Observation: Nursery Of Villa Rica Christian Church

My first observation site was the nursery of Villa Rica Christian Church, and I spent an hour and thirty minutes observing two classes. Ms. Michele is the supervisor over the nursery, ranging from infants to two-year-olds. The first class included only one child in the nursery, who was one and a half years old. The second class included three more boys, but the only girl left. The second observation took place in the kid’s class at my church, and I spent an hour there. Mrs. Walden teaches six to seven year olds. I witnessed the social reinforcers in Ms. Michele’s classes and the activity and tangible reinforcers in Mrs. Walden’s class.
Social reinforcers refer to small gestures that exemplify the teacher’s approval to increase the frequency
of that desired behavior. For example, the teacher read a book, asked a question, a student answered, and the teacher responded with a smile and a praise. In the nursery, the supervisor practiced social reinforcers consistently. For example, the teacher offered the child an unknown toy, and the child hesitated to take the toy. Then, the instructor smiled and praised the child for accepting the new toy. Once offered the toy again, the child immediately took the toy. This interaction illustrates the influence social reinforcers have on children. By giving the social reinforcers, like the smile and praise, the child desired to repeat the same behavior to receive the same reaction. In the second class, one of the three boys picked up a xylophone-like toy. The instructor guided the child’s hand to make noise with the instruments. At first, the child froze, but the instructor immediately reacted with a smile as the social reinforcement. Then, the child gladly attempted to repeat the behavior. Both interactions prove that social reinforcers encourage children to repeat the desired behavior.
Activity reinforcers refer to the practice of allowing children to partake in a special activity that others do not, because they exemplified the desired behavior. The instructor explained that students who finished their assignment could freely choose their next activity. The previous class, the instructor demanded that the students were required to do the first assignment whenever they wanted to. The following day, the children, who already finished the required assignment, could choose their next assignment. Only the children, who utilized their time and completed the assignment, experienced the freedom that other students did not. Clearly, the children seemed to have enjoyed their freedom to freely choose to play with mathematical puzzles, multiplication cards, etc. This activity reinforcer directly encouraged the children to motivate themselves to finish their work in order to receive the benefits of future freedom.
Tangible reinforcers refer to the practice of rewarding children with a palpable gift when they have exemplified the desired behavior. If a child’s performance improved, then he or she could pick out of the candy bag. To explain, the instructor follows a grading schedule that determines the certain level each child should achieve during different periods of the year. If the child scored higher than he or she had before then that student could choose one piece of candy. This tangible reinforcer directly encourages children to participate and invest more in class in order to perform better than before. When the child was told that he or she improved and was able to pick a piece of candy, the child suddenly became exhilarated and enthusiastic even to the point that the child boasted over his or her accomplishment. On the other hand, when the child did not perform better and was not awarded a piece of candy, the child immediately experienced sadness and disappointment. This change of behavior illustrates the direct impact tangible reinforcers play on children.