[Caitlyn]

I work in an outdoor preschool and we are well trained on deescalation but one of the thing I am vigilant about and fear for is someone coming into the classroom and scaring any of the children but I think that there are so many benefits to being in a community nature setting and developing relationships within the people who share space in the community that I am more than happy to work with those thoughts and continue to educate and train myself to mitigate or be ready for that circumstance.

[Caitlyn]

Developing trust from the beginning by showing interest in the family and who is involved in the child’s life and showing that you are paying attention and care about the child’s best interests, development and how you can support both the child and the goals of the family.

[Caitlyn]

1. A safe and attentive place for them to express and explore their feelings

2. A place that supports their individual interests and challenges them

3. A place to explore and build relationships with peers and teachers and guidance within social dynamics and boundaries.

[Caitlyn]

I think that understanding a child as an individual or supporting activities or knowledge that your specific class or groups within the class show interest in. Maybe this could be developing a field guide with child drawings and a scavenger hunt in a nature place that your class has access to or if they show an interest in space or rockets maybe designing an activity where children get to interact with a variety of materials (maybe repurposed?) to create their own.

[Caitlyn]

A safe, warm, welcoming environment that is centered around the needs and development of the children. Opportunities to be challenged, have options, take space, be connected and areas of exploration.

[Caitlyn]

It helps them to design structures and curriculum that support or scaffold individual children’s care needs to build towards milestones. By taking time set aside for observation, teachers are able to be present and focused and by documenting teachers have a record of if the child is meeting a milestone consistently or maybe working towards it or maybe struggling. This becomes data that can inform the teachers approach to care for the child.

[Caitlyn]

WAC 110-300-0160 and 110-300-0030 discuss diversity and collaboration with families. The big messages from these WACs are that antibias should be built into the classroom in the form of materials, literature, curriculum, and modeled and moderated by the staff so that inclusion is centered, diversity is encouraged, and stereotypes are not reenforced.

[Caitlyn]

I learned how detailed and considered the information is in these standards. I wasn’t surprised by any of them. I think that knowing them is really important now I understand the reasoning behind some of the practices of the classrooms I assist in and can also use them as a reference for going forward but believe the guidelines I have been given to opporate in in the classrooms I work in fully support and comply with the WACs.