Thank you...

Thank you to all of you who have helped me along the way with my research. I am proud to say that my research paper is done and submitted and I feel great. I am confident in my research and hope that my grade will portray that. To the FEW that responded to my blogs, thank you. You played a role in my research as well. I wish you all the best of luck while you put the final touches on you research paper. I am sure it will be excellent. I also wish you all the best of lick while you finish up the few courses left at Kendall College.

Thank you, good luck, and I will talk to you soon!!

This Week in Child Care...

This week, I walked away with quite a few new insights. I have learned that a lot of my coworkers are in it for the paycheck. They do not seem to care about advocacy and standing up for children's rights. They are there strictly for the paycheck and that seems to be all. I have also learned that there are a few people who are in this for the love of children. My director, whom I paid close attention to this week, is advocating for a lot of things. She is a huge advocate for government funding. We have been going through budget cuts, so a lot of what we are used to having and using isn't there any more. The children are not suffering, but they lose out on those special experiences. She just cannot seem to understand why we keep losing our government funding. You would think that since these children are our future that they would care. My director also advocates for child trafficking and child abuse as well as many more issues that pertain to child care. With all of this on her plate, she still goes to school because she feels that you are never done learning. She is a woman who does it all. She is my inspiration to do more and not give in to stress.

After talking with a few parents, I have learned that a lot of parents are not necessarily called an advocate, but a lot of them are against T.V. There aren't a lot of children who watch television. So, when I read stories about Spongebob Squarepants, I never understood why they had a hard time with it.  I now know that they do not know who he is. The most they do is watch movies and that usually happens on weekends. Even the educational programming is not viewed at home. They know that maybe one day their child(ren) will watch T.V., but for now they will stick to movies which are closely monitored and whose rating is taken into consideration before viewing.

After the last two weeks, I have realized that maybe television is not a good choice for children. Even if it is educational, what good are they getting out of it? Children who watch T.V. regularly are more apt to rely on it later in life. As a way to unwind, that is where they would run to. They learn bad habits, such as sitting on the couch and snacking, by watching T.V. There are much more developmentally appropriate things children can be doing, such as exploring the outdoors or reading. What do you think?

Observation and Interaction with Director and Colleagues

During the past couple weeks, I observed and interacted with the director of the child care facility. I learned quite a few things from her that I will use in my research paper and will take with me when I graduate. I learned that her biggest issue with the literacy development of young children with learning disabilities is that they are not getting enough support. Most parents are not aware that their child has a learning disability until they are in elementary school. Therefore, their literacy development is or may be delayed. She also feels that schools and/or child care facilities are not receiving the appropriate amount of financial support in order to provide the necessary materials that promote literacy development. At this child care facility, they go through Scholastic and rely on the families to order books, so they can qualify for free books. Unfortunately, a certain number has to be ordered before they can qualify for a free book. She is a firm believer in repairing books. When a book is ripped, she tapes it. She hates throwing books away, even is it is ruined beyond belief. She also makes a lot of homemade books. She has made books about, feelings, food, pets, family, and anything else you can think of.

I also talked with one of my colleagues. She believes that parents are not doing all that they can do to support literacy development. Parents are so busy with work and daily household chores, that there isn't enough time to sit down and read a book their child. She believes in providing children with journals. Even if they do not known the mechanics of writing, they can get the feel of writing with a pencil on paper. Sometimes all a child needs is time to his or herself writing or doodling.

Observations and Interactions of Colleague

Today, I observed a colleague of mine who I have been working with for about six months. I noticed that she does not do a lot of reading with the children nor does she provide a print rich environment. These two things are key factors in literacy development. Her main focus, I learned, was projects and play. She believes that children should be allowed free play as often as they want. The only time they are not playing is when they are doing art which she focuses on the product rather than the process. This means there is a lot of unnecessary chaos at all times.When I approached her about her advocacy and what she advocates for, she said "I have no idea what you mean." I then explained to her what it meant to be an advocate and she then replied, "I have children of my own, there is no time to be an advocate for something." I was respectful and shrugged it off, but how can you work in the child care field without being passionate about something and making a difference? It amazes me how little we know about someone until we sit down and talk with them. When I leave work everyday, I take work home with me. Sometimes it is unfinished lesson plans and other times it may be unfinished projects, but she refuses to take any work with her because she has children. I may be single with no children of my own, but I still have a life.

At the end of this observation, I learned that when giving her control of the classroom as I have for the last tow weeks on account of this assignment, the whole room falls apart. Children need structure and they need to know that someone is in their corner for them and I do not believe it is my colleague. There has to be some sort of desire or passion to make a change and be an advocate and she does not have that.

Interviews...Again

Sorry for any confusion, but my original blog was deleted. So for any of you who posted on my blog, I did not see it. Any way...I interviewed the director of the child care facility of which I am employed. I learned that she has been in this field for over thirty years. I could not believe that. I am really interested in early literacy development and asked several questions regarding this issue. I learned that she believes rhyme, rhythm, and repetition are a must. Finger plays are great as it keeps their mouths and hands busy. She does not see this being done enough which has disappointed her. Another issue that she brought up is parent involvement. Though parents are busy, they still need to take the time to read and write with their children.

I am also considering childhood obesity as a topic for my paper. For this area, I interviewed my aunt who is also a nurse. She says she sees more kids with asthma related problems and diabetes problems than anything else. Yes, all types of children can have asthma, but the ones she sees are the ones who have trouble running because of their obesity. She has also seen a lot of children who have been diagnosed with juvenile diabetes because of childhood obesity. Obesity strikes a lot of people, but why children?