Observing Communication

I chose to observe an art class for four and five year olds at a private art gallery.  I watched for approximately ten minutes focusing specifically on the interactions between a five year old and the assistant instructor.  The instructor delivered an interdiction and gave directions for making the art project.  Then one child needed some extra help getting started and the assistant came over to assist him.  The dialog was as follows:

Assistant, “Do you need some help?”

Child, “Yes, I don’t want to make a tree.”

Assistant, “Well, this is the assignment for today, but when you finish you could work on another project if you would like.”

Child, “I don’t really want to make a tree.”

Assistant, “How could I help you get started?”

Child instructs on what he would like to do instead of the tree, and the teacher helps child to realize how the tree and his plan could work together.

During the process I observed the child silently working, and the assistant consistently giving the child praise.  The praise was very general; “Good job.  That’s it.  I like that.”

The child finished the tree project, and looked at the assistant and said, “Did I do good?”

The aspect of effective communication that I thought stood out to be glaringly missing was, the lack of specific feedback.  Dangel and Durden (2010) stated the importance of specific feedback to, “let children know their teacher values their efforts and accomplishments” (p. 76).  However, the assistant did make a connection to the child’s life when she showed him how the tree assignment was similar to what he wanted to do (Dangei & Durden, 2010). 

                The communication interactions with the general feedback may have negatively impacted the child’s self-worth, but I also believe her attention to what he was interested in positively impacted his self-worth.  Overall, I believe the child had a positive feeling towards the project and the assistant, by the look on his face and his body language towards the assistant.

                I believe we can always improve in our communication with children.  I believe it is something that can always evolve and grow.  However, this has been a goal of mine over the past two years.  I have working on the simple parts of language such as self-talk to model language and vocabulary to specific feedback, to listening and following the lead of the child in conversations with children.  Each child is unique and learning their communication preferences is the key to successful communication.

 

References

Dangei & Durden, T. R. (2010). The nature of teacher talk during small group activities. YC: Young Children, 65(1), 74-81. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database.

Anti-bias Family Daycare Center

In my child care home I would have several areas to for children and families to explore.  Below I will outline the areas, the materials that would be in the areas, and why I would choose these things.

Entrance:

On the outside front porch of my house I would provide a similiar environment to Adrianna's.  I would have a dramatic play kitchen with pots, pans, and plates.  I would have an area with blocks with pictures of the children and families taped to some to allow children to interact with thier own characters.  I would have a writing area with child and family pictures with words to describe each.  I would provide various writing utensils and books that I have made depicting the children and thier families, community members, as well as some other appropriate pictures that depict other cultures (Derman-Sparks and Edwards, 2010).  I would also provide a basket with photo albums for each child with pictures of thier families, pets, and also pictures of them playing at school.  There would also be an area of cubbies with each child's name, pictures, and picture of their family.  This would be their area and would be where parents and children would hang cloths, store backpacks, and other materials from home.   I would also have my sign in and family information board by the entry way.  During inclement weather I would move this area into the entry of our home.  These two areas are homey and have enough room for easy movement, but aren't too big and overwhelming to scare children and families away.

Quiet Area

This area would be accessible at all times for children.  It would be an area with soft furniture, blankets, stuffed animals, family photo albums, and books for children to look at.  This area would be an area that would be welcome to all children and families and a place where children can be alone if they want to be, or where a parent or caretaker can come an have some one-on-one time with the child.

Dramatic Play Area

In this area I would have household items such as kitchen items and accessories, bedroom items such as beds, blankets, living room items such as couch and chairs, babies and dress up cloths.  Each of these items would need to be taken into consideration in relation to the cultures of the children and their families.  Babies would be of various ages, genders, and colors.  Dress up cloths would represent different genders, cultures, and occupations.  Even the kitchen items would need to represent the cultures of the children and those of other cultures.  This area is a great place to explore the cultures of our families and those that we may encounter in life.  I would discuss with families their decor and traditions when it comes to setting up their household to try to incorporate them into this area.

Group Area

In this area I would have carpet squares with children and their families on them.  This would give children the opportunity to take ownership and responsibility in where they sit, and bring their family into our group times.  This area would have a book of children in our class that we can use to see who is here and who is at home.  It would have music that is representative of home cultures, and wall hangings that also represent the cultures of our families. 

Sensory Area

This area would have different sensory activities that go along with what the children are interested in exploring.  Whether that be water, sand, seeds, playdough, etc.  I would ask families to share recipes and traiditions for this area to bring familiar items into the classroom as well as pieces of family culture. 

Puzzles and Games

This area would have a mix of puzzles and games that are both representative of the cultures of our families as well as traditional games that families play.  I would have puzzles made of the child's photos as well as puzzles that have pictures that represent other cultures and concepts making sure all are respectful and not tourist curriculum.  I would also include a match game of faces of children in the care home.  This would allow for discussion of similarities and differences as well as being interesting for the children whose faces are on the game pieces. 

I would also incorporate other areas in to the daycare home, but they would probably have to rotate as I don't think I could fit anymore into my house.  I would just ensure that families are a constant part of the care of their child and the set up of the center.  To be anti-bias and culturally sensitive I would have to partner with families to ensure each is being represented equally and correctly.

Reference

Derman-Sparks, L. & Edwards, J. (2010).  Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves.  NAEYC. Washington, DC.