Observing and Interacting

Observing and Interacting With Professionals, Children, and Families in an Early Childhood Setting

Name: Shanda Starks-Douglas

Date: January 26, 2012

Name of Program/Setting: Christopher House/Infant & Toddler classroom setting.  The Infant & Toddler classroom is set up into two parts.  One side is for the infants that are not mobile and the other side is for the children that are mobile.  The classroom has a quiet area, science area, art area, dramatic play area, block area and a water table area.  The classroom is well organized and very spacious.  The classroom also has artwork displayed around the room that the children has done.  The Christopher House is NAEYC Accredited and has just gone through QRS (Quality Rating Scale).  The classroom has three teachers; A Master Pre-k, two Assistant Teachers and 8 children. 

Who I spoke with:  During my observation and interaction I spoke with the Master Pre-k teacher in the classroom.  I talked to her about how she felt about Early Literacy.  The teacher explained to me that the Christopher House is very big on reading.  The teacher explained to me about how they encourage the parents to read at home to their child.  The teacher goal is to have the parent to read at home to their child for at least 30 minutes.  The classroom has a lending library for the parents to sign books out and take home.

What I learned about …my experience is that the teachers really implement literacy to the children.  The teachers have baskets of books in every area in the classroom to help the children to explore books and to be read too.  The teachers make sure that reading is also implemented in Creative Curriculum.  

Two insights, experiences, or quotes that I will share in my blog this week… One of the insights that I would like to share is that it is very important to start out reading to the child while in the mother stomach.  Another insight is that the teacher individualize with the children one on one if they are having a hard time reading.

Interview

Date: January17, 2012

Name: Shanda Starks-Douglas

Name of Person Interviewed: Shuniecia Brown

1.     I am thinking of focusing my research paper on the following area: Early Literacy.

-  What do you believe are some of the related topics?

- Some of the related topics of early literacy are policy and practice in preschool years, oral language, alphabetic code, print knowledge, speech pathology, reading & writing skills, literary analysis and language comprehension.

      - What are the current issues related to these topics?

- One of the issues are having children prepared for school, by demanding that parents and teachers are accountable for their role in the child’s education. Making sure the communities have the programs that fit their needs.

2. What other issues do you commonly encounter in your work or in discussions with colleagues?

- Some issues I encounter are parents not having the time or not putting aside the time to read with their child. Also some parents not having the ability/skill to read. Another issue would be language barriers, the parent not having books in their native language at home.

3. What advocacy efforts are currently under way in your area of interest?

- There are much research being done to make sure communities have the programs they need to assist parents and children. It’s being pushed more for parents/family members to read to children. More doctors are informing their patients about the need for them to read to their children in infancy. Schools and childcare centers are doing more activities and workshops on literacy. 

4. Which of these topics or issues are of most concern to you? Which do you believe are most in need of advocacy?

- I would say that oral knowledge is the most of concern. Oral knowledge is the time in which children learn to communicate with their parents and others. It is a natural and life long process that if developed successfully will be a great accomplishment for the child. Children learn and form the correct dialect from their environment and the people they are around.