OBSERVING COMMUNICATION

MY OBSERVATION:

My observation took place in a preschool classroom with four year-olds.  After an extended time of free choice play the teacher announced that it was time to clean-up.  She turned on a song that seemed to trigger, for most, a time of transition.  Many children stopped what they were doing and began to put the toys, games, and materials on their places on the shelves.  There was one little boy that continued to cut a piece of paper at the table.  The teacher told him twice "it is time to finish and put away the scissors."  This child did not respond and continued to cut.  After encouraging other children to clean up the teacher returned to the boy at the table and this time bent down so that she was eye level with him.  She put her hand on his so he would stop cutting and said, "I know you are working very hard to cut this paper, but we are getting the room ready so that we can go outside."  The little boy shook his head and said "no."  The teacher said, "If you would like to finish what you are doing you can put the paper in your cubby and finish it this afternoon, would you like to do that?"  The little boy smiled and nodded and stood up from the table immediately and put the paper in his cubby and put the scissors away.

REFLECTION

I was so impressed by this interaction because the teacher was able to get what she wanted and still value the needs and wants of the child.  Children do not understand the schedules that the adults in their lives make.  They become really comfortable with routines, but schedules are different.  A schedule has the influence of time restrictions.  Children are not usually opposed to routines, but often the adult time schedule does not coincide with a child's schedule.  One of our goals as early childhood educators is to see children truly engage in activities that are self-motivated.  When we force a child to stop what they are doing because of a schedule it sends a message that we do not value what they are doing compared to what we have planned.  When this teacher gave the boy the option to continue his cutting activity at another time he received the message that what he was doing is valuable, and it allowed  him to be more open to move on with the schedule.  

In order to communicate with children in this way the teacher used a step back approach that allowed her to look at the situation from the child's perspective and respond in a way that both parties got what they needed (Stephenson, 2009).  It is so important to effective communication for adults to remember that children are whole people with their own thoughts and ideas about what and how they want to do things.  It is harder to make a child understand our perspective as adults when we can not understand their perspective.  When the boy in the observation felt he was being listened to then he was immediately more willing to listen to what the teacher needed.

Key Points in Effective Communication Strategies with Young Children (Laureate Education Inc., 2011):

• Watch children's play
• Ask open-ended questions
• Go slow
• Be receptive to their oral and body language
• Be respectful of their ideas (do not laugh unless they are laughing)

I found this video does an excellent job of summarizing the important key elements of effective communicating with young children.

References

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Communicating with young children. Baltimore, MD: Author

Stephenson, A. (2009). Conversations with a 2-year-old. YC: Young Children, 64(2), 90-95. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database. http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=37131016&site=ehost-live&scope=site

CREATING AFFIRMING ENVIRONMENTS

Family Child Care Home

I think the most important part of my new family child care home would be the entrance area.  It is important to have an area that is warm and welcoming for children and their families.  This is the first area that they see when they arrive so it needs to feel like a safe place that is inviting.  It is important for me to have a space (like a sofa) where families can sit with their children and and take their time saying goodbye, as well as visit with other families.  This makes adults feel less rushed and more involved in the school community.  In this area I would also provide a space for every child to keep their belongings so that they feel as though they belong here.  It is important that they feel as though they are a member of this community.  I would also provide a space for guardians to communicate individual needs or questions for the day as well as receive daily information from me (Laureate Education Inc., 2011).  

Different play areas and materials in the classroom would first need to represent the families and cultures of children attending.  It is difficult to say in detail how this would look "because the physical environment begins with who children are, each early childhood classroom will have its own unique look" (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010).  However, there are several key elements and materials that I feel would be included.

Dramatic play is a vital area for children to reflect on the realities of life and mimic what they see and hear while participating in pretend and make-believe worlds too.  I feel that many of the materials in this area should be real  items.  If possible include pretend food or empty food containers that represent the kinds of foods that the children eat at home.  Dress-up clothes should be open-ended such as scraps of material that is not gender specific and can be made into dresses, capes, scarves, veils, etc.  Having dress-ups be open ended helps to prevent tokenism where a piece of clothing represents an entire group of people or culture (ex. a kimono represents all people from Japan).  Dolls should represent the skin tones of the children.  I also like the idea of have a story box where children can create the dolls used as well as the furnishings of their choosing (Laureate Education Inc., 2011).

The library should be a warm and cozy place where children will want to curl up with a book.  Many books should represent the families, cultures, abilities, and economic groups in your service.  It is important to avoid books that misinform or misrepresent people.  Including books that perpetuate stereotypes about race, culture, class, abilities, and gender.  Class-made books are a great way to ensure that every child is represented.

There are some other ways to ensure a more anti-bias approach in the family child care home setting.  It is important to include music, rhymes, songs, stories, and poetry from diverse cultures and languages especially ones that represent the families in your service.  I would try to ensure that rugs, fabrics, posters, and art represent the families in my service as well.  Diversity puzzles can be purchased or they can be made with pictures taken of current families members performing different jobs, in local businesses, or with differing abilities.  Many of these ideas will also involve family participation which builds a partnership between home and school.  

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). Strategies for working with diverse children: Welcome to an anti-bias learning community. Baltimore, MD: Author