Observing Communication

Yesterday, the weather man issued a winter weather advisory for our area. And as I looked in the cabinets to see what we needed, I made a list and ventured out to the grocery store to get some items.  A few minutes into my shopping I observed a family of five. They included a mom, dad, two sons and a daughter. One of the sons was sitting in the cart the other was walking next to the daughter. Mom and Dad were talking to each other about what kind of meat they should get. The children were busy looking at what was being put in the shopping cart. The daughter, who appeared to be the oldest, interrupted her parents to ask if she could get a bag of cookies. At first, they ignored her request; I’m not sure if the parents were deliberately ignoring the daughter’s request, or if they were just so involved in their own conversation that they really didn’t hear her. She persisted and persisted in a louder voice. Eventually, mom turned around and tells her to “shut up. “The son that was walking looked at his dad and is asking for ice cream. The dad reminds the son that it is supposed to rain and sleet and that the lights could go out, and that means that things in the fridge and freezer will go bad, maybe they could decide on a snack that can be kept in the pantry. The son immediately made his request for a bag of candy. Dad took him by the hand and they walked down the candy aisle. The daughter seeing this asked why he got to get candy and she couldn’t get a bag of cookies.

Watching these two parents and children, I noticed the daughter’s request went unnoticed, maybe because she persisted, where as her brother, look and asked. I also noticed that the mother was abrupt with responding to the daughter, she could have responded in a softer tone of voice and maybe offered to help the daughter pick a specific type of cookies. The father response did not surprise me; dads are usually easier going when it comes to their kids. And not to talk stereotypical, but mom probably deals with the kids and grocery shopping more than the dad and therefore just reacted (although I didn’t care for her choice of words) out of the situation. Crowded store, people with children, probably just getting off work, and picking the kids up from after school care programs.

Children need to feel respected, and they need to feel grounded in themselves and accepted for who they are, and heard. Children communicate, really, all different ways and use their bodies so much that if you're sensitive, you can really pick up cues about how to communicate (Laureate Education, Inc. Producer. 2011). The conversation I observed between these parents and their children was different from the way I would communicate with children. First I would never tell a child to “shut up.” I think that’s such a strong word with negative undertone. I would have been communicating with all of the children   throughout the shopping trip. I learned that there is no reason to raise your voice when talking to a child, especially when you are not being attentive to that child. Children are only persistent when their requests are ignored.  The lesson I learned regarding communicating with children is listen more than talk. We can learn so much more from listening than talking. As the old saying goes, we were born with two ears and one mouth, therefore we should listen twice as much as we speak.

Reference:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer).

 “Communicating with Young Children”

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Creating Affirming Environments

DILLY’S HOME DAYCARE

My Family Child Care Home would reflect the various diversity in the children and their families as well as other cultures that the children may not be aware of, but will no doubt encounter in other public places such as grocery stores, doctor’s office and playgrounds/parks. Children love to see their names and pictures .Therefore upon entering my day care you will see their personal cubby spaces marked with their names and pictures of themselves .This will allow them to know where to place their personal belonging and how to respect other children personal space. Some will be able to read their names; others will use the pictures as a way of identifying their cubby. Above the cubby space will be a sign in book and labels, which is for all visitors to sign in and wear a name tag the next thing you will see is my Parent Bulletin Board. This will be bordered with the children’s art work and includes the schedule, menu, current information about up and coming events that parents/families may want to participate in. My picture and credentials will be posted as well as my CPR/First Aid card, training and workshops certificates. As an early childhood professional I know that children n(and parents )may have separation anxieties ,According to the media segment they may cry, as  Adriana  mentioned(Laureate Education, Inc. 2010), I will allow the parents time with their child  before leaving. I will in no way allow them to “sneak out” realizing this will cause more harm than good. Adriana and Judith both agree that Family Child care home should not be done alone, because we are a community (Laureate Education, Inc. 2010), I will then have my room arranged in the following matter.  My Dramatic Learning Center will have Professional Uniforms to reflect various professions, from traditional to nontraditional. Scrubs will be provided for medical profession, gowns, tuxedos and dress shoes will allow children to dress up for formal occasions. Accessories will also be available Multicultural dolls; dolls with disabilities will be in this center, clothes for the dolls. House Keeping will consist of a refrigerator, microwave, along with a table setting for four ,a high chair ,sink ,cabinets and various types of dishes and empty food containers  provided by the families (for rotation),realizing that all children do not eat the same types of food. It is always fascinating to see what comes in, and listen to the children talk to each other about the types of food they are preparing. My Library Center will have throw pillows and bean bag chairs for comfort. It will also have children’s magazines and various multicultural books .Again Parent donation of magazines and out books is encourage to keep this center interesting and diverse. Because according to our text, “Books are one of the riches resources for helping children meet the anti-bias education goals” (Derman- Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p46). The Manipulative Center consists of a variety of puzzles, Legos, Lincoln logs, board games, lacing cards and various flash cards. Art Center will have multicultural paints, crayons, construction paper, various items for collages such as buttons, cotton balls, beads and yarns paper towel/toilet paper dowels, markers, color pencils glue/paste, magazines to select pictures for collage.  Realizing that children sometimes like to be alone, there is a quiet area within sight which has a throw pillow and some books, where children can relax. Listening Center has headphones, audio read along books in various languages as well as braille .Sand and water play is located outside on the patio along with Music and Movement Center.

Children art work can be seen throughout the center at their eye level with their first name age and date on each picture, as these are rotated Parents take them home and have them for precious keepsakes, realizing the uniqueness in each artwork. As children leave they are required to clean up where they were playing and parents are aware of this upon registering and realize this can be time consuming for the child. I use this time to let the parents know about their child’s day always including something positive in the discussion.

References:
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” (Transcript)