Observing Communication

I choose to observe how one of my staff persons interacts with a first grade child during homework time in an afterschool program.  I choose these two because she was so excited about how he has been progressing with his school work.  This child is in a special needs program and requires extra help.  He seems to bond very well with the staff person.  While he is doing his spelling homework she sits beside him on the benches and points out each spelling word,  tells him the word, they spell the word together, then she has him say and spell the word by himself, last she covers the word and has him spell it aloud.   When she first began doing this with him he was not a strong speller he is excellent now. 

When he walks into the program after being dismissed from his classroom he walks right over to here and says Ms. So and So cold C-O-L-D she says to him it’s not time to do spelling yet and he replies I am good speller aren’t I. Once a month she rewards him with his favorite lollipop if he does well on three of the four spelling test.  That day he came in and said lollipop please because I got four green stars for spelling.  Watching this has showed me how we as adults have such a great influence on children.  While talking to the staff person the boy’s teacher came in and said he is doing so much better on his spelling now he is in class helping the other students who are struggling. 

Adult-child communication is very important.  Observing the two interact is how I always assist children while doing homework.  When communicating I always believe that you should come down to their level and not talk down on them it makes them feel like your empowering over them or like they did something wrong.  I also believe that it is important to talk to them with enthusiasm, and a you can do it spirit.  It is important to build their self-confidence. 

Creating Affecting Environments

I would want my center to be family and anti-bias friendly how I would start this process is by having a family orientation when families first come to the center.  I would sit down with the parents so they can tell me a little about themselves and what would they like to see their children doing here.  I believe starting this way will allow you to open up the lines of communication with the center staff and the parent.  Next, there would be a parent center where the parents will sign their children in and each child will have their own folder or envelope were parents and staff can leave correspondents for one another if they do not have the necessary time to talk.  In the parent center there will be pictures and items that represent each culture that we serve so when everyone comes in it feels like a piece of home. 

One particular idea that I like to incorporate from Adrina Castillo would be a cool down or transition room where the children can come in adjust to the setting after being drop off  by their parents or even having a not so good moment during the day.  While watching the video I notice many of the sayings were in Spanish, I would like to have someone who speaks another language on staff where the children will be able to learn a second language if that’s not their language of origin. Another thing from the video I would incorporate is the emotion corner where the children will be able to come and express their emotions and relax their minds and be able to focus on the lesson. 

Throughout the center will be all type of paraphernalia which represents diversity and cultures having this around will allow the children to ask questions and learn new things about others.  The look and sounds of the room reflect the family culture s and daily lives of the children (Derman-Sparks & Edwards p. 43).  That is why the center will be painted bright and will be a place that is family and child friendly where everyone who enters feels welcome. 

Reference:

Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, D.C.: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Laureate Education Inc., (2011). “Welcome to an Anti-Bias Learning Community.”