There are so many things I learned in this course that applies to working with infants, toddlers and two year olds and their parents. One of the things I specifically learned was how important routines are younger kids. I knew daycares always had routines and the teachers would try their hardest to follow them, but I didn’t realize how beneficial it was for the children. Routines are needed for infants, toddlers and two years old because it helps them improve their self-discipline skills along with giving them a sense of security. Another thing I learned was how important it is to build a relationship with the parents of the children you work with. This is important because the parents are the ones who knows the kids best, so if the child is having difficulty with something, the parents could provide …show more content…
some information on how to help the child. Also if parents have a relationship with the daycare worker, they are more confident with who they decided to leave their children with. There are so many ways to apply the information I learned in this course to my future. Over the summer, I plan on working at a daycare. I have more of an idea of what a head teacher does with the planning, so I can suggest some of the activities that I planned for this class. I can also help the head teacher come up with activities since I know that they have to development appropriate practice and I know which each ago group requires to be a development appropriate practice. Another thing I can apply is the material that is suppose to be in each area of the daycare. I have more of a knowledge of how much of each material, I can make sure the daycare has it. If the daycare doesn’t, I can talk to the head teacher or the director to make sure the daycare is up to code. I also learned how important it is to ask questions to infants, toddlers and two years olds. Even if infants can’t respond back verbally, it is still important to talk to them. I can apply to this in my future by asking more open ended questions, it can be even simples ones, such as what did you like about this activity, but it helps to improve the child language skills. My perspective for working with children in this age group hasn’t change much from the start. I have always been excited for working with infants, toddlers and two years olds. This class just made me more excited for my future. If anything, this class give me a better perspective at what to expect. I didn’t realize how much time a head teacher spends planning different activities for the kids. I also didn’t know how hard it would be to plan activities. This class give me a better perspective at how difficult working with kids can be, but that just gave me more motivation to work harder. This class gave me a better understanding of how infants, toddlers and two years olds think.
I really liked hearing everyone different situations in daycares because they gave resources I could use if I was having the same problem as them. I also got a better understanding of how kids don’t like to play with each other, but more so play next to each other. I always knew that was going on, but I never noticed it or knew how important it was until this class. This class also gave me a better understanding of how important is to be an active teacher and keep my personal life separate from my work life. We are here for the kids, it is our job to be there for them and give them the attention that they require. I shouldn’t let something that happened in my personal life impact how I do my job. It is my responsibility to be presence with the kids and play with them. They are little, it is okay to act as silly and goofy as possible when it is appropriate. There is also nothing wrong with singing with them even if I am a terrible singer. The kids are going to join in, and once they see me doing it, they are going to want to join it. Knowing all this helped me understand that it is okay to be myself in front of the kids because they are going to accept
it.
Overall, I was very impressed with the infant room I observed. To start off the day, the teacher warmly welcomed all of the children and parents. The teacher asked the parent how their night was since they left the daycare the night before, when they ate last, had a diaper change, and when did they wake up. I made me feel like the teacher really cared about the children even when they where not in her care and waited to make sure everything went ok at home. All of the personal care routines where fallowed and the teacher where constantly washing their ha...
A requirement in being an early childhood teacher, is to fulfill the needs, of the children and families I will work for. In chapter one, you have the Lawrence and Ashley Family. In the Lawrence family, they are a married couple, which means more income for the family. Whereas the Ashley family has one income. In addition, to the Ashley family, having one income and dealing with the state can bring heartache and struggles to buy food, clothes, housing, school supplies and other day to day activities. Therefore, I need to comprehend the lives of the families I work for and to be aware of the circumstances of the individual families. To the same degree. I need to respect the boundaries; of the families I work for. Trust is a must. With no trust, there is no communication and things get can get
The Child Development Center of College of San Mateo provides early care and educational programs for children between the ages of 3 to 5 years old. Children are divided into classrooms with a “master” teacher, a “regular” teacher, and two or three “associate” teachers. Klara attended Classroom, “A,” a stimulating and well-resourced classroom. Klara was observed for two hours on Monday from 9 am to 11 am and for two hours on Wednesday from 9 am to 11 am. During these two hours, classroom activities consisted of “free time,” “story time,” and an outside “play time.” A “master” teacher, a “regular” teacher, and two “associate” teachers were present during observations. Additionally, a total of eighteen children were in attendance during the observed days.
When selecting childcare for your child the foundation of early learning has offered some tips that they believe will be helpful in the process. The foundation says that parents have always known that good early experience was important for their child. Now scientist and researchers are confirming how critical these first years of life are to your child’s healthy development (Selecting child care, 2002). Because the brain matures in the world rather than in the womb, the brain growth and development of infants and young children is deeply affected by their earliest experiences. In a childcare environment the relationship your child has with the caregiver will also affect how that child feels about himself and the world around him and as he grows up (Selecting child care, 2002). I ...
A normal day for a daycare facility is to have many classrooms full of students like a typical public school; however, they are younger children and are being supervised by an adult. That adult is responsible for, on average, four to ten students at any given time, ages ranging from zero to six. During that time, a lot can happen. These busy workers have many responsibilities throughout the day. The most important one is safety. Because these children are so young, they are also adventurous therefore need a lot of attention. Daycare workers have to spend much time supervising these children while performing other tasks throughout the day. Not only do children need to be supervised to be safe, but they also need to have a safe, clean and presentable environment that the daycare workers of the facility are to maintain. One way to keep things clean is to sanitize, in which is a big task of these workers. Children are always putting things in their mouth and then passing it off to other kids; therefore, sanitation is a big deal in these types of facilities. Another responsibility that daycare providers have are to enforce rules. When rules are broken, these providers are to then enforce discipline policies. These can sometimes become an issue seeing that these providers are not the parents of the children thus they have to consult with the parents on certain discipline techniques to use on specific children. On the other hand, these providers are similar to parents in the sense that they wash children's clothing and clean up after every child. In addition to all the other responsibilities, daycare providers also have to maintain current, accurate and confidential client files per child. These files are to consist of observations and r...
It is common knowledge that a parent is considered the most efficient caregiver for their children. It’s also known that with daily responsibilities of caring for a child financially, parents partake in full-time and/or part-time employment. While needing to do so, many children attend daycare/preschool facilities. Granted, it is the parent’s responsibility to cautiously select where they decide to take their children. This is because parents know that while they are away for numerous hours of the day, their children are in the hands of another care provider and that their care would have an enormous impact on their children. At a young age, a child’s social and cognitive skills are continuing to take shape and the amount of time spent in these facilities has a resilient impact on a child’s development. With proper and superior care no matter the time spent, such positive effects on a child’s development should endure in a child’s cognitive and social development. In other words, there is a great benefit of childcare/daycare attendance on a child’s development.
Each and every daycare has their own menu for the children’s breakfast and lunch. Through my observations, I have noticed that the “Don’t Worry Childcare” has a variety of food selections throughout the month. For example, the children could either choose from fruit loops cereal, or frosted flakes for breakfast. The children’s snacks eaten varies every day as well. For instance, the children ate milk and cookies one day, and cheese crackers another day. An example of lunch would be, milk, chicken fingers, French fries, green beans, and mixed fruit one day, and spaghetti, corn, peaches, and bread another day. I observed the children eat ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, and peaches one day for lunch. All those food options seemed very delicious.
National Center for O*NET Development . (2010). Preschool and Childcare Director. Retrieved November 12, 2013, from O*NET Online: http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/11-9031.00
As a teacher in early childhood development, I believe that the teacher skills and personality influence how children understand, observe and react to the classroom environment and the world around them. Even though part of teacher responsibilities are academic, daily interactions that encourage social, emotional and physical development are important. One of a quality effective early childhood educators’ characteristic is that they should have patience.
Day-care is a place where children ranging from as little as one month, to any other age, are taken care of during the day. This could be due to the parents being too busy to take care of them during the same time, either due to work, school, or other time consuming obligations. Day-care therefore provides alternative care for little children, when their parents are away. This is widely criticized by a large number of people who believe that children should not be left under the care of strangers.
Because of my early interest in children, I developed a strong desire to teach; consequently, I sought out jobs that allowed me varied experiences with children. My first experience was baby-sitting. Here I quickly learned that children must be told precisely what to do. For example, "Go wash your hands with soap and dry them right now." Or, "You must take your shoes off and then you may get into the bathtub." From the many baby-sitting jobs I had, I soon discovered that if I did not have a plan the day would be total chaos. As early as thirteen I became familiar with the need for structure and creativity when dealing with younger children and found myself loving every minute of it.
As an early childhood educator my job is not to simple play with children. I must plan, provide and supervise all while “playing” with my students. The classroom serves as the physical environment for the children for most of their waking hours. These classrooms need to be attractive and function effectively. Concerns for any early childhood educator should always include space, equipment and materials used, outdoor space and the daily schedule to ensure that all students are provided ample opportunities to learn and grow within a safe and secure environment.
The modern early childhood curriculum refers to the experiences gathered throughout a child’s infancy and beyond. It incorporates everyday interactions with family members within a wide spectrum of environments. Such interactions can be spontaneous or structured however, it is important that they are established within a supportive, safe and nurturing setting in order for the child to flourish in terms of their mental and physical ability ( O’Hagen,and Smith (1998). We refer to such a curriculum as Child centered as equal emphasis must be made on the child’s learning through out infancy as it is within a formal education setting.
Early childhood education plays a key role in a child’s academic development because he or she learns soft skills, job skills, and develop positive traits. Preschool is not like kindergarten, but instead a stepping-stone that prepares young students for the years of schooling they will have later in life. As more schools began to open families wanted to be able to verify that programs would benefit and protect their children. In response, the National Association for the Education of Young Children was made to help families find the best care for their children, by providing the early childhood educators with training and ensuring the quality of children’s daily experiences. (“NAEYC”5).
This experience as a whole provided me with the opportunity to show my professional quality as an educator, a cooperative team member, and a lifelong learner. A few things that I continuously had to reflect on throughout this experience was my self-competence, my performance as well as the children’s, and of course my professional demeanor which directly impacted the effectiveness of my planning, teaching and...