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.