Week 2 PPT.pdf principles of caregiving.
- 2. • Responsive relationships truly make up the heart of what you do in your work with young children and families. For infants and toddlers, all learning happens in the context of their relationships with the important adults in their lives. SUPPORTING OPTIMAL INFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
- 3. RELATIONSHIPS INTHE EARLYYEARS Relationships are at the heart of an early childhood education program • Relationships affect children’s social skills, academic success and brain development (Bullard, 2017) • Relationships between staff and children, staff and families, among children and among staff define the climate of a child care program or learning environment • When children are in emotionally supportive environments in the early years, their achievement increases, resulting in higher social, math and reading scores; when children experience the least amount of stress, they learn more • Similarly, unresponsive care produces cortisol (hormone); prolonged high levels of this stress hormone can lead to increased vulnerability for stress-related disorders such as depression, anxiety, cardiovascular problems, stroke and diabetes (Bullard, 2017)
- 4. MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS According to Abraham Maslow’s human developmental psychology theory (1943), the lower needs must be met before we can begin to work on the higher needs. For young children, the adults in their lives exert almost complete control over their physiological needs and safety needs, and influence their sense of belonging.
- 5. THE TEACHER’S ROLE IN CREATING A SENSE OF BELONGING • The educator plays a crucial role in helping children to feel a sense of belonging,mastery, independence and nurture care and empathy. • The educator should create a welcoming and safe learning environment by being responsive to cultural diversity, children with varying abilities and disabilities, and work to ensure the learning environment supports an inclusive physical and social climate. • Setting up activities and promoting both small and large group learning experiences which encourages children to work together, problem solve, and complete a goal • Develop and foster a sense of classroom community by making sure all staff, children and families are represented in the room through displays and materials
- 6. THE TEACHER’S ROLE IN CREATING A SENSE OF BELONGING • Expose children to many forms of diversity (race, ethnicity, language, family structure, age, gender and gender identity, occupations, disabilities) • Integrate children's cultures in an authentic and positive way and integrate cultural celebrations rather than being used occasionally or in an isolated way • Challenge stereotypes through materials, dialogue and learning opportunities • How can we put all of these into practice?Talk to children about their beliefs (celebrations, food, family roles, etc); ask parents and children to share songs, stories, food, customs, and family activities with the class/centre. Engage in large group/centre projects.
- 7. CHILD-FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS • Through relationships, infants and toddlers learn about their environment and how to interact with the world around them. The relationships infants and toddlers have with their families are the most important in shaping emotional and social development. Within their families, infants and toddlers begin to learn the skills they will need throughout life. As a member of a family, an infant or toddler begins to develop a sense of identity connected to family culture. Getting to know children within the context of their families gives you important information about who children are and how they relate to the world.
- 12. In small groups or in partners, provide at least 3 examples of ways in which educators exhibit respect with children in care. Discuss for 5 minutes.
- 14. For example, ask if a child wants a hug, is finished with certain toys, etc. Give advanced warning that you are about to help them. Assist in self-care tasks. Give opportunities to make age-appropriate choices.
- 15. Get on child’s level to view room. Engage in child directed activities with children (play with them). Respect when children want to interact or want to play alone. Offer comfort when appropriate. Create time to be with children, i.e. care giving times.
- 16. Speak normally to children (no baby talk). Verbally express what we see the child is doing (expanding vocabulary). Provide or model words which pertain to and/or will help them work through situations.
- 17. Learn each child’s individual way of learning. Provide time for uninterrupted play and freedom to explore and interact with other children. Offer activities to foster a well-balanced development.
- 18. Acknowledge and label feelings. Allow children to move at their own pace whenever possible. Acknowledge the unique characteristics of each child.
- 19. Let children and co-teachers know how you feel about any given situation. Honor the children’s feelings and your own as well. It’s okay and important to model appropriate expressions of emotions.
- 20. Modeling is a very important teaching tool. Children learn by watching important figures in their lives. Children exhibit the behaviors that are modeled for them: for example, teachers will model washing hands before eating, talking about problems calmly, cleaning up spills, taking turns with toys, etc.
- 21. Children learn best by doing. Our goal is to encourage the children to be independent, self- confident, and inquisitive learners. When children are learning a new skill, teachers will set up the situation to aid successes. For example, when learning to put on his/her own shirt, a teacher might lay shirt flat on a surface and verbally direct child to grab shirt from bottom and pull over his/her head. When children encounter a problem, teachers will first ask open-ended questions to help the children solve their own problem rather than solving it for them. Likewise, when children want to gain more information about something, teachers will ask open-ended questions to facilitate independent thoughts before offering information.
- 22. Respond to children promptly. Provide clear and consistent guidelines/limits. Verbally let them know we are there if they need help. Provide a safe environment both physically and emotionally.
- 23. Make frequent observations of the children and document developmental growth. Make Individual Development Plans for each child. Allow the children to develop at their own rate but at the same time provide challenges to encourage further development.
- 30. Please review: Guiding Documents (under week 2 Contents) Next week: We will review Emergent Curriculum and ELECT & Introduction to curriculum planning