- Child E was standing and observing child A taking things from the closet and putting them in the basket.
- Child A talked to child E, then child E approached the table nearby and took a lid and a small pot on the table towards child A, but child A didn't see.
- Child E put the lid on the pot and put it back on the table said, "hot pot."
- After putting the pot on the table, child E saw that the lid was not tightly closed, then the child used two thumbs to push the lid down. The child also used a hand to press the lid.
- After that, child E turned the head to the left and looked in that direction for a few minutes while the child's hands were still holding the pot.
- While looking at another side, child E's hands picked up the pot and dropped the lid on the table. Child E turned the head to look at the fallen lid lying in the basket, then looked in that direction again.
- Child E turned her gaze back to the pot and her hand. The child played with the pot until the child saw the fork on the table and put the pot aside.
- Child E reached for the fork and used it to stir things in the large cup nearby. Child C asked child E, "what's this?" and child E talked to child C while stirring inside the cup with the fork.
- After that, child A touched child E's arm and brought the basket full of stuff towards the child.
- Child E looked at child A. The child retracted the arm, leaning slightly to avoid child A's basket.
- Child A talked something to child E and reached out to take the fork from child E's hand. Child E hid the fork behind the head and said, "It's mine."
- Child A then held the basket and reached for the cup that child E was playing with. Child E snatched it back and said, "no."
- Child A chose another glass and talked to child E; child E shook the glass with a fork while tilting the head to listen to child A's talking.
- After that, child E played alone. Child E's eyes were wide open, and the mouth was open a little. Finally, the child went to another place outside the camera.
- Child A watched the teacher's hand putting the strawberry slices into the other friends' bowls sitting at the table. The child's hand was also slightly raised.
- Child A used all five fingers (right hand) to wrap the spoon's handle to hold and feed herself/himself. After the teacher placed the strawberry slices in the child's bowl, the child used the left hand to take the strawberries from the bowl and put each piece in the mouth.
- Child A raised the hand (towards the teacher) after putting the last piece of strawberry in her mouth.
- The teacher noticed child A raise the hand. She put two more pieces of strawberry in the child's bowl and said, "You need to eat cereal, too - not only strawberry," then put another spoon of cereals in the child's bowl.
- Child A took a piece of strawberry and put it in the mouth as soon as the teacher added more.
- Child A did turn her head to look in the direction of an adult voice (outside the camera) when she heard, "Good morning, how are you?". Child E then turned back, took the strawberry, and continued to eat.
- While eating the last piece of strawberry in hand, child A looked over at the bowls of two friends sitting nearby.
- Child A looks back at his/her hand, which used to hold the last piece of strawberry, then the child raised the hand and looked at the teacher. And then the teacher saw that and said to the child, "What about your cereal? - you need to eat your cereal now."
- Child A gradually lowered her hand. The child held the spoon, scooped the cereal in the bowl, and brought it to her/his mouth to eat. During eating the rest of the cereal, child A raised her/his head to look in the direction where the teacher placed the strawberry box.
- Child A watched as the teacher took the box of strawberries and put a few pieces of strawberry into the friend's bowl.
- Child A raised her hand again and turned to look at the teacher.
- The teacher said, "Do you want more? - More please," and put more strawberries into child A's bowl. Child A took a piece of strawberry and put it in her/his mouth.
Child’s Name: Child E
Date of Birth: August 16th, 2016
Observation date: July 24th, 2021
Chronological Age: 59 months
Observer: Quan Do
In the pictures, child E was standing in front of a table. There were a lot of items on the table for the child to use in pretend play. Child E reached for the lid with her right hand and placed it on a small pot on the table. The child's other hand was raising up and slightly touched the green basket in front of her. Child E's eyes were looking down at the pot on the table, and the child's mouth was open, which looked like a smile.
Domain: Emotion
Child E seemed to display 2.6: Positive Attitudes towards Learning skills (OMEd, 2014, p. 41) as she appeared to express joy while pretending to cook a hotpot.
Domain: Cognition
It appears that child E was pretending to cook something with the pot as she seemed to put the lid on the pot - according to the ELECT document, child E demonstrated 4.3 Representation skills (OMEd, 2014, p. 46).
Extension of learning:
For future opportunities and extension of this learning, I will encourage child E to invite child A to play with her to make pretend play more varied. Since I noticed that the shelf nearby had many items that could use to extend the play, and it appears that child A was taking things from that shelf and putting them in the basket in her hand - the child seemed to shop for something. Therefore, if two children cooperate, as child E had a small pot and child A had some stuff that could be presented as ingredients, now the cooking play is ready to explore. Through this experience, it not only helps children to develop a sense of working with another (teamwork), but it also promotes their communication and language development as during the pretend play, they will need to communicate, exchange ideas and express themselves. Besides, to make the cooking play more realistic, I will provide them with a soup ladle and a serving spoon, so children can get to know more about tools in the kitchen utensils.
Child’s Name: Child A
Date of Birth: January 20th, 2020
Observation date: July 24th, 2021
Chronological Age: 18 months
Observer: Quan Do
In the picture, Child A was sitting on the red chair and in front of her was a bowl placed on the table. There was still leftover in the bowl. The child raised her hand towards the teacher, and another hand was holding a spoon. Noticeably, child A used all five fingers and the palm to hold the spoon. Also, one side of the child's mouth was slightly inflated, and her eyes were also looking in the direction of the teacher.
Domain: Physical
Child A appeared to show 5.2 Fine motor: Eating skills (OMEd, 2014, p. 35) as her mouth was slightly inflated, her right hand hold a spoon and the child had a bowl with leftover food in front of her.
Child A also appeared to display 5.2 Fine motor: Tool Use skills (OMEd, 2014, p. 36) as the child held the spoon firmly with wherein four fingers (except the thumb) squeeze against the palm.
Domain: Emotion
It appears that child A raised her hand pretty high - as she seemed to be persistent in getting more strawberries. - according to the ELECT document, child A demonstrated 2.5 Autonomy skills (OMEd, 2014, p. 31).
Extension of learning:
As it seems that child A wasn't interested in eating the cereal in her bowl, but she preferred to eat more strawberries instead. As an educator, I will encourage her to eat more cereal in her bowl by chopping strawberry pieces and mixing them into child A's cereal bowl. Combining her favorite food into her main course stimulates the child to eat more cereal while still having the strawberry she wanted. This will ensure the child eats various foods and gets enough nutrients for a meal while maintaining her interest in eating strawberries. Also, they will learn to respect their food and avoid wasting their food. For further extension, to maintain her interest in eating fruits like strawberries, I will put the bowl of strawberries in front of her and let her choose which piece of strawberry she would like. Giving her free choice when picking her preferred piece of strawberries will develop a sense of self-control and somehow promote her fine motor skills as she needs to reach out and hold the piece that she takes.
Through learning stories, I've practiced the procedures needed in producing a portion of an observational portfolio based on a series of video observations. I was able to see the students as capable sophisticated thinkers since it involved observation skills and educational recording methods. I was able to construct planning that reacts to the kid in an inclusive manner by creating a "holistic picture" of the child's skills and capacities. Because learning stories are composed of many pedagogical recording and observation techniques, I am able to assess their strengths and efficacy in various settings in order to inform and co-plan responsive and inclusive curriculum.
Personally, I consider the learning story as a record of the process of children's thinking, inquiry, learning, and development as documented through a range of pedagogical observation and recording approaches. It is where I illustrated how my pedagogical documentation, interpretation, and reflection portrays children's competencies/development in order to analyze, evaluate, and organize learning experiences. Learning tales also helps me practice professional writing abilities so that I can transmit observations and insights to the target audience.
This portfolio belongs to Quan Do Le Truc. Do not copy without permission. Some of the samples within this portfolio are the property of the organization whose name appears on the document. Permission from each has been granted for the product to be used as documentation of my work.