Observing Communication

In a store yesterday, I was able to observe adults and children communicating. While there were different adults and different aged children, I focused on a mother and her infant who was perhaps 8 months old. As they were walking down the aisles, the mother was talking to her child about the different things they were seeing and focusing on the things being put in the cart. She took the time to talk about each item, including the name and what it is used for. Later on in the store, I was near this pair again but this time the child was crying. The mother was asking questions of the child to try to find out what was upsetting the child. The mother stayed calm when I think many mothers may get flustered while having a crying baby in a public place. 

            I really believe that this mother was effectively communicating with her child. This mother was talking to the baby about what was happening, which is showing babies how to communicate and gives them self-worth (Kovach & Da Ros-Voseles, 2011). I do believe that this child felt valued as the mother was including him in the conversation and the shopping and not ignoring him to move quicker throughout the store. 

            In my personal life, I feel that I communicate well with my children but there is always room for improvement. I could improve my talking about babies to others in front of the baby and will take the time to work on that (Kovach & Da Ros-Voseles, 2011).In working with young children in a professional capacity, I can work on asking more questions instead of commanding children as the language I choose may be impacting the way that a child is thinking (Dangel & Durden, 2010). 

References

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

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

Creating Affirming Environments

If I were to have a family child care home, I would spend a lot of time planning the materials that I would need, activities for children and families, and how I planned to create a respectful environment. Making this an anti-bias family child care home means that the home must represent the children that are in the home as well as children and families in other cultures to help children become aware of more than what they normally see each day and are familiar with. If I had a larger home child care where I needed staff, I would also take the time to make sure that the staff is open to anti-bias education and make sure that we all have the appropriate training. 

            Stocking the home with books, toys, posters, music, and videos that incorporate different cultures and identities will be essential to children learning and accepting diversity. Bj Richards describes how her family child care home uses many different strategies in anti-bias education including holiday activities with families, discussing with children about attributes of people, and including others (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010, p. 52-54). Using strategies like this in my own family child care home will definitely help children become more comfortable with diversity as well. 

            It is important that I spend time with families before a child comes into my home for care to learn about the child as well as the family. It is important to learn what the family enjoys and what they would like their child to learn while with me. It is also important to learn about their culture to make sure that I am respectful of their wants and beliefs. Adriana Castillo really takes the time in her family child care home to welcome parents when arriving each morning by providing the daily schedule as well as other resources for them and she also invites families to join the children in activities which really helps to create a partnership with families (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011). 

References

Derman-Sparks, L., & Edwards, J. O. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Welcome to an anti-bias learning community.Baltimore, MD: Author.