Daycare Volunteer Experience I Volunteer Psychology Class

Daycare Volunteer Experience I volunteer psychology class a day care I write a reflection paper. Time working kids kind an experience. I paper I answer questions.1. In paragraph, explain service learning experience reinforced understanding enhanced learned? Include examples. Reflection paper: Volunteering at a daycare facility As part of my work for this psychology class, I chose to volunteer at a local daycare center.

I had never worked with children before, so seeing how young children interacted with one another on a daily basis was useful in demonstrating how the concepts I learned about development were reflected in people's everyday experiences. It is very easy to forget the long, sometimes painful process of learning and socialization that is required for a child to enter adulthood. Aspects of normal, social adult relations like sharing, self-censoring, and respect for others are very clearly socially learned and socially located behaviors, as I witnessed when working with children.

Real life situations and experiences Perhaps the most obvious developmental theory reflected in children's behavior is that of social modeling. Children are very apt to mimic the behavior of adults and their peers. When they see one child playing with a toy in a particular manner, particularly a friend or another child with socially desirable qualities, young observers are often very apt to copy their peer.

When other children's negative or positive behaviors are reinforced through praise or even negative attention, fellow students often engage in the same behaviors, seeking social approbation (Ormrod 1999). Because of the nature of my experience, developmental theories such as Piaget's ideas regarding mass and volume were not directly observable. Most of the activities of the daycare facility were fun, rather than strictly educational (Atherton 2011). However, I did witness some aspects of biologically-oriented developmental theory in my observations. It was immediately obvious that some children were more physically developed than others.

Some children could very easily manipulate the more complicated shape, number, and color toys while others struggled. Fine motor skills were clearly more developed in most of the other students, as was strength, coordination, and the ability to run, jump, and play. Volunteering for the class demonstrated how learning is reliant upon biological, social, and psychological influences. I also watched how the teacher tried to draw upon the knowledge of the students when teaching the students basic concepts.

When teaching colors, for example, she asked students to name things in their home or on themselves that were red, green, etcetera, or first asked who knew their numbers, letters, and colors, before re-teaching the concepts. This suggested the concept of 'scaffolding' or building upon existing knowledge to teach new concepts. "In the process of scaffolding, the teacher helps the student master a task or concept that the student is initially unable to grasp independently.

The teacher offers assistance with only those skills that are beyond the student's capability" (Lipscomb et al. 2004). Diverse populations The class was made up of students from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds. The theorist Abraham Maslow once noted that children who do not have their basic, physiological needs met often have difficulty attaining higher-level needs (Simmons et al. 1987). I witnessed this myself, when I noted how students who came from more stressful home environments were less willing to engage in socially active, trusting play.

They were more inclined to be withdrawn or aggressive. Also, when students came from households that were 'food insecure' the children were often much more interested in the snacks that were provided by the daycare facility, to the exclusion of other pastimes. Children of this age group were not 'class aware' and were more open about commenting upon the physical differences of others in terms of color, size, and gender than older children. There was no apparent discrimination, however, based on race.

The clearest diversity of classification amongst the children was that of age, as younger children were often not asked to join in with activities of older children, and more inclined to tag along. Children who were stronger and more proficient at certain activities tended to be more popular. Teachers and volunteers like myself had to work hard to make sure that everyone felt included. Learning disabilities or differences were another clear marker of difference or separation.

Children with developmental delays, or symptoms of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) or autism had more difficulty engaging with their peers. When designing activities for the class, the teachers attempted to plan modification strategies, to ensure that all children could be included, or to assign an assistant to help some of the more challenged children with the assignment, such as cutting and pasting during crafts. Students with special challenges were often singled out for additional attention by staff.

Students with autism were encouraged to look at people's faces when speaking and to mirror playing with others. They were given additional instruction on how to behave in a.