Reflective Analysis of Portfolio Artifact

Rationale/Reflection
NAEYC Standard:
STANDARD 1. PROMOTING CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING Candidates prepared in
early childhood degree programs are grounded in a child development knowledge base. They use their
understanding of young childrens characteristics and needs, and of multiple interacting influences on
childrens development and learning, to create environments that are healthy, respectful, supportive, and
challenging for each child. (NAEYC, 2010)

Brief Description of Evidence: (include semester completed)

As part of my ECED 120 Child Development course during the Fall semester of 2016, I looked at
the stages of Eriksons Developmental theory and created a self-study regarding Eriksons Theory of
Development. Each stage was defined and discussed.

Analysis of What I Learned:

I learned how to properly identify the age range at which specific stages are likely to occur. I
learned how to notice the way children might positively or negatively be affected by different situations
of their development during these important stages. I also learned how children grow and develop at
different times. For example, when writing about the fourth stage of development, I learned that most
young adults my age begin to find intimacy, I then identified my own experiences in this stage and
discussed my negative outcome due to an abusive relationship that caused me to retract and isolate
myself. Reflecting on my own experiences allows me to better empathize with, identify and address the
specific outcomes of my future students.

How This Artifact Demonstrates my Competence on the

NAEYC Standard:
My competence in this standard is proven by my ability to comprehend how learners grow and
develop. I learned how children grow and develop at different rates. Many children follow the path
Eriksons stages, but there are always outliers. Specifically, my daughter is very physically advanced, she
could walk without help by eight months while her classmates had not mastered it until almost twelve
months. I learned how to recognize patterns. It seems to me that children who come from more nurturing
households tend to be more advanced on emotional development while children who come from homes
with absent adult figures tend to be more advanced in life skills. Neither household is wrong, it just
causes children to flourish in different areas.