Observe an early childhood education program, watching for how often children experience the results of their actions through natural consequences and how often an adult protects them from those results.
• Describe the situations, and determine if adults are getting in the way of children’s learning or if they are merely protecting them as necessary.
• List three or four misbehaviors you witness while observing children playing together.
• Describe how you might use natural or related consequences (deprivation, exclusion, doing to the child what he or she has done, or restitution) to help the children make connections between their actions and the result of their actions. Provide a rationale for the consequences you select for each situation.
• Provide a final summary which addresses key areas which could be enhanced or supported with research-based methods aligned to developmentally appropriate practice.