Observing Communication

I had the opportunity to observe children interacting with adults at a youth basketball game. This was very intertesting to see due to the fact it was my son's game. It is very interesting to see the coach of each team speak and guide the children’s actions during the game. Each team had their own signals and plays that helped them to make each basket. One coach yelled at the players during each play, however the other coach did little to no yelling however he fussed at the children when they missed each basket during the teams timeouts.

As well as the coaches the players had interesting ways of interacting with the coach. Some players ignored the coaches wishes and majority of the players followed the coach’s instructions. I learned that the game of basketball is very competitive and requires a lot of practice. One major strategy is that it takes patience and great communication skills to encourage the players to win the game even if they are losing the game. This is an important thing to remember when working with young children.

I do feel that the coach that was constantly could have done less yelling and talked to
the children to make their communication method more pleasant. Using positive methods of communication and strategies does work to build positive communication procedures.

Creating Affirming Environments

The assignment that we were assigned to complete was to start and operational Family Child Care Center. I have honestly never worked in any other type of program besides child care programs. I knew that I would have to do some research to find out the types of materials and curriculum that were used in a family child care program.

After watching the video about Adriana' Castillo’s family child care program, I learned a lot about her center and the methods that she works with the families in her program. I thought that she did a good job of setting up the areas and having purpose behind the reasons that each area was set in a certain place in the home. One major quality that I really like about her program is that she interacts and works with the families to ensure that they feel involved in the program.

In my family child care program I would have a program that has 12 children at the max. I would have I would only have about four children that were preschoolers and the remaining children would be infants and toddlers. I feel that preschool children need to be a program that can focus on their individual needs and I want to ensure that I am doing such. I would have two other adults that work with me in the program. I would have a one to four ratio. At times I would have the children working in the areas together when they arrive in the program. However, I would have individual areas for each age group due to the fact that children from different ages play on different aggressive levels.

The areas that I would have in my center are: house area, block area, library area, sand and water area, science area, art area, computer area and I would also have a cozy area and a quiet area. The main part of the cozy area is to have a place for children to go to when they are upset and or need redirection. This small area would have pillows books and stuff soft animals that children can lay on or cuddle up with. I will also have a angry jar to give children an opportunity to release and let go of their anger and seal it up in the jar. Besides the cozy area I would have a quiet area where children can go and reflect about things that affect them.

I would also have family photos on the wall that showed each child's culture and family structure. I feel that having these photos will make it easier for children to transition into the program and nap time daily. I also would have story time daily before each nap time. I would have a family bring in a book or record their voice reading the book and we will play the tape during the nap time story. I feel that each parent really feel involved when they are doing these nap time stories. I really like the way Adriana' Castillo had a area where parents brought in things or items that were close to their family. That definitely pull the families in and made them feel like a part of the program.

As well as areas, I would have a parent board that gives parents information about what is going on in our program. This board would list the menus, lesson plans, schedules and our program calendar about the list of days we will have activities going on in the center. I would also send home daily reports that showed how the child's day was. I would also have a lending library for the families in my program. This would give me an opportunity to lend books to children while at home. I would have a system that would allow parents to check out books daily and read them at home to their children before bed or during the day. This is so important for me because I want to encourage families to read to their children in hopes of encouraging children to form a love for reading.




Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). Welcome to an Anti-Bias Learning Community (2012) [DVD] Strategies for Working with Diverse Children. Baltimore, MD: Author.

WHAT DIVERSITY MEANS TO ME...

What diversity means to me….
I see the children’s colorful faces,
looking different in every way,
I wonder where they came from
and where are they going every day.
Each person has a different destiny and
Journey they must decide
Each person must go to school and
Learn to read, subtract add and multiply.
After learning your alphabet and numbers
You will learn how to socialize
You will meet new friends along the way,
And learn where they were born and reside.
While learning a person’s background you will
Learn more about their culture and their way of life.
Learn about their customs and the hardships and shrifts.
Last of all diversity deals with being different and unique,
Being confident in all you do and knowing what you think is right.
Knowing each person has a destiny and a legacy that must live on
Starts right in the hands of diversity and a person’s right to be different and unique
while staying where they belong.

"We Don't Say Those Words in Class!"

Being an educator is a great way to understand how children work. I also get the opportunity to guide children’s behavior and learning. Working in the classroom as a three year old teacher gives you multiple opportunity to hear the funny things that children say. At times we have to change what children say and what they think. I often use literature and reading materials to show children about the proper things to do and say at all times.

For example, in our three year old classroom we had a child that wore glasses to school every day. Many children saw the glasses and they understood that children and adults use the glasses to see better. However, after a doctor appointment the children went to the child came to school with a patch over her left eye. When the child came into the classroom with her parent every child stopped and stared at the child. One child went up to the child and the parent and said “Did Madison go to the doctor to have her eye taken out. She looks like a one eye-pirate.” I felt awful when the child called the other child this horrible name. After the child made this comment, I knew that I had to change the conversation immediately. I immediately gave the child and the classroom the eye that let him know to move away immediately.

Working in this classroom with children that needed to understand the importance of not teasing or calling other children names is so important. I know that it is so important to explain to children that name calling is so hurtful. I want to teach children that words hurt.

Gender, Gender Identity, and Sexual Orientation

Working in the field of education has taught me a lot about families and working with other cultures. I know that it is important to work with others and accept them for how they are. I know that being a teacher, I have seen many different types of family structures.

To answer the questions listed above I have experienced families that feel that they do not want their children to interact with families from different cultures and family structure. I had a family that had two mothers that raised a son, as well as I had a family with two Caucasian fathers and they raised a African American baby boy. I felt that both instances were hard for the other families to adapt to. I feel that I made the situation easy just by having literature and information on ways to bring in families from different cultures in to the environment. I had to get permission from the families to display and read materials that focused on same-sex partner families. I must say that we did lose some families due to the fact that they were uncomfortable with the situation.

I know that some of the families were uncomfortable about the issue and they used negative and homophobic terms to ease the pain. I did have to speak to many of the families to assure them that were using appropriate methods to teach children. I did assure then that we only respect different cultures not bring other children into these beliefs.

After I talked to the families about my plan, most of the other families did trust that I would not harm or force their child to do anything that is not aligned with their family culture.

Final Blog Post

I would like to say thank you to all of the classmates that have shared thier wisdom and oponions about the proper ways to become a better communicator. I have learned the importance of understanding that communication comes in many forms and we have to be aware that body language can speak for itself. I will continue to be positive and speak with parents in a pofessional and open manner. I would often refer to the methods of communicating if problems arise.

To everyone: I wish you much success in your future endevors. !!!

Erica Watson

Non-Verbal Cues- Week 2 Assignment

The television show that I decided to watch was House. I normally do not watch this show because it has definitely made a dramatic change in the last few years. One additional thing is that the characters have change as well as their job titles. It was refreshing to watch the show without the sound however I did get lost due to the fact that I couldn’t hear anything. The beginning of the show started with a serious yet fast pace scene that resulted in a child falling out during a soccer game. While watching the show without sound. I noticed that the characters seem to fight and argue a lot while saving people’s lives. This was very obvious even without sound. I also felt that the lead character in the show really had feelings for his co-worker due to the fact that he walked differently and acted differently around her.

After about 30 minutes I decided to turn on the sound and begin to watch the show with sound. I noticed that the people were discussing the problems and issues of the clients. I feel that the characters had a funny way of showing their appreciation and love for the other people on the show. I feel that the nonverbal ways that the characters acted gave a sense of unity and friendship.

I feel that this activity gave me insight into the ways that people communicate without using verbal cues. I think that many people need to try this activity in any form. It will give people an insight into the ways that people act without speaking.