have been talking with my mentor over the phone and we have been talking about possible things to do for the kids this upcoming year which I am looking forward to.
My essential question talks about what a child needs to learn in preschool -skill wise- in order to succeed in kindergarten which is the start of their education for years to come. So I've been looking at possible crafts and assignments to have the children do to focus on specific skills: motor, reading, vocabulary, writing, etc.

I found this very useful link that shows me a variety of activities a child can do that primarily focuses on their motor skills.

When my mentorship resumes a normal school day my mentor and I will be going over some of the activities I found and will be, hopefully, doing it soon with pictures to come.

In the meantime I will be enjoying the rest of my break, with Netflix, a nice fire, and my warm pjs :).
Happy Holidays!