Observing Communication

I was just at a family function and I decided this would be a great time to do our observation. My aunt walked in the room and immediately picked up my godson. She said, “Hello Emmitt!” Then turned to his mother and started asking her questions on how Emmitt was doing. Emmitt started squirming and saying “down.” My aunt did not listen until finally Emmitt squirmed just enough for her to almost drop him. That is when she put him down and continued talking.

From this whole observation, I learned that my family does this quite a bit to the younger ones. Everyone will pick them up and say hello but then start talking to an adult. The children then go unnoticed and most likely feel like they are not important.

This week, we learned vital tools to interacting with children. One main tip that I learned  was “to refrain from talking about babies to others in the baby’s presence” (Kovach & Da Ros-Voseles, 2011, p.48). For this to happen, my aunt should have asked Emmitt how he was doing and then later ask the mother. We also learned to “talk to babies before touching them” (Kovach & Da Ros-Voseles, 2011, p.48). I think Emmitt would have felt more comfortable if my aunt would have asked Emmitt if she could pick him up or say that she was going to pick him up. Being that Emmitt is a toddler, he knows how to express his wants and needs and this should be listened to.

While watching this encounter, I realized that I do the same things. I don’t think about talking to the child before picking them up or asking the child the questions. I just assume that since he can’t answer that it doesn’t really matter. I now know that this is completely wrong! I need to make sure that I communicate more with the younger children and explain what I am going to do before or while I am doing it. The one thing that I do know I do well is getting down to the child’s level to talk to them. I believe that this really helps in the communication process because I will not look intimidating to the child.

References:

Kovach, B., & Da Ros-Voseles, D. (2011). Communicating with babies. YC: Young Children, 66(2), 48-50. Retrieved from http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=60001533&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Creating Affirming Environments

The picture above is of my Family Child Care Home. To begin, parents will come into the green area, or the outside area that is fenced off. If there is bad weather, then the family will walk through this area and enter the inside drop off area that has the same centers.

In both areas the parents can sign in and the children can have a transition area. In both areas, there will be a place for children to relax and wake up or to continue sleeping. This place will have some couches and chairs along with some pillows. I chose to have this area based off of the area that Adriana (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.) had in her center. She made sure to have a quiet area for the children to wake up or calm down in. I found this to be a very nice area for the children to wake up in a peaceful area.

Also in this area is a jungle gym that has equipment for all ages and capabilities. There is also a block area that has block people and Lego people of different cultures. Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2010) said that it was useful to have multicultural Lego people and I agreed with them completely. Next to the block area is the sand box that has all types of tools and equipment for free play. The final area is the Dramatic Play area that has persona dolls, clothes from all cultures, food from all cultures, etc. All of these will feature “diversity of age, race, gender, and body types, including people with physical challenges” (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 52). All of these areas are designed for children to make independent decisions and learn about the cultures around them.

The next room is the group area which is for all the ages in the center. In this area, there is a space for parents to share information about their children and families with the center and other families. There is also an area for families to bring in pictures and items that share their cultures and home life. Both of these areas were inspired by the areas in Adriana’s (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.) center. In Adriana’s center there was an area to share one families’ culture for the month. For me it seemed like a good idea to have a place for all of the families to put items and pictures to share with everyone. The final area in this room is the circle time area where all the children in the center come together.

The next two rooms are the infant/toddler room and the preschool room. In both rooms there is a block area and dramatic play area that has the same concept as the ones in the drop off area. The dramatic play area is a great place for children to work through conflict resolution and act out scenarios that they are having trouble understanding. Both areas help with independent thinking and exploration.

There is also a music area, a book and puzzle area, and a meeting area. I got both the music area and the book and puzzle area ideas from the center that I used to work for and from Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2010). I believe that the music area is a great place to express oneself to the music of the different cultures. Finally in both rooms there is an art area that includes all the colors of skin tones which Derman-Sparks & Edwards (2010) suggested having. This area will help children to understand the different colors of our skin and to express their feelings openly.

The final part of my center is the kitchen and dining room area. In the kitchen, meals will be prepared that are inspired by the families in our center. These inspirations can come from family recipes or from sharing time with the children.  Finally, the dining area has a table that is big enough for all the children to come in and eat together along with the staff members and any parents that want to come in. I believe that this area helps bring the families together and gives them a sense of community in our center.

 

References:

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: NAEYC.

Laureate Education, Inc. (n.d.). Welcome to an anti-bias learning community. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_1373761_1%26url%3D