Early Childhood Education Commons^™

Father Engagement, Marisa Morales

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The Monterey County Office of Education Head Start & Early Head Start Family & Community Engagement service has identified the need for father involvement in early childhood education. With a very meaningful purpose “Padres Bien Padres, Very Cool Dads”, was started. Four workshops were given to male role models to support parenting engagement with their children. In addition, professional development training was provided to head start Policy Council to raise awareness of the “Padres Bien Padres, Very Cool Dad’s” program and share different ideas and activities to improve and encourage fathers to participate in head start. The Policy Council members …

Life Through Different Lenses, Teresa Morales

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

For this capstone project, my partner and I were able to explore the lack of affordable housing for low-income families and the demonstrable effect on students academic achievement. Children whose families have a difficult time finding adequate housing, live in poor conditions that limits them to acquire their learning skills and abilities to succeed. The community partner we worked with was a local Family Resource Center that provides housing assistance and other social determinants. The purpose of this research was understand how low-income families deal with inadequate living conditions and the impacts of student academic success. Based on an analysis …

Expanding Kindergarten Students’ Understanding Of Family Types, Kaitlyn Kroneman

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Today, family dynamics are drastically changing. Many children may not recognize the variances of family members and styles. To educate young students, I formulated a 3-session lesson to address different family dynamics with Kindergarten students at Dual Language Academy. My goal is to form an understanding among the students of diversity and inclusion within families.

The Importance Of Introducing Growth Mindset To Childcare Professionals, Jenn Hall

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

In this day and age, many children are guided through school by instructors and leaders which evaluate their capabilities. This guidance can include phrases such as, “you draw so well!” or “you’re really good at ____”. The use of evaluative comments is a dilemma because it could potentially sort children into different ability groups, which could cause children to feel down on themselves when put in such situations.

Early care and education teachers use praise often with young children. However, many teachers may not realize that this praise is evaluative and may make children think their abilities are fixed and …

Fostering The Concept Of Autonomy In School-Aged Children, Michelle Newcombe

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Studies show that autonomy in school-age children helps students in terms of academics and in becoming well-rounded members of the society (Bandura, 1993). This senior capstone explores how autonomy is taught successfully in Japanese schools, explains its structure, and how it can be facilitated. Through the use of literature review as well as surveys conducted with 12 Japanese exchange students and 15 Liberal Studies students, results were inconclusive and are premature to determine how the concept of autonomy is fostered in U.S school-aged children. However, the literature review found that in Japanese elementary schools, educators use the Self-Determination theory and …

Academic And Social Effects Of Waldorf Education On Elementary School Students, Christian Zepeda

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

As society becomes more critical of public education, alternative education systems are becoming more popular. The Waldorf education system, based on the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, has increased in popularity and commonality each decade. Currently, 23 Waldorf institutions exist in California. With this increase in popularity, it is important to analyze and examine the effectiveness of this education philosophy. An examination of Waldorf education, through research and interviews of Waldorf teachers and administration, will provide parents and teachers with an understanding of its strengths and weaknesses. Ultimately, Waldorf education provides a positive environment for students, yielding positive effects but this …

Teaching Nutrition Education To Kinderprep Students, Margarita Perez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Often, elementary school curriculum neglects to include nutrition education. Because nutrition education does not receive much instructional time, students may not learn about proper nutrition, which may make it difficult to lead a healthy lifestyle as they get older. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2014), during the 2011-2012 school year, 52% of districts required some type of skill-based nutrition education, while only 35% required a curriculum be provided for each grade level. To address this, I created a 3-session curriculum about nutrition education and delivered it to KinderPrep students at Northminster Presbyterian Preschool/KinderPrep in Salinas, …

Teaching Gender Diversity In Preschool Classrooms, Nicole Marie Valhuerdi

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

As early as toddler years, children are absorbing information about gender stereotypes on what they should and should not be doing based solely off their sex and “have typically come to prefer activities defined by the culture as appropriate for their sex” (Wolter & Hannover, 2016, p.683). I thought it was important to start coming up with age appropriate ways to explain the concept of gender to children and teach preschool children about acceptance of differences in one another as well as themselves. For my project, I created a two-day lesson plan that was meant to be an introduction on …

Children's Mental Health: Reimagining Teacher Preparation, Karolina Camacho

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Current research sheds light on the importance of the mental health of school-age children and researcher’s efforts continuously point out that there is need for more to be done to support children with mental health needs, in the context of the classroom, in the United States. Particularly focusing on children with internalizing behavior under Emotional Disturbance, this paper will provide reasoning as to why these children have a need for prevention and intervention services, the reality of the lack of general knowledge teachers have on children’s mental health, and the need for elementary school teachers to have children’s mental health …

Slipping Through The Cracks: A Look Into Special Education Referrals, Courtney Musselman

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Special Education is offered in many schools today and more and more students are being referred to this type of education. For this capstone project three local special education teachers were interviewed about the referral process and what could be done to improve it. This is an important issue because many students are slipping through the cracks when it comes to be identified and others are being overly identified. The referral process is important because it provides students with an equal opportunity for education. Findings from the interviews and information from a relevant literature review were used to develop an …

Pbis: Moving Beyond A Focus On Behavior To Relationships, Sylvia Chavez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

School-Wide Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (SW-PBIS or PBIS) is a classroom management system that has become increasingly popular in our k-12 educational systems. PBIS was originally created for special needs students and it is now being enforced in schools with a majority of minority students. This classroom management method relies on a token rewards system that focuses on reinforcing positive behavior in the classroom. Issues with this classroom management system encompass it being a form of exclusionary discipline, a student conditioning system and not a culturally grounded/responsive system. For this Capstone Project, teachers and students were interviewed to better …

Blooming Relationships: Increasing Communication Between Parents And Teachers, Jasmine Negrete

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The focus of this Capstone project is on strengthening the communication between parents and teachers by providing an alternative method of communication that will suit both parties. Both parties have expectations for one another that need to be communicated in order to benefit the students. The primary stakeholder perspectives surveyed were the parents of the children and the teachers and administrators. Three action options emerged from an analysis of the data and were explored as ways to address the issue presented. Parents were provided with access to an application called Bloomz, which is accessible by smartphones, tablets and computers.

Play It Forward: Cooperative Learning & Structured Play During Recess, Tyler Elwin, Mary Rossi

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Cooperative learning and structured play (CLASP) are two things that have gone unappreciated in the modern educational setting. This is an important issue for many local low-income schools as the dropout rate is so high. CLASP ideals come with a wide array of positive outcomes that look to brighten the futures of affected youth. CLASP provides an incredible number of scholarly benefits: increased school involvement, higher GPA, improved interpersonal relationships, increased ability to work as a team, etc. This capstone identifies these critical benefits and addresses the best way to properly utilize CLASP within the school setting. The three primary …

Interns Matter: Maximizing Integration Of Interns Into Community Agencies, Valerie Garcia

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Hope Services is a non-profit agency serving individuals with developmental disabilities in six counties. Over the years, there have been many agencies that have formed connections with Hope Services. One of these collaborative partnerships has been with CSU Monterey Bay’s (CSUMB) integration of interns through their field placement program. However, recently former Hope Services South District Manager, Greg Dinsmore, witnessed a lack of utilization and integration of interns across all Hope Services agencies. Through firsthand experience as a mentor, he witnessed the benefits of utilizing interns and saw the need for further advocacy and support for the integration of interns …

Creating A Multiracial Lesson Plan, Clayton Davis

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The purpose of this project is to teach students about multiracial identity issues. Multiracial populations in the U.S. continue to grow and it’s important for educators to address the needs of these students. A 5-E multiracial literature lesson plan was created for second grade that incorporates KWL and Text-to-World teaching strategies. A second grade class were read two children’s picture books, each featuring a biracial protagonist, and were asked to discuss and evaluate the content and commonalities of these stories. Students recorded what they learned in this lesson in their KWL’s. The results reveal that some students understood the problems …

Role Model Stories That Unite Children Of Oaxacan Immigrants, Erica Juarez Lopez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Through my internship at Castroville Library Homework Center I endure power by telling stories to unite with children of Oaxacan immigrants while helping them with homework. Dacher Keltner power principles helped me have a trusting communication to learn the success and struggles in the children of Oaxacan immigrant’s education.