Learner Amara
LearnerForum Replies Created
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My biggest worry about keeping children healthy and safe is the factors outside of my control, I trust myself to provide the best care I can and mistakes will be made along the way but my biggest concern is the increasing access that children are having with non developmentally appropriate subjects. With greater access to the internet and at younger ages children are being desensitized and at being put at risk, in addition with school shootings children now have to practice lock down drills from a young age as well as risks that have always been present in the past and now. I worry about the fact that parents and providers can do everything right and children are still at risk for so many things outside of our control. I am also worried that I might not recognize the signs of abuse in a child and therefor not provide the intervention needed. My biggest priority is giving children an environment the is conducive to learning and developing safely and without trauma or excessive stress.
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Keeping the lines of communication open, approaching the partnership from a stance of you both want what’s best for the child–>problem solving together as a team to create solutions, and finally keeping family’s culture and communication style in mind and being respectful even during disagreements
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three things I would want most from my child’s provider
1. providing a calm and supporting environment that got to know my child as an individual
2. Having a physically and emotionally safe classroom environment and providers that had each child’s well being and best interests at heart.
3. Open communication of how my child is doing and any concerns and achievements, transparent about any issues or accidents either with other children, caretaker, or environment.(accidents happen and other children can be unpredictable but I would expect the provider to be honest and not try to hide anything)
three fears I might have
1. my child being neglected/abused/exposed to excess and ongoing stress in any way
2. my child not being accepted or being bullied by other children or provider
3. my provider lying about or simply not noticing any issues or potential problems or being unwilling to collaborate with me on my child’s development.
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A good way to get children engaged in meaningful learning is providing opportunities to learn in different ways because children have different learning styles. For example if they are learning about cooking having a play kitchen that they can be creative in, then reading a few books on cooking in a variety of cultures as a group, and last having a group activity of preparing a simple and safe snack that each child can participate in(ex: children take turns putting each ingredient in and stirring). It’s also good especially with younger children to have child lead learning, if students seem interested in different trucks tractors passing by outside create lessons about that.
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Create a simple schedule that children can easily follow, have structure but don’t try to fit a ton of activities in especially for younger children. Also scheduling around set times such as arrival, drop off, meals, and naps can help create structure. Having a more structured activity followed by free time can also be helpful to keep children engaged and prevent meltdowns.
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A space where the children feel safe and comfortable, has a variety of activities but isn’t too overwhelming, supports children at different stages in development, has resources and support for special needs children, has a quiet place for children to relax is they get overwhelmed(our center has an area with soft stuffed animals, pillows, and a variety of books to chose from.
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Be aware that this may result in different reactions from different caregivers, go into it with a prepared script, provide specific examples and documentation, be prepared to answer any questions brought up and approach it in terms of shared interest in the child’s well being.
