Task Analysis

The skill I chose for the task analysis is washing hands. Several children improperly wash their hands while I'm in the classroom. They often forget soap or get soap and immediately put their hands under the water rinsing the soap off. Washing hands is an important part of self-help skills, personal hygiene, and encourage healthy habits for the classroom. Especially with young children, germs live on their hands and they have to be taught how to take care of themselves.

The text states in Figure 9-1 "Tasks must be broken into simple short steps that can be sequenced from easiest to most difficult," (p. 307). The task analysis for washing hands that I have created goes like this:

1. Go to the sink.
2. Turn on warm water.
3. Wet hands.
4. Get 1 pump of soap.
5. Rub all over hands (inside, out, between). Make bubbles.
6. Rinse hands with warm water.
7. Get paper towel.
8. Turn off water with paper towel.

I am going to pair these step with pictures. I will introduce this poster during a large group time explaining the steps to the children and when they should wash their hands. Then as I see the children at the sink, I will watch them and refer them to the poster. Hopefully after several times of using the poster for reference the children will pick up the steps to washing their hands properly.

ReferenceCook, Ruth E., Klein M. Diane, & Tessier, Annette. (2008). Adapting Early Childhood Curricula for Children with Special Needs (7th Edition). Columbus, OH: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Communication Skills

The child I will be using for the communication strategies has speech and language delays. He has difficulty with coming up with words to use and often mumbles and connects his speech to where it is difficult to understand what he says. Often, he whines and cries because he does not know what to say to express his wants and needs.

The communication strategies will be extremely beneficial for this child be he often does not know the words to use or chooses just not to speak.I believe the strategies commenting and expanding will be most useful for him. Those strategies help build vocabulary which is what this child needs. He needs to hear words while he goes through his day. By the adults in his life using and exposing him to language, it will build his vocabulary to where he can pull from it. To help him use words instead of crying, the strategy access would be most beneficial. This child has difficulty communicating with his peers and often cries when he want to use a toy that another child has. Using the access strategy over multiple times will help the child learn to use words to communicate as well as social interaction skills.

Motor Skills

Based on my case study child's IEP he does not have any delays in motor or self-help skills. His primary area is with speech. However cutting with scissors prove to be a difficult task for him. My case study child has difficulty with scissors in the way that he holds them and uses them. The child will put his fingers in the wrong hole. Then once his fingers are in the scissors, he twists his arm upside down to try to correct his fingers not being in the right holes. While trying to cut, this causes him frustration because he has an extremely difficult time cutting.

Eye-hand coordination is the key component of being able to cut. The text says upon "encountering sensory stimulation of a particular kind for the first time, children receive (sense) the stimulation," (p.225). After more encounters, the child will "interpret the stimulus," and know what to do. However, if the first impressions is incorrect, later interpretations of that stimulus would be incorrect as well.

To help him work on this fine motor skill, I could model the proper way to hold scissors. Then, I can help guide him in cutting making sure his arm does not twist around. After several times of guiding him in separate situations, he can begin to try it on his own.  Repetition of the proper way to hold scissors and guidance while cutting will be an effective way to help him relearn how to use scissors, because somewhere he has had a misinterpretation.

Reference
Cook, Ruth E., Klein M. Diane, & Tessier, Annette. (2008). Adapting Early Childhood Curricula for Children with Special Needs (7th Edition). Columbus, OH: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Social Story

Social stories were first developed by Carol Gray. She developed them to help children learn how and why we should act in a certain way during a social situation using relevant terms a child can understand. 

My particular case study child has a speech and language impairment. My study child will communicate with his teachers and with myself when I come to observe, but he will not communicate with his peers. He will play alongside and even with them, but he will not speak any words to them. 

The social story for my child will be to help him learn to communicate with his peers. There are several reasons it is important for him to learn this social skill. One is because he can learn from his peers and the conversations that they hold. Also, learning how to express his feelings through words will prevent any undesirable behavior from either him or another child. Socialization is key in young childhood and if he doesn’t socialize, he is really missing a major point in the developmental process.

Reference:

The Gray Center. (2011). Social Stories. Retrieved March 5, 2011,  from http://www.thegraycenter.org/social-stories