Observing Communications

I was visiting a family of a friend and there were two males and a little boy in the kitchen, the little boy was watching the males talking and laughing and I think he wanted to join in the conversation.  The adults did not pay him any attention, so he got closer to where they were standing.  The little boy took the stance of one of the men, and just watched for another minute or so.  These men were not validating this child’s present at all (Kovach & Da Ros-Vaseles, 2011).  The little boy started calling out one of the men by his name and they still didn’t pay him any attention.  After several minutes of trying to get the adults attention he started calling their names out loudly in hopes that they would pay him some attention.  Neither man turned to him, when he got really loud they asked him to stop yelling.  This was funny to me, all they had to do was turn to him and answer him by his name, ask him what he needed, and take care of his needs. It was important to this child that he be acknowledge and recognized as a male person.  The ladies were mostly in another room.  I don’t know if there were ladies in the room if he would have turned to them, or he just wanted to be a part of the male bonding.  This was a chance for the little boy to build on his social skills and his emotional skills, he responded with the emotional skills of a child (Pierce & Johnson, 2010) and they in turned asked why he was yelling.  I told them he was waiting for you to acknowledge him and to be included in their conservation, and that if they had paid attention to him when he first called their names he would not have reverted to yelling and on the verge of crying. His acceptance into the group would have helped the situation also, as Lisa Kollick talked about in “Communicating with Young Children” from our media segment. I hope that as a result of our conversation that in the future they will pay closer attention to the children around them and see that they could hurt a child’s self-worth. This child did not seem to be affected by this interaction, he just moved on after he got what he wanted.  It could have hurt him if he were to encounter this type of response often.

      I try to make sure that I am giving children that talk to me my full attention and that we have an authentic conversation (Rainer & Durden, 2010) when they talk to me.  I work on getting on their level and will do more to encourage them to give more and question more.  I want to show that I am genuinely interested in what they have to say, and challenge them to reach for more and get more out of the interactions that they have with me (Stephenson, 2009).  From this interaction I didn’t learn more about me, but from a conversation that I had with my daughter I was reminded that I need to listen better.

References:

"Communicating with Young Children"

Kovach, B., & Da Ros-Voseles, D. (2011). Communicating with babies. YC: Young Children, 66(2), 48-50.

Pierce, J., & Johnson, C. (2010). Problem solving with young children using persona dolls. YC: Young Children, 65(6), 106-108.

Rainer Dangei, J., & Durden, T. R. (2010). The nature of teacher talk during small group activities. YC: Young Children, 65(1), 74-81.

Stephenson, A. (2009). Conversations with a 2-year-old. YC: Young Children, 64(2), 90-95.

Affirming Environments

Welcome to my center, as you walk in the door you will be greeted by photos of the staff and a photo of me.  I want the people that walk through the doors to know who will be greeting them and working with them. It is also a way for us all to feel connected to each other. I like the transition space that was talked about in Adriana’s tour, so in each of the rooms that I would have there would be a space that I would call the collective space.  A spot where there would be a comfortable place to sit with books and smooth jazz playing.  I would start the year out with selections of music that are my favorite and the staff’s favorite and invite our children to share their favorites that it would reflect all of us.  Towards the back of the room I would have a dramatic play area that would have games and clothes that look like the things that we wear to work and we would add on as we talked about the different jobs that our love one’s wear and the clothes that are seen in our community. Within the dramatic play section we will have dolls that are male and female and will be diverse (Derman-Sparks & Olsen Edwards, 2010). The art section will have different mediums of materials. There would be all kinds of colors and a color wheel so that we can talk about combining colors and making new colors.  There would be a block section along a wall that will also have manipulatives, and an international section that would have flags and different pictures and info cards on different nations with maps and a globe, and stories of the food of those nations; and beside that would be the computer section. I think it is important that we know our world and if we are going to have people from all over the world than we need to know where they come from.  Next to that space would be a science space and then the door to the playground, so we can easily reach nature. On the other side of the door a cubby space. We would have a space where the children could place pictures of their family and the things that their family likes to do.

Mu ideal would be to start with a who we are, as in the starting with Who Is, by Julie Bisson, then we could build on a who we are and we get to know each other. We will share we are and if there are people that are not represented within our group we will bring in photos.  The books would be alongside of the collection space.  Everything that we will have in our center will be anti-bias and will reflect that that is who we are.

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. Baltimore, MD: Author