Teacher-child interaction is one of the most important aspects of a high quality learning environment. The entire environment where the child interacts with should be of utmost concern to the teacher. A good environment promotes the health and safety of the child. It will also promote safe playing and proper learning for children. An environmental checklist is a tool that can be used to assess the child’s environment. Such a tool is important to identify hazards in the child’s environment and to have a detailed assessment of the child’s interaction with the environment (Harms, 2006). The following is a description and summary of the findings from an Environment Checklist tool used to assess the classroom that I participated in.
Tool description
The tool I used was titled Infant/Toddler Environment Checklist. The tool was divided into various indicators for each practice area. Listed below each indicator were questions that could be used by the program administrator or supervisor to assess the environment. The key indicators in the environment included space and furnishings, provision for relaxation and comfort, room arrangement, display for children, book center, fine motor, active physical play, art, music and movement, blocks, dramatic play, sand and water play, nature, diversity, and safety practices. The questions at section were marked by a tick or left blank.
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Reason for choosing the tool
I chose the tool because it is simple, straightforward, and detailed. The division of various indicators being analyzed made the tool easy to use. The tool was detailed as it made use of several checklist items that were available for each question. I found that the tool covered almost every part about the environment.
Tool location
I was able to find the tool at the website of ELC Big Bend. The tool was available for download via the link from elcbigbend (Infant Toddler Environment Checklist, 2017).). The tool was from the Early Learning Coalition, a company that has various resources that aid in early learning.
History of the tool
The checklist was developed using the standard characteristics and implementation conditions to enhance natural learning environments. According to the Early Learning Coalition (ELC), the indicators were based upon reviewing relevant researched. The indicators have since been reviewed and revised following feedback from practitioners and professionals (Bend, 2017). The checklist was designed for use in an inclusive child care setting because it offers minimal disruption to the classroom activities. The various indicators contain multiple checklists that capture both the actions and understanding required to work in a childcare environment.
Using the tool
The tool provided a checklist that described the environment and a place to tick in case the classroom adhered to that specific environment standard. I was able to make observations on the classroom and use the tool by marking a tick on areas that met the environment requirements. Areas that did not meet the environmental requirements were left bank. The classroom selected was applicable to infant and the section for toddlers was also left blank. Comments were made in the notes section where it applied.
Summary of results
The overall analysis from the tool showed that they adhered to most of the environmental requirements. Additionally, I was able to note that the classroom environment had regular toddler chair tables for group feeding. The nature of furniture was impressive since each their own changing table to change the babies. This was important because it promoted self-help for the children. The classroom thus had a good environment that would enable children playing, learning, and promote their safety.
Challenges
While I was able to fill an exhaustive amount of information about the classroom environment, I found that the entire checklist was quite tiresome. The tool had a large amount of information that one had to key in. This took a lot of time as it required one to read, understand, observe, and put a tick on the information they observed.
Recommendations for improvement
The checklist can be made compact by reducing the number of indicators. This will make the checklist easy to follow. Additionally, the checklist can make use of a “Yes” or “No” marking when filling in. The current nature of the checklist is that it leaves the practitioner with the choice of ticking an option or leaving it blank. The practitioner may leave an option blank either by skipping the section or because the section did not meet the required standards.
In conclusion, the infant/toddler environment checklist tool was used to assess the given classroom. Observations were made and recorded in the checklist. The classroom environment was noted and areas that needed improvement was noted. The results show that the environment checklist provides a tool for accurate analysis of the environment.
References
Bend, E. (2017). A Message From the ELC - ELC. Retrieved from https://www.elcbigbend.org
Harms, T., Cryer, D., & Clifford, R. M. (2006). Infant/toddler environment rating scale . New York: Teachers College Press.
Infant Toddler Environment Checklist, (2017). Retrieved from https://www.elcbigbend.org/content/download/410/2512/version/1/file/Infant-Toddler+Environment+checklist.pdf
