Read the case study, “Ms. Patty’s Preschool”. Once you have read the study, complete the following questions. Ms. Patty’s Preschool
Reflection: Based on this case study, answer the questions below. Use Microsoft Word to create a separate file for your answers and when you are finished send your answers through Turnitin.
1. Discuss how the concepts of schemes, assimilation, and accommodation play a role in the cognitive development you see in the children mentioned above.
2. Create a table and list the substages of Piaget’s Sensorimotor Period. List the child, the sensorimotor substage the child is in, and why you think the child falls in that substage.
3. Describe what types of cognitive abilities these children might be developing from an information processing approach.
Anita sleepily walks into her baby’s room at 4:30 am and picks up three week old Sam. As she takes him over to the changing table, he rubs his nose into her breast, his rooting reflex kicking in. “I know you’re hungry, little one,” she coos to him. “Let me change this diaper, and we’ll get you something to eat.” She quickly changes Sam’s diaper and sits down in the rocker to nurse him. As he greedily eats, she thinks about the day ahead of her.
In about eight weeks, her maternity leave will be up, and she and her husband, Peter, still have not decided what day care option they are going to use for Sam. As soon as she discovered she was pregnant, they put their name on three waiting lists. Two of the daycare centers called last week to let her know that they had a spot for Sam. She and Peter were going to both centers today to tour the facilities again and make the final decision. After about 40 minutes, Anita places a content and sleepy Sam back into his crib and hopes he will stay asleep long enough for her to take a shower and get dressed.
A couple of hours later, her mom arrives to take care of Sam and Anita leaves to meet Peter at Ms. Patty’s Preschool. The two go in and Ms. Patty greets the couple. “Mr. and Mrs. Williams, I’m so glad to see you again. How is your new baby?” “He is a pistol already,” Peter grins. “Well, let me show you around the center again. I’m sure you have even more questions now that Sam has arrived.” Ms. Patty leads them into a brightly colored room where two teachers and ten toddling children are busy. “This is our toddler room. The children in here are at least 18 months old. Obviously, Sam will not be in here for a while, but I know you said you hope to make a long term decision regarding your child’s care, so I want to show you everything.”Ms. Patty introduces them to the teachers who tell them about a typical day at Ms. Patty’s Preschool. Anita notices a little girl placing a doll in a baby crib, pulling up the blanket, and kissing the doll. One of the teachers notices Anita’s gaze.
“That’s Keisha. She loves to tuck her dolly in bed.” She leans in to Anita and says, “The doll won’t sleep in the crib at naptime, she’ll be right next to Keisha.” Anita smiles at the teacher, liking her warmth and kindness toward the children. Ms. Patty leads the couple into the next room where a teacher is on the floor with five babies. One of the babies is crawling and the others are sitting on the floor with a carpet full of toys. Another baby is sitting in the teacher’s lap with a rubber duck in his hand. He squeezes it, laughing when he hears it quack. Then he thumps it on the teacher’s leg and furrows his brow when it doesn’t make a noise. He squeezes it and laughs as it quacks again. Peter laughs and asks, “What is it about a laughing baby that makes you laugh yourself?” The teacher on the floor chuckles as she responds, “Jackson has just learned how to make the duck quack. He is driving us crazy.”
Ms. Patty chimes in, “This is our 6M room and the babies are anywhere from four months to eight months old, depending on their age and the number of children in the class. We try to limit this room to six babies and keep them on a flexible schedule. “ “Flexible schedule?” Anita asks. “I know it sounds contradictory, but we work hard to have consistency each day. However, if a baby seems hungry before lunch, we will give him a snack to tide him over. If someone seems overly sleepy before nap time, we may try to put everyone down for an early nap. I think you’ll find it will help you when you pick Sam up and get him home.” Ms. Patty motions for Peter and Anita to move forward. “Okay, that makes a little more sense,” Anita comments as they move into the next room. “Let me introduce you to Ms. Dakota. She’s in charge of the crawlers. Ms. Tammy helps her.”
It was easy to see where they got the name for the room. Two teachers were watching seven children, all around nine months old. “Things get busy in this room.” Ms. Dakota tells the couple. “Emma here is cutting a tooth.” They watch Emma crawl across the floor, push a large ball out of the way, and pick up a red plastic block. As she puts the block in her mouth, Ms. Tammy hurries over to swap the block for an iced teething ring. “We are constantly watching what she is putting in her mouth. We wipe our toys down several times a day and disinfect them every night. We try to get the children to use their own teething rings when we know teeth are coming in.” Ms. Tammy turns back to Emma. “Children stay in this room until they begin to walk, which is usually from 8 months to around 13 months. Of course, not everyone follows this time frame as they begin to develop, so you might find an older or younger child in here occasionally. Once the children start walking, we do move them up to the older room to avoid crushed fingers.” Ms. Patty ushers them into the next area. “This is where Sam will be when you bring him here in two months,” Ms. Patty whispers. Anita and Peter enter a darkened room where a woman is rocking a sleeping infant. Two other babies are asleep in their cribs. “Ms. Linda loves to rock babies.”
Ms. Linda looks up and smiles at the Williams. Anita notices the little boy in Ms. Linda’s arms. Ms. Patty adds, “Patrick’s mom wanted him to use a pacifier, but Patrick has discovered how tasty his thumb is, so I think she’s given up that idea.” Ms. Linda whispers, “We tried, but he just spit that passie out of his mouth.” “As you know, these babies sleep a lot. I mentioned earlier that we try to get them on a flexible schedule, but today is an unusual day in that they are all napping at the same time.” Ms. Patty continues to whisper and then waves to Ms. Linda as she escorts the Williams out of the room. “I thought we might be able to talk a little easier out here in the hall. Do you have any questions about the infant room?” Anita pulls out a list of questions she and Peter had come up with ahead of time, and Ms. Patty is very thorough in answering them. As the three finish their discussion, Ms. Patty mentions there is another room to view. She takes them down the hall to the 1 year old room. One of the teachers is getting a child out of the high chair as five other children are busy playing. The other teacher picks up a cup off the floor and places it on the tray of a child still sitting in a high chair. The little boy takes the cup and throws if off to the side of the chair.
“This is the fourth time I’ve picked up Andrew’s cup,” the teacher says to her partner, “he’s getting more consistent in his aim.” Her teaching partner laughs and looks at the Williams. “There’s never a dull moment in here,” she says to the couple. The Williams stay another 20 minutes, asking a few more questions and looking in on the preschool classrooms. They shake Ms. Patty’s hand. “We would love to have Sam join us here at Ms. Patty’s Preschool. When do you think you will make your decision?” she asks. “We have one more place to look at, but we really like your center,” Anita answers. “Is it okay if we let you know on Friday?” “That’s two days from now—that should be fine,” Ms. Patty responds. “I have another couple coming then to take a tour as well.” “We will let you know shortly,” Peter says, as he and Anita head out the door. “Thank you so much for everything.” “This is my top choice,” Anita tells Peter as they walk to the car. “I love the staff and how much they seem to really care about the children.”
