This is the area where I will be sharing all my contributions to our conversation boards from class. By having these conversation boards in class, we get the chance to have meaningful conversations, so I would also like to share my experiences here as well
Day 1
These are some photos from my first day at practicum. The educators have asked me not to take pictures of the children except of their hands. Because of this, many of my photos from that day are about the environment and a craft we did.
This first photo is the facility’s child guidance policy. I love that they posted this in an easy-to-read place. The children in this room are not given time-outs; rather, they are given time to self-regulate with an educator by doing a puzzle or reading a book. I loved their emphasis on the connection between the educator and child. This will reassure the child that they can trust the educator, and the child and educator have a chance to connect one-on-one. The black bars are the name of the center and the logo. In the last class, we were reminded not to share any personal information, so I felt that I should remove it.
This second photo is a craft we did. It was just me and an educator with three girls as everyone else napped. This was a great chance to connect with these girls. We made flowers out of Q-tips, and they turned out really cute. After the other kids came back from nap, the girls who did the craft with me asked if we could keep playing together., I feel like this was a really good start for connections and relationship building
My last photo I wanted to share was their schedule. It is in a spot where all the kids can see it, and it has photos as well to help the kids understand. Having a schedule like this is important, as the photos help the kids understand what they are doing next. As we’ve talked about in class, this can offer a sense of comfort to the children, as not knowing what to expect next can be stressful. All of the kids in this class seem so used to the loose structure of the day and don’t even use the schedule.
Day 2
These are some photos from my second day. On this day, we were short on children, so at the start of the day, all ages were in the same room. Due to this, some of these photos are from their infant room.
This first photo is a metal sensory wall in the infant room. These were objects I didn’t expect to see in a classroom. But once secured to the wall, they make a great noise and are fun to play with. In my opinion, this offers kids a different experience from playing with plastic toys.
This second photo is from the park. The whole daycare went to the park, most of the time I was in the sand playing with the kids, I got really dirty, but they loved it! This was a really great opportunity to connect with the kids through play. After playing at the park, a few of the girls seemed to be attached to me. At every moment, they were asking for my help or to play with them.
This last photo is of these really beautiful clouds that are made of fluff. I didn’t even notice them until a boy showed them to me. The clouds and the rainbow add a whimsical feel without being too distracting. I feel like this is also a way to bring the outdoors in, as we talked about last semester during our environment project. This is important as the outdoors can make children feel happy and calm. It’s also a way to connect to the BC Early Learning Framework (2019): “People build connection and reconnection to land, culture, community and place.” By bringing the outdoors in, this gives children a reminder of the outdoors, letting them connect to the land and, in the long run, the community and culture.
Day 3
Today one of the things that stood out to me in my classroom was the chickens in the yard. I have been hearing the kids talk all about there chicken friends, but I haven’t really seen them until today. When we were out playing in the yard with dirt and water the kids an the educator started looking for worms to feed the chickens. They used two sticks called grunting sticks to find the worms and it actually worked! They found five or six worms before taking them in to feed the chickens. The chicken’s names are pineapple and coffee beans. It really makes me happy seeing kids interact with animals and be excited around them, as I grew up on a farm. I know I learned some really important things about the land and environment through animals, and I hope maybe these kids can as well. To me, this also fits in perfectly with the BC Early Learning Framework’s principles (2019): “People build connection and reconnection to land, culture, community and place.” By introducing concepts involving the environment and animals, I hope it helps children connect with the land like I got to experience growing up, as I now really feel like I know how to appreciate and take care of the land and environment.
Day 4
The thing that I wanted to talk to the class about the most from this day was the certificates the teacher fills out on days when the children are on excellent behaviour. I loved this idea as it gives the children a boost in their self-esteem. The children got really excited as soon as they saw the papers, and immediately all asked for their own certificates. The educator agreed because they had all been really well-behaved today. Urie Bronfenbrenner believes: “Every child needs at least one adult who is irrationally crazy about him or her,” (Brendtro, 2006), and I really feel like these certificates are a great way to be sure that each child feels that an adult is “crazy about them.”
Day 5
Today, what stood out to me was that I wanted to talk to the class about imagination. This photo is of a dinosaur that a child made out of cardboard. To an adult eye, it just looks like a pile of cardboard, but to him, it’s his biggest and best creation yet! He made a whole story around the dino and brushing its teeth to “remove sugar bugs.” I love children’s imagination, so I was playing along with him. I asked if the dinosaur used toothpaste and he said, “Yeah, meat toothpaste paste.” Later, when I played along and pretended to brush my teeth with the big fake brush, he yelled, “No, it’s venomous, he can have it, but you can’t!” He ran over and even pulled it from my hands. I love children’s imagination, and this was such a great reminder that we should always play along to see where it goes!
Day 6
Something that stood out to me from day six that I’d like to share about is how interesting I think children’s art can be! Just by talking about one thing for just a moment, children can really hold on to everything you say. I had mentioned camping in my motorhome, then all of a sudden two different children made drawings of “motorhomes.” The biggest one was described to me as such: “It’s super big and has everything that your house has! It even has a ladder to the roof!” When I asked him about the clear bits, he said “it’s a part of the rooms, it makes them bigger!” I wonder if he knows that some motorhomes can get bigger with side extension pieces. The other motorhome was described as “small and broken, so you have to pull it.” I loved seeing the two completely different interpretations of the same thing! It once again reminds me of just how creative these children’s imaginations are! I wonder what else I could ask them to draw to see the differences. Children could see things differently for many reasons! Culture/background, home life, personal interests/passions, and so much more. I strongly believe that all children are unique, just like the BC Early Learning Framework says, and this is a great way to physically view their uniqueness.
Day 7
Today’s activity that stood out to me was our friendship fruit salad! The educators had asked parents to bring in pieces of fruit that the children could cut up and use in their fruit salad. Sadly, only one student brought in some fruit, so it definitely through off the educator for a moment. Thankfully, she came up with a plan quickly, as all the children were excited about this idea. Originally, we were supposed to do the salad with the morning snack, but instead, the educator decided to be flexible and come up with a plan. As ECEs, things won’t always go to plan; that’s why it’s important to be a problem solver like my educator was today. We ordered some fruit and quickly made a fruit salad for the children to eat. If we had more time, the educator said she would have had the children cut up some of the fruit. I loved this idea as it would have taught them many different things!
Day 8
These are two of the gifts my educator gave to me for completing my first practicum. I’ve chosen to highlight these two as they are the ones I can use for a long, long time. I mentioned to my educator that I have a hard time remembering songs, so thankfully, I have something to go along with them to remember forever. She gave me a fish, the fish goes with an introduction song that goes like “can (childs name) catch a fishie, oh yes i think (he/she) can, catch it (childs name) catch it, catch it if you can, you caught it like a fisher, so pass it to a friend, hurry (childs name) hurry, the song is at its end.” this song repeats over and over again until everyone is acknowledged. By having a song like this, it welcomes the group to the circle and lets everyone feel like a contributing member, building reciprocal relationships. She also gave me a pumpkin that goes with three different songs and activities, but I feel like I will get the most use out of the fish song!
