Hawa Latifzai

ECE 101
December 7, 2014
REFLECTION OF LEARNING: TEDDY BEAR SERVICE LEARNING PROJECT

KEY ELEMENTS OF THE NAEYC STANDARD 6: BECOMING A

PROFESSIONAL MET BY THIS PROJECT
I chose to reflect on 6.a., 6.b., and 6.e.:
o 6.a. Identifying and involving oneself with the early childhood field.
My Service Learning Project involved communication and
collaboration with the childcare center Director, families of the
children, community volunteers, and the young children
themselves. The Director gave me permission for my project and
reviewed safety issues with me. The parents gave me permission
to take pictures of their children, and upon completion of this
project, I will display the poster in the childcare center for the
parents to see. I had to make sure community volunteers
understood my project and understood safety requirements. The
children loved the project, enjoyed the reading circle, and playing
with the teddy bears.
o 6.b. Knowing about and upholding ethical standards and other early
childhood professional guidelines.
Privacy was important for this Service Learning Project. Although I
was given permission to use the childrens pictures on a poster, I

was not given permission to use the pictures on any website and
would never violate this concern for privacy.
o 6.e. Engaging in informed advocacy for young children in early
childhood profession.
Dr. Stuart Browns TED talk Play is more than just fun and Piagets
philosophy on how important playtime is in early childhood
education has greatly influenced how I teach children. It is for this
reason I chose to do a Service Learning Project that provided for
learning through play. While the children were playing with the
Teddy Bears, I observed the children talking with each other. They
were sharing their knowledge and were learning their colors,
textures, sharing their family structures and relationships, and
learning to share the toys and books.

SKILLS AND RESEARCH USED TO COMPLETE THE PROJECT

RESEARCH:
o I researched safety standards for playing with toys and learned that
the Teddy Bears could not include any items that would be a
choking hazard for children of certain ages.
o I researched what books would be appropriate for reading to
students of a certain and I chose two books. The book I Love You
Through and Through is appropriate for 1 3-year old students.
The Old Bear book is appropriate for 4 6-year old students.

SKILLS:
o I had to take a knitting class to learn how to read the pattern for
Teddy Bears. I know how to knit, but I did not know how to read a
pattern for knitting in the round or knitting without seams.
o I had to use my communication skills to meet with the volunteers in
the community to knit or crochet Teddy Bears. I met the volunteers
through my childcare center, the Longmont Yarn Shoppe, and in
the community near the childcare center.

A-HA MOMENTS IN PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING MY PROJECT

o Communication with the community of volunteers is important in
regard to safety for the children. I asked community members to
knit Teddy Bears that were child safe and I gave them a safe
pattern. However, one of the volunteers used a different pattern
than I provided, and some of the Teddy Bears were not safe for
children under age 2 years old. So I could only use these Teddy
Bears for children 3 years old or older. Safety was very important
for the children and had to meet the standards for the childcare
center.
o Communication with the families about taking pictures of their
children is very important. Although I had permission to take
pictures of the children for use on a poster to share with my FRCC

classmates, I realized I did not have permission to use the pictures

on a website such as my e-portfolio. One of the parents asked me
not to use any photographs of her child on any website. There are
different levels of permission in using photographs, and you have to
be careful on where and how you use the photographs.
o I decided to donate all the hand-knit Teddy Bears to Alison Thielke
and the FRCC ECE Learning Lab for use by future ECE students
as they complete their ECE classes.