Question

Subject:EC230/EEC2225 Section 1 Guiding children's behavior. But I chose psychology to be easy. I need this answer by today.

As discussed earlier in the Module, fair and equal are two terms often used interchangeably in early childhood education, when they are actually very different. Using what you now know, write a 1-page paper that addresses the following situation and respond to the questions below. You are an educator for a group of 6 mixed-age children in a family child care setting. The children are 18 months to 4 years of age. One of the three year olds brings in a small blanket that they use as comfort and is feeling down today. You have just worked hard to wean an 18 month old off of their pacifier. Do you allow the three year old to have their blanket? Why/Why not? Are you responding fairly or equally? Why? How? important

Include at least one (1) outside resource to support your responses. Be sure to cite resource(s) properly on an APA formatted References page. The source(s) should help support your positions on the items above.

Answer 1

You are an educator for a group of 6 mixed-age children in a family child care setting. The children are 18 months to 4 years of age. One of the three-year-olds brings in a small blanket that they use as comfort and is feeling down today. You have just worked hard to wean an 18-month-old off of their pacifier.

Do you allow the three-year-old to have their blanket?

Yes, I shall allow the three-year-old to have his/her blanket.

Why/Why not?

It is important for children to learn that fair and equal are two different things. The 18-month old was weaned off the pacifier because it causes attachment problems in the long run. Whereas, there is a reason that the three old has to use the blanket. The three old child feels down. It is important that the emotional needs of the child are understood. As part of making the child feel comfortable enough to share about his/her feelings, the comfort blanket could be a start. It is only fair that the child's needs are attended to at the right time. The blanket is a need whereas the pacifier for the 18-month old isn't.

Are you responding fairly or equally?

I am responding fairly. In this situation, I cannot play the equal card and disallow the three old from having the comfort blanket. It is important to acknowledge the feelings of the toddler as part of early childhood education.

Why? How?

Because, by saying that I have to be equal and by making the toddler forcibly handover the comfort blanket, there is a sense of 'unfair' to the kid. He/she feels threatened that the presence of the 18-month old has caused this situation to occur, which should not be the case.

The three-year-old should feel better and be ready to talk about why he/she feels down so that the underlying issue can be addressed and educated. This comfort is in the form of the blanket that the three-year-old needs. It is to ensure that the needs of the toddler are attended to.

Citations:

Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss (Vol. 1, Attachment). New York: Basic Books.
Hong, K., & Townes, B. (1976). Infant’s attachment to inanimate objects. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 15, 49–61.
Litt, C. (1981). Children’s attachment to transitional objects. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 51, 131–139.