QUESTION 1a) Examine the importance of resource centres in ECD training

institutions
Provides support and co-ordinate the cluster teacher centres;
Provides support in educational innovations and the use of low cost teaching and learning
resources;
To provide in-service training to education supporting staff, like subject advisors, material
writers and other education related personnel
To revise curriculum and suggest any technical changes
To co-ordinate teacher support programmes with the aim of improving the status of teachers
academically and professionally
Cost effective
The school will save money as you will need to buy fewer of each item as the teachers will
take turns to use it in their classes. This rotation of resources means that not all classes need
all items.
Keep track of your resources
Having a sign-out sheet for teachers to use when they take resources to their classrooms will
make it easier to do stock taking as all your resources are in one place and you can trace
missing games by checking who signed them out last.
Have better purchase planning
Because you have a paper trail of what is being used, a resource centre allows the manager to
monitor which resources are used most frequently. This helps your school plan what needs to
be replaced or added to the resource centre and stops you wasting money on items that are
not used.
Versatility
A resource centre allows the children to have a greater variety of games and toys to choose
from as teachers present different resources every week.
When the teachers meet for planning, they can decide which toys and games to use with the
chosen theme. It can work like a toy library where teachers sign games in and out.
As all the school’s resources can be stored in one location, all the teachers will have access to
all the resources. It is best not to divide resources according to age group as this limit the use
of some resources and does not encourage usage by children of different age groups.
Better classroom planning:
The use of a resource centre encourages teachers to plan what they will present to the
children each week.
A resource centre encourages teachers to share and co-operate, modelling the behaviour we
expect from children. It also encourages staff to share ideas and best practice.
Discuss this idea with your teachers while planning for the rest of the year and consider
starting a resource centre at your school.

The strong connection between learning resources and method, and passing away supporting
and cultural general role of school libraries into essential, accurately planned, role to achieve
the method and its purposes.

The book and printed material become not the only information resource.

Development of educational theories, international tends to self learning, taking in account

differences of individuals, make the learner the axis of educational process, and the teacher
role change into a leader and facilitator of learning process.

Learning resources centers concentrate on amalgamation of resources, information and

communication technologies with educational practices inside centers.

LRCs are important as they offer students the chance to utilise traditional and
modern resources in an environment that enhances

1b) Identify and explain the values of including water and sand plays in the ECD
centers

The values of including water plays in the ECD centres.

Develop Motor skills Water Play increases Motricity Skills.Children will increase their fine
motor skills and hand-eye coordination through actions like pouring, squirting, scrubbing,
stirring and squeezing. It’s an amazing sensory experience introducing them to textures and
temperatures.
Problem-solving skills Water Play develops problem solving Skills Water play allows
children to explore a substance and make discoveries about it. Observing a branch or paper
float or sink will teach them, in a very practical way, how and why things happen. But above
all, it encourages them to use their imagination, develops creative thinking which plays an
important role in problem-solving.

Language development. Imagine the discussions you can have asking what they are doing.
Imagine then, the number of new words they will learn while having fun with water and
having conversations about it! Basin, Damp, Depth, Drain, Flow, Drenched, Drizzle, Sieve…

Water Play develops social and language skills. At strategic moments during play with water,
educators will ask intentional questions to extend children’s thinking, expand their memory
and use evidence to support their ideas.

Social-emotional growth Water Play participates to Social-Emotional Growth Water play

releases energy, It increases their ability to concentrate on one activity when presented as a
tranquil and repetitive activity. one or several children, to take turns and share the space and
accessories with their friends.

Science and Mathematics learning Water Play builds the foundation for understanding
various scientific concepts Water Play builds the foundation for understanding various
scientific concepts.

It provides opportunity for children to learn vocabulary such as wet and dry, full and empty,
pouring in and out, light and heavy.

Provided opportunity for role-playing situations found in real life e.g. a child making
‘chapati’ or ‘pan cakes’ is copying what she or he has seen mother or baker do. The child
through this play learns about work people do, habits and ways people live

The values of including sand plays in the ECD centres

It Is Open-Ended. Children learn the most when faced with open-ended questions and open-
ended tasks, sand is a medium that is naturally open-ended. No matter the skill or cognitive
level of the child, sand is an appropriate play object.

It Stretches the Imagination. As children begin to more fully understand the physical
properties of sand, they have the opportunity to expand their creativity and imaginations.

It Promotes Cognitive Development. Children learn about the natural physical properties of
sand by playing with it and by comparing wet and dry sand. While playing in sand, children
will learn to problem-solve as they try to figure out how to prevent their towers from
continually falling over or their moats from collapsing in on themselves. They will discover
cause and effect from learning what happens when water is added to the sand.

Sand play promotes physical development. Large muscle skills develop as children dig, pour,
sift, scoop, and clean up spills with brush and dustpan. Eye-hand coordination and small
muscle control improve as children learn to manipulate sand accessories.

Sand play also promotes social skills. When children work together at the sand table they are
faced with real problems that require sharing, compromising, and negotiating. A group may
engage in dramatic play as they "cook," construct roadways, dig tunnels, or create a zoo for
rubber animals. As children take on roles associated with their dramatic play, they learn
important social skills such as empathy and perspective taking.

Mathematical concepts can be developed during sand play by providing children with
measuring spoons and cups, containers in a variety of sizes and shapes, balance scales, or
counting bears. As you observe children's sand play, use mathematical terms like more/less;
many/few; empty/full; heavy/light. Then challenge children to count how many scoops it
takes to fill a container. Sequence accessories by size.

Develop science concepts by suspending a funnel or pendulum above the sand table. Provide
magnets and buried treasure. Use ropes and pulleys to move buckets of sand. Punch holes in a
plastic bottle, fill it with sand, and observe. Then try different sizes and placement of holes.

Encourage children to make signs for use in sand play and find out what a colander is to
develop language skills. Invite children to write their names in the sand or tell a story about
their play. Move traffic signs from the block center to the sand box.
Teachers can incorporate the arts into sand play by encouraging children to draw a song in
the sand; make castings, moldings, and prints; and write a sand poem. As children sift and
pour, play background music and encourage them

QUESTION 2 child’s learning environment communicates a lot about the learners.

Discuss the importance of displaying both the children’s and teachers’ work in ECD
classes.
Display can include painting, items of children’s and Teacher’s individual work, cooperative
effort, natural materials and plants.

Objects of interest, photographs, pictures, a collage, real objects, use of different color,
textures and labels.

All children should be able to contribute to the display in their environment, when we look
around their rooms, it is preferable for every child to have at least one piece of work
displayed or have taken part in a group display.

Displays has the following importance to both Children and Teachers.

Improve quality of learning. High-quality display materials don’t only look great, they also
have clever content that informs, stimulates and inspires. Seek out the best to put on your
walls

Make learning relevant. Displays are temporary and so an ideal vehicle for making learning
feel up to date and relevant. Look for posters and other materials with cool imagery and
contemporary references that your students can relate to.

Improve attitudes to learning. When students feel happier in their working environment, they
behave better and are more focused, creative and productive.

Displays can be merely decorative. They can make the classroom brighter, and a more
interesting and stimulating place. This, in itself, can have a direct impact on the pupil and
teacher’s motivation on learning.
Display material can include useful direct teaching aids, such as number lines, letter of the
alphabets, they can help make the teacher more effective.

It can be used to stimulate and create pupil interest. Books might be displayed on a shelf, and
opened at an interesting page, to encourage pupils to read.

Display can be used to provide a students with something extra to do, in spare moment, a
puzzle of days would serve this purpose well, few learners will be able to resist trying to
solve it.

It encourages awareness of the wider community, diversity of society and reinforce

acceptance of difference

It can encourage children to look, think, reflect, explore, investigate and talk and respond to
their interests.
It encourages parental involvement in their children learning and reinforces links with home.

QUESTION 2b) Explain the factors an ECD teacher should consider when displaying
materials in a baby class.

Instructional materials provide the basis for what learners will experience and learn. They
hold the power to either engage or demotivate learners. Therefore, instructional materials
must be carefully planned, selected, organized, refined, and used.

A child should be involved in the choice of work that will be displayed and where possible in
the mounting of the work and creation of the display.

Any label must be clear, of an appropriate size, in lower case letters except at the beginning
of the sentences and proper nouns and include the home language of the children.

Display that include people should wherever possible and appropriate, reflect multicultural,
multi-ability society and be without gender bias. Display should project positive images in
any setting; people with disability are usually underrepresented in the wider visited
environment.

Make your display informative. Your display should be informative, yet easy for the students
to understand - a display with lots of text can be tedious to read, even for the teachers
themselves.
Make your display interactive and engaging. Another way to improve the interactivity of your
display is to include the class in its creation - students will enjoy a display more if they have
contributed to it and feel like they are a part of it

Make your display interactive and engaging Another way to improve the interactivity of your
display is to include the class in its creation - students will enjoy a display more if they have
contributed to it and feel like they are a part of it.

Provide a wide range of materials that will enrich and support the curriculum and course
objectives. The instructional materials should reinforce and supplement, not substitute for, the
teacher’s teaching efforts.

Use a unique design or theme. It might be tempting to use the format of a previous display
and just change the content, but the layout and styling of the display is just as important as
the information displayed on it

Make your display exciting and creative Colour in the classroom doesn’t only need to be for
early primary school. Challenge yourself to use colour in creative and unconventional ways,
such as displaying inspiration posters or creating themed “mood” corners.

Mood corners can provide an environment where students are more likely to express their
ideas, think outside the box, challenge problems with innovative solutions and, most
importantly, learn faster and more effectively

Colour can also be an incredibly powerful tool to aid students with absorbing information and
learning new content in general. Encourage your students to use more colour as a staple when
taking notes. You’ll be surprised at how quickly they start absorbing new information.

it is important to choose colours and themes that will attract the attention of the students, it’s
equally as important not to overload your display with too many colours and too much
information, as this could overstimulate the students and become a distraction rather than an
aid. 

Every class and every teacher is different, so it’s important to find the balance that makes
your display exciting, but clear, for your particular class and personal style.
Choose the right display and location ‘The location of your classroom display is just as
important as the information you put on it. Walls are not the only location in a school
classroom that are suitable for a classroom display.

The location needs to be easily visible so that it reaches its full potential. If it is an interactive
display board, you need to make sure that it’s easy to get to and can be reached by all
children. Consider the walk way to the display board and make sure there are no safety
concerns or obstructions i.e. furniture in the way or directly behind the door.

Finding the right display board is essential when preparing a classroom display. While a
traditional wall-mounted display board works well, the vast array of different types of display
boards available adds another layer of flexibility and customisation to your displays.

Question 3 Special Needs children need a lot of care in order to succeed in the learning
environment.
a) Identify and explain the most common impairment among children in out society

Hearing impairment. Is loss of proper functioning of the sense of hearing, the concept of
hearing impairment is use to refer to all hearing difficulties, ranging from mild to severe,
person who have severe hearing impairment which can not enable them to perceive spoken
language are refer to us “deaf person” while those who have a hearing loss, which does not
completely stop them from perceiving spoken language are refers to us “hard of hearing” It
is important that children with a hearing impairment are helped to learn what is relevant to
their lives and content which can lead to seif relevance and their quality of life.

Visual impairment. The term visual impairment is used to refer to various level of sight
difficulties, which may rage from mild to profound. person who have severe difficulties in
seeing so much so that they cannot read ordinary print, are refer to us blind person who have
sight difficulties which do or does not completely stop them reading ordinary print when it is
enlarge are refer to has having “low vision

Mental retardation. Mental retarding is when someone has mental limitation in mental
functioning. here the child may have problems in learning, communication and taking care of
her/himself.

Language impairment. This is lack of speech of difficult with speech, or difficulty with
speech, to developed a speech a child needs to listen, understand and speak, so any difficulty
in this area may cause a child difficulty with communication.

physical impairment. Physical impairment is an inability to perform rapid coordinated

movement connected to missing body parts like muscles and nerves
Gifted /Talented children. This are condition in which children show superior or advanced
ability compared to other peers or counterparts of the same chronological age these children
are born with natural abilities well above the average for their age. If your child is gifted, you
might notice these natural abilities in the way he/she’s learning and developing. For example,
a child might be gifted creatively and intellectually. Or he might have above-average physical
coordination and memory, or more social and emotional maturity

b)Examine and explain the difficulties learners with retardation may face within their
respective classes.

poor infrastructure. many institutions have not installed wheelchair driveways besides steps in
the light of the recommendations of various treaties and Acts to ensure proper movement of
children in and around the school campus. The location, space and arrangements of
classrooms do not favor children with mental retardation.
Lack of support resources. Children with all types of disabilities needs specific resources,
equipment and devices to make use of the instructional process carried out in the school
unfortunately Many times parents and school are not in a position to provide all these
equipment and devices,
Schools are sometimes far from the home, and there is a lack of transportation and lack of
accessibility of travelling especially in villages and remote areas. Children with mental
retardation face barriers if the school is not within their easy mobility and reach zones.

The nature of the topic and area as well as the method of the study seem to be broad and
comprehensive which demands a lot of time, budget, facilities, material and trained human
power

Children with mental retardation are always slow at acquiring and developing skills such
speaking in class, walking and slow in carrying out tasks, this affects their performance in
class.

Parental perception plays a crucial role in determining the overall growth and development of
the child as well as the educational process of the child. some parents believe that their child
cannot be educated like non-disabled children or be overprotective of their children, which
hamper their performance in class

Peers influence greatly affects the performance of a mentally retarded children. The peer
interaction that the child with mental retardation have both in the community as well as in
the learning environment contributes positively or negatively to performance in class.

The readiness of a caregiver to work with all children, especially those with disabilities
greatly affects the social interaction of children with special needs in the school. When the
teacher possesses negative attitude towards children with mental retardation, they feel not
welcomed and motivated to be a part of such learning environment automatically

They are unable to understand or clearly follow instructions put by the care giver and not able
to transfer the same activities into different situations.

Mental retard child has difficulty in remembering experiences or things learnt and when such
thing is examine, they can not score highly compared to normal children.

They normally show low attention on tasks, they do not concentrate for long on a specific
task

They have few friends because they in most cases disturb others and sometimes, they are
aggressive, so they are unable to consult their friends on academic matters.
 They are poor in decision making and reasoning, poor in seeing the consequences of their
action and poor in social adjustment all these negativity affects their contribution in class.

They have difficulties carrying out activities of daily living such as toileting, feeding,
dressing these activities normally take their academic time and thus performing poorly.

lack of awareness about the needs as well and the strengths and abilities of the child often
lead to failure of placement in inclusive education.

Poor Aattitude, values and perception of the school in which a child belong can hinder their
placement in class.

The content knowledge, pedagogical content and pedagogical psychological knowledge of

the teacher greatly determines the quality of instruction and is a defining factor in the
placement of children with mental retardation in class.

Instructional Strategies. If the teachers follow a rigid and uniform instruction pattern, merely
putting the students with special needs in the class can never lead to inclusion. Thus,
placement of students in inclusive education in its true sense, can take place when all the
needs of the learners are taken into account and when each receives instruction that best
suited him/her.

Curriculum modification. Most teachers who teach in an inclusive classroom modify their
curricula to meet the needs of their special education students.

The attitude of a child towards receiving education in the general classes is a contributing
factor to placement in class. Children with disabilities often carry the burden of stigmatization
and discrimination which develops negative attitude towards being in the midst of normal
children.

Question 4 Identify the values of material display in the ECD schools

to the following.

To school
Small spend, big return. We all know that money is tight in many schools. But actually,
classroom display is one area where a relatively small budget really can pay dividends.
Complement high-quality, bought-in resources with displays of student work and freebies
(but check quality carefully.

Display materials can include supplementary teaching aids that simply enrich or reinforce
what is being taught, helping to bring the subject “to life”. If a foreign country was being
studied as part of “geography”, a display might include pictures of the people and their
costumes, famous landmarks, and so on.

Displays can form part of record keeping. They can be used to record pupil and class
progress, and topics covered. They might also record student awards, such as “gold stars” and
bonus points. These records are the most important professional document kept by school.

 Displays can be used to promote class management. They can include lists of routines,
responsibilities, tasks, and rules. They can include directions, labels, and instructions.

Displays can be used to “set the scene” for a new teaching topic. The teacher can put some
stimulating material on display to promote pupil interest in a topic that is going to be taught.
If the theme was “volcanoes”, some interesting pictures and diagrams about volcanoes might
be displayed before the teaching begins: perhaps even several days before, not just
immediately before the lesson.

Children

Display materials can include information that is importance for learners to memories, such
as number tables, formula, spelling and other important factual information

A classroom filled with the work of children is a delight to be in and sends a message to
students that their work and their learning are important.

important social and academic skills. When children choose work for displays, they learn to
reflect on their work. By creating displays that recognize effort rather than perfection,
children better understand that learning is a process of growth

Cultural Relevance. Cultural relevance means that the toys and materials you provide reflect
the backgrounds, knowledge, and experiences of the diverse children and youth in your
program. By choosing materials that validate and empower children of all racial, ethnic, and
social backgrounds, staff members build a bridge between children’s home and school lives
that will support a strong foundation for learning.

Children learn best when their interests are incorporated. When possible, staff members
should provide materials that capture children’s interests and extend their learning

Displays can also affirm children’s growing sense of competency and give them practice in
individual and group decision-making. It provides an opportunity to learn from each other
and to appreciate the work of others, nurturing empathy, respect, and a strong sense of
classroom community.

Setting up a display allows children to develop their creativity and to practice skills of
measuring, cutting, using tools, and writing. Maintaining displays gives an opportunity for
children to develop organizational and decision-making skills. All aspects of creating and
maintaining displays allow children to take responsibility for an important part of the
classroom life.

The materials within that can spark children’s imaginations and support their development.
Staff should provide interesting and purposeful materials that are intentionally linked to
curriculum activities

Teachers.

Displays are essential tools making the classroom feel welcoming and engaging. They're also
something that most teachers enjoy doing and sometimes overdoing It's tempting to cover
classroom walls with bright, beautiful and teacher-chosen charts, maps, posters, and photos.
That's what I did the first few years I taught.

Wall displays are an important part of any classroom, as they make the room appear more
inviting and create a better learning environment.

A good display not only engages and informs, it also brightens up the atmosphere of the
classroom a plain, drab classroom is uninviting and could affect concentration. A classroom
display should not only create an engaging learning and working environment for the
students, but should also reflect your personality and style of teaching.

Improve attitudes to learning. When students feel happier in their working environment, they
behave better and are more focused, creative and productive. As one teacher put it: “They
walk in, see a cared-for space with smart, interesting displays, and show greater respect and
readiness for learning.

Keep ahead of the game. All too often, how the classroom looks only becomes a priority
when there are inspectors or prospective parents to impress.

Encourage a sense of belonging. Displaying students’ work alongside printed posters and

materials is a great way to make them feel valued. Ensure you recognize effort as well as
quality when choosing work to display, so that all students are included and there’s a sense of
belonging in the classroom.

Display can be use to promote class management. They cam include lists of routines,
responsibilities, tasks, and rules. They can include directions, labels, and instructions
Parent

Displays can be used to communicates to others what the class is doing t parents, and
members of the local community.

It is a wonderful and very simple way to strengthen the relationship between family and
school especially when they the work done by their children; they feel happy.

Parents expect learning to happen only when children are sitting at desks, displaying
children’s work helps parents understand the value of display in learning process of their
children.

Display provides parents with a list of required mastery skills for each subject taught at
school.

It Encourage active parent participation in child learning.

Establish regular, meaningful communication between home and school.
It enables teachers and school to Collaborate with parents to ensure that children have a
supportive learning environment at school and at home.

It enable parents to become an advocates for their children as well as the

school's other students.

Invite parents to act as full partners in making school decisions that affect children and
families.