In this week’s lesson we explored the importance to having a creative home care environment, that is not only supportive to the family unit, in relation to the learning environment, but also that is designed to assist the flourishing of a child’s mind. According to the text, the toys, materials, furniture, and books that are arranged within the classroom and home care environment, also has an influence on what the children are learning (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). In this regard, I believe that the entryway is very important to present a comforting and relaxing feeling for the families and their children that are enrolled within the home care program. This would mean that a calming color pattern should be used with creative glimpses of the types of things that will be explored within the classroom should be a part of the décor, so to pique the interest of the child’s curiosity. The media this week had an excellent example of a home care facility in which Mrs. Castillo made sure to include an entryway to her home that had a place for parents and children to sit down and take in the décor of the room, but also to spend a little time getting comfortable before separating for the day; this ensures that there is a smooth transition to the child entering into the classroom setting (Laureate Education, 2011).
The second room would then contain the exploratory room that contains pictures, books and cultural/family implementations. My hope is that this room will further pique the interest of the child and their family so that they will be able to enter the room and interact with different activities and images of positivity and cultural experiences. The text again stresses the importance of the rooms reflecting the daily lives and physical environment of the children and their families, so to build positive imagery (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010).
The next and last two rooms will be devoted to intense learning (which will contain a little section for a learning lab) and a room for eating and presentations. The learning space will be set up in a circular design so that the flow of energy and mutual meeting ground circulates and flows from child-to-child, and every child feels included within the activity. Appropriate books, posters, and small glimpses of media sources will be within this learning space and will give the children an opportunity to expand their minds. I think that with a level of comfort and inclusion mixed with a little family value, children will be able to function and flourish within a culturally-inclusive and respective environment.
References:
Derman-Sparks, L., & Olsen Edwards, J. (2010). Anti-bias education for young children and ourselves. Washington, D.C.: 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
I sometimes get nervous about having too many visuals stimulates which will cause the children to be distracted; however, I love the layout of your environment. Not only does it have just enough visual stimulates but you have included an area for cultural exploration. I believe this is key when allowing children and parents to see how different we all but are connected in some way. Our goal is to educate children but shedding light on their family and culture promotes family pride, and that is where their strength comes from. I love your room dedicated to that.
ReplyDeleteGreat job.
Hi, Iesha!
ReplyDeleteFirst, I love the concept of a Family Home Child Care program with multiple rooms! Many times, caregivers use only two rooms and use their personal kitchen as the eating area for the program.
Secondly, I like the idea of separating the exploratory room versus a more calming room for circle time and such. Such a cool idea. I think I could incorporate the learnings of yoga or meditation in the morning or before naptime.
Thanks for sharing your great concept of Family Home Child Care!
Keep moving forward...Quay