A Webquest About Milestones in Child Development
For Middle School Family & Consumer Science Courses
by Kathy S. Schmidt
June 2005
| Introduction |
Task |
Process |
Resources |
Evaluation |
Conclusion |
Teacher |
Introduction
Have you ever wondered why small children
act the way they do? Why do they put everything in their mouth or poke
things in the VCR/DVD player or throw a fit in a store or copy what you
do or ask so many questions?
Have you ever had to take care of a small child and wondered what to do? Perhaps a younger brother or sister has been left in your care, or maybe a neighbor has asked you to babysit. If so, this webquest will take you on a journey to find out why those little tikes act the way they do and what you can do as a caregiver to deal with them.
Have you ever had to take care of a small child and wondered what to do? Perhaps a younger brother or sister has been left in your care, or maybe a neighbor has asked you to babysit. If so, this webquest will take you on a journey to find out why those little tikes act the way they do and what you can do as a caregiver to deal with them.
Task
Through this webquest activity you will
acquire knowledge about Child Development and integrate that new knowledge
to recommend age-appropriate activities which will enhance (P.I.E.S.)
physical, intellectual, emotional, and social growth for each particular
stage of development. You will discover ways to identify stages of development
and how to meet the needs of children at each stage.
Process
1. You will begin this process
by joining a team of classmates to cooperatively conduct research and
present your findings. Consult with your teacher to find out how the teams
will be selected. Once the team selections are made you will focus on one
of the following ages/stages:
- newborns (0-3 months)
- infants (4-6 months)
- infants (7-12 months)
- toddlers (1-2 years)
- preschool (2-3 years)
- preschool (3-4 years)
2. Your first task as a team will be
to complete a Frayer Model for your child’s stage of development. This
will be a pre-test of your teams’s knowledge of the stage of child development
you will be researching. It will show what you know about the child’s
interests, abilities, and needs at this stage of development. To do this
pre-test, go to:
http://www.longwood.edu/staff/jonescd/projects/educ530/aboxley/graphicorg/fraym.htm
Read the information about Frayer Model Strategy to familiarize yourself with its parts and purpose. Then click on the Frayer Model worksheet. You may print it and write on it, save it and type on it, or re-create a similar one on your own computer and type in your information. All parts must be included: key word, definition, characteristics, examples and non-examples. This same format will be used as an individual assessment at the end of our unit.
http://www.longwood.edu/staff/jonescd/projects/educ530/aboxley/graphicorg/fraym.htm
Read the information about Frayer Model Strategy to familiarize yourself with its parts and purpose. Then click on the Frayer Model worksheet. You may print it and write on it, save it and type on it, or re-create a similar one on your own computer and type in your information. All parts must be included: key word, definition, characteristics, examples and non-examples. This same format will be used as an individual assessment at the end of our unit.
3. Although you are on a team for this
webquest, you will have individual roles to play. You will each need
to decide on one of the following roles:
- Philly Physical - You are concerned with the physical abilities of the child and how to develop those abilities. It is your job to find out what the child is physically capable of doing at this stage and how to enhance that type of development. Essentially you are trying to find out what the child can do and what you can do to help his/her physical abilities develop.
- Izzy Intellect - You are concerned with the child’s intellect (thinking and communication). It is your job to find ways to meet those needs so that the child develops intellectually/mentally. Essentially you need to find out what a typical child in this stage of development can do intellectually and what you can do to support that development.
- Emmy Emotions - You are concerned with the child’s emotional needs. It is your job to find ways to meet the child’s emotional needs and to help them express those needs appropriately. Essentially you need to find out how a child at this stage expresses his/her emotions and how you can help the child deal with those emotions.
- Sammy Social - You are concerned with the relationships the child has with other people. It is your job to make sure the child knows how to interact with other people. Essentially you need to find out what a typical child at this stage of development can be expected to do when interacting with adults or other children and describe ways caregivers can help a child develop social skills.
4. Once you have decided the roles within your team begin your research by using the sites in the Resource List. These are sites which will have much more information than you will need to complete your role. It is important that you stay on task to look for the information you need for your stage of development and for your type of development within that stage. You will become the expert on your team for this particular type of data. No one else will be researching this topic for this stage of development. So your team is counting on you to gather this data and bring it back to the group. Your group’s success depends on you! Use the combination note taking graphic organizer from your teacher to help you collect your data.
5. As your team collects the data you
will need to work cooperatively to compile the information into a Concept
Map using Inspiration Software. In the center of your map should be your
stage of development. Branch out from it with (P.I.E.S) as the next subheadings
by using the “rapid-fire” feature. From each of those sub headings you
need to use rapid-fire again to give details. You may use the tools within
Inspiration to customize your presentation. It may have graphics, color
changes, font changes, etc... You will need to put it into an “Outline”
view and print this to be submitted to your teacher. The concept map will
be presented to the class.
6. Once your team has shared the data for the Inspiration concept map you should be able to go to the Resources List for toys and activities to select age-appropriate toys and activities for your stage of development. As a team you will need to agree upon these selections based on the information you shared from P.I.E.S. development. This part of your project is very open-ended, but you need to select at least 4 activities and/or toys along with a rationale for why these would be appropriate. A visual of these should be a part of your presentation. The visual could be the actual item, a picture of it, an internet image, etc... The rationale for these should be typed and submitted in paper or electronically using Appleworks or Clarisworks.
7. Presentation. The presentation of your team’s information must include:
9. When all groups have completed their sharing you will need to use Timliner software to create a timeline of child development milestones from birth through 4 years of age. See your teacher for specific directions on this task.
6. Once your team has shared the data for the Inspiration concept map you should be able to go to the Resources List for toys and activities to select age-appropriate toys and activities for your stage of development. As a team you will need to agree upon these selections based on the information you shared from P.I.E.S. development. This part of your project is very open-ended, but you need to select at least 4 activities and/or toys along with a rationale for why these would be appropriate. A visual of these should be a part of your presentation. The visual could be the actual item, a picture of it, an internet image, etc... The rationale for these should be typed and submitted in paper or electronically using Appleworks or Clarisworks.
7. Presentation. The presentation of your team’s information must include:
- The Inspiration concept map.
- Visuals (Could be graphics, images, posters, realia, video clips, mPower, etc..)
- Each person in the group needs to speak during the presentation to share his/her findings.
- Accurate Information needs to be shared.
- Knowledge must be acquired, not just read
to us.
9. When all groups have completed their sharing you will need to use Timliner software to create a timeline of child development milestones from birth through 4 years of age. See your teacher for specific directions on this task.
Resources
~ P.I.E.S. Development Resources ~
http://www.pbs.org/wholechild/abc/index.html
The ABC's Of Child Development: Developmental Milestones For Your Child's First Five Years
http://ohioline.osu.edu/asc-fact/index.html
Ages and Stages for Caregivers Fact Sheet Index
http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/piaget.shtml
Stages of Intellectual Development
http://www.babycenter.com/baby
Search this site by age and stage or by specific topic, such as: toys, feeding, safety, etc..
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/pubs/ch.htm
Iowa State University Extension Service Child Development Publications
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/babysitting/index.html
University of Ilinois Extension Service: Ages and Stages, Caring for Kids
http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/yourchild/devmile.htm
Milestones identified at each age.
http://www.howkidsdevelop.com/developSkills.html
What is child development and what skills do children develop at different ages.
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/pdfs/growth1_actsheet.pdf
Major physical growth stages.
http://www.liveandlearn.com/learn.html
This site has links for each stage of development as well as appropriate toy recommendations.
The ABC's Of Child Development: Developmental Milestones For Your Child's First Five Years
http://ohioline.osu.edu/asc-fact/index.html
Ages and Stages for Caregivers Fact Sheet Index
http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/piaget.shtml
Stages of Intellectual Development
http://www.babycenter.com/baby
Search this site by age and stage or by specific topic, such as: toys, feeding, safety, etc..
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/pubs/ch.htm
Iowa State University Extension Service Child Development Publications
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/babysitting/index.html
University of Ilinois Extension Service: Ages and Stages, Caring for Kids
http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/yourchild/devmile.htm
Milestones identified at each age.
http://www.howkidsdevelop.com/developSkills.html
What is child development and what skills do children develop at different ages.
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/pdfs/growth1_actsheet.pdf
Major physical growth stages.
http://www.liveandlearn.com/learn.html
This site has links for each stage of development as well as appropriate toy recommendations.
~ Toys and Activities Resources ~
http://www.fisher-price.com/us/default.asp
Use this site to find out about toys by age, type, and learning.
Use this site to find out about toys by age, type, and learning.
Also use this site to find out about
developmental stages by clicking o the “Grow-with-Me Parenting Guide”.
http://searchwarp.com/swa2067.htm
What is Play?
http://nm.essortment.com/ageappropriate_prb.htm
Age Appropriate Toys: A Guide to choosing age appropriate toys...
http://www.medem.com/MedLB/article_detaillb.cfm?article_ID=ZZZ9VGSOQ7C&sub_cat=104
American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations for age-appropriate toys.
http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babyritual/5.html
Age-appropriate toys recommended at 3 month intervals of growth.
http://www.storknet.com/cubbies/safety/ageappropriatetoys.htm
Another site for appropriate toy selection.
http://www.co.gaston.nc.us/gastonpd/SafetyTips/AgeAppropriateToys.html
Safety issues with toys.
http://www.toyportfolio.com/
Excellent site with lots of links to more specific types of toys for music, games, etc..
Evaluation
There will be several assessments during
this project. They will include:
1. Pre-test using the Frayer Model.2. Post-test using the Frayer Model.
3. Combination Note Taking on the type of development you researched.
4. Inspiration Concept Map for the stage and type of development.
5. Graphic Organizer of information from other presentations.
6. Your team’s presentation.
7. Observation of cooperative behaviors with team.
8. The timeline created with Timliner software.
9. A written rationale for your toy/activity selection.
Rubrics for these assessments have
been developed using RubiStar and are provided
so you will know the scoring system in advance.
so you will know the scoring system in advance.
Conclusion
At the completion of this webquest you
should have a better understanding of why small children act the way
they do and what you can do as a caregiver to help them reach those milestones
of child development. Furthermore, you should be able to select age-appropriate
activities and toys for each stage of development.
*Standards and Benchmarks:
This Webquest aligns with the Family & Consumer Science standards and
benchmarks at the Carroll
Community School District in Carroll, Iowa. To view these standards please
click on the tiger to link to my
webpage on the CCSD website:
*Iowa Teaching Standards:
This webquest is aligned with the eight
teaching standards adopted by the state of Iowa in May of 2002. Through
implementation of this webquest I believe the following standards and
their indicators will be met:1: b, d, e, f
2: a, b, c, d
3: a, b, c, d, e
4: a, b, c, d, e, f
5: a, b, c,
6: a, b, c, d, e
7: a, c
8: a, b, c, d
To view the Iowa Teaching Standards you may click
on the briefcase link to my professional portfolio
where I have built a link to the complete listing from the Iowa Department of Education.
where I have built a link to the complete listing from the Iowa Department of Education.
*Click on the Starfish below to find out the special meaning behind this graphic.
I hope that as a teacher I can make
a difference in the life of a child.
*To contact me you may use the link below:
