City Learning and Care - Personal Statement Example

City Learning and Care (Childcare) - Fieldwork Reflective assignment Journal Entry 1: Personal and professional resources I brought to my fieldwork experience. Working with toddlers is an interesting and a job which gives a person a lot of experience. It is a job that requires careful planning and preparation, personal skills and attributes. Some of these skills include communication, problem solving and ability to work with others as teamwork. Also, you need to have organizational skills which include planning activities for the children and to prepare and manage the play environment. I was aware that I should have some working practicalities to enable me work in the early childcare center. My professional skills were of much help when it came to organizing day to day experiences in a childcare set up. My reporting and recording skills and experiences were to be used to keep a record of what toddlers were engaging in. This would help in planning appropriate experiences to support the children’s learning and development. Am an effective time manager and this skill was to be used to enable the toddlers to be time conscious from an early stage. My problem solving ability was to be so useful in this context. Toddlers can be sometimes so annoying and it requires understanding and patience to overcome this. I am very good at appreciating others irrespective of their status. Also, I am a person who can be easily managed by others on top of being effective in managing others also. In any work placement, one is supposed to have ability and be ready to take responsibility for his or her individual actions. This is of very much importance for professional development. I am a very open minded person. I have the ability to learn and have an urge to continue learning. This enables me to very vigilant and conscious of what is happening around me, understand it and add it to the pool of my professional knowledge. Another professional experience I brought to this childcare center was my ability to undertake numerous tasks over a short period of time. I am also capable of delivering submissions and the results of the tasks undertaken under a short notice. I normally do this with a lot of care to ensure that my results are accurate, relevant and up to date. I expected to meet a lot of people, staff and parents at the center. In order to work with them well, my professional ability of working with others was of very much need. This teamwork is required so much if people are to achieve a common goal. My professional background has influenced my reasoning so much. I have become a critical thinker with ability to influence other positively. The background d has also enabled me to be creative, innovative and have the capability of generating new ideas during my day to day activities. I brought these attributes to the child care center as I felt they would be of very much importance when it comes to making the toddlers more responsible and independent. On top of this, I am a very good orator able to describe events vividly. This coupled with my excellent communication skills would ensure that I communicated with the children effectively. They would get my jokes, stories and instructions well. I was also sure that that I would not experience when speaking with parents, visitors and the staff at the center. My exemplary listening skills would be very useful in understanding and evaluating to the needs of the toddlers. These among other personals I brought to this center were to help me deliver my best in this placement. Journal Entry 2: Specific Incidents which influenced my learning experience. My working at the childcare was one of the most memorable occasions in my professional life. All what I had been worrying about in the past seemed to have less impact. The staff and the children were too welcoming and supportive. What encouraged me most was that the members of the staff are used to new interns working with them. This had given them a perfect opportunity to understand their main weaknesses and strengths. This is due to their vast experience in this childcare. During my first days, I was taken through a comprehensive orientation program. I came to understand when the institution was founded, the founder members, the hierarchy of the staff, core mandates, vision, mission, achievements, legal and administrative framework, and challenges among others. I worked hand in hand with the center coordinator who introduced me to his colleagues. I was taken around theCentre from the playing ground offices and kitchen among other places. On my second day, all the children were requested to assemble in the assembly where I was introduced and given a special name. This is what the children were to use when referring to me. I came to understand that there are many people who came at the center from time to time and hence they must be issued with special names to minimize confusion when addressing them. This is due to the fact that most people happen to share names and these small children might confuse them. At first, the children had developed fear when interacting with me due to the fact that I was a stranger. I was interested in making the children more socially interactive and be independent in their activities. Most of the children initially looked happy when they were being dropped by their parents and they would keep on peeping through the cars’ windscreen. However, as soon as their parents left, they began crying and wanted to follow their children as they left for job. This was due to the fact that they began having a sense of insecurity and they were not sure what to do next. This behavior was especially rampant with new children who had not been at the place again. In order to overcome this, I encouraged parents to make sure that their young ones have at least interacted with other children for a few minutes before leaving them. I would then start having fun with the children and slowly lure them into visiting other areas within the center to get them out of their parent’s vicinity. For the children to feel that their parents are around, I would request the parents not to leave with their vehicles during the first few days. This would ensure that the children do not feel insecure and ask many questions about their parents’ whereabouts. After the children have familiarized, parents would then leave with their cars without any problems. Children had become so happy and secure to an extent of even saying goodbye to their parents and picking their snacks before their parents left. This was so wonderful. The coordinator was so amazed at how fast I familiarized with these children. For the first time, I was left to do everything with the children alone. I felt greatly honored for this and I appreciated for being given this privilege. Children like fun most. I came to understand this. They associated me with fun and I felt like I am one of them. In the field of health, I taught the children on the basic hygiene like washing hands before eating, avoiding biting their nails and keeping away from electrical sockets and their appliances to minimize the instances of electric shock. Many of small children had developed eye problems at a tender age and I wanted to prevent these children from getting the same problem. These interactions helped in improving my organizational skills and creative skills. Whenever the children were playing indoors, I used to give them simple instructions which they followed with relative ease. I am easily approachable, able to adapt to new environment and a very flexible. With these skills, toddlers would come to me with new they want to share or to be helped. My team work skill enabled me to easily understand others and value their contributions. I understood toddlers were innocent and whenever they made a mistake, I was ready to help them. I was caring and had a committed attitude towards toddlers. I would assist the toddlers in most of their day to day activities. Toddlers are aware when someone is only partly listening or has no interest at all. To overcome this, I used my listening skills to attentively listen to the toddlers, parents, other staff and help the accordingly. My communication skills helped me to give stories with the children, give them instructions and play with them. They highly amazed by my exemplary oratory skills. Toddlers require enough rest for them to grow well. At the center they were allowed to sleep at midday for about two hours before waking up and take some snacks. Sometimes they were not in the mood of sleeping and we had to entice them with lullabies and touch their heads slowly. We would then keep an eye around them to ensure everything goes well when they were asleep. After they wake up, we would start playing with toys with them. They seemed to enjoy playing especially with the toys of the cars and try to imitate how their parents drive. Every day, I would come with different types of toys and dolls. The toddlers were so anxious of learning how to use them. Small girls always preferred dollies while the small boys seemed to enjoy cars. Story telling session was among the best experiences. During the first days I was the one who dominated them but as they became familiar with me, they started telling a lot of stories. This was mainly done by the toddlers between three and four years. I realized that they did not have many difficulties in expressing themselves. I would encourage others to clap for their fellows after they were through with telling stories. When their parents came to pick them in the evening, I would encourage them to give their children stories so that they may have something to share with us the following day. I would use this to test their memory, oratory and listening skills. Sometimes the children would get annoyed and start crying. We had to entice them with stories and the toys they liked much to stop them from doing this. When they were tired with playing, we would assemble them somewhere and start showing them some beautiful pictures of cars, homes and fellow children. Every day I would like some short notes about specific children which I would then hand over to their parents at the evening and guide them on how to correct some behaviors. Parents were so supportive of this and this helped in molding the children. Some of these bad behaviors included pinching each other among others. Journal entry 3: How personal and professional resources that I brought to my placement influenced the management of the incident. One of the professional resources that helped me mange the incident was planning and creating of an enabling environment. I was able to create spaces where toddlers can thrive, develop, explore, experiment and learn various life skills. I was able to create a well-organized environment which was calm and creative. This gave children lots of scope for exploratory and imaginative play among other types of play. These ensured children have space in which they can and have fresh air and exercise. Toddlers can be nurtured and feel much safer. Although the environment was not necessarily too quiet, over tidy and rigidly controlled, it was calm and this gave the toddlers freedom and scope for movement and play. My first consideration was about developmental and exploratory play opportunities for the toddlers. It was based on the aspects of early childhood development such as physical development and emotional development. Others include cognitive development, social development and emotional development. I based on the toddler’s development stage to support an understanding of what I was supposed to provide to him or her. When planning, I was able to create an environment that was suitable for a variety of play experiences. This is the space that the toddlers used to play a little and the space that surrounds them. It was a large outdoor area. I ensured that there was minimum supervision. This was meant to create a calm space to make the distressed toddlers or toddlers who may be new and nervous about this environment. My success was brought about by the cooperation from other staff members and peer learning. Sometimes I involved the toddlers in the planning process. This helped me in the plays they liked most and their most favorite mode of learning. It also enabled the toddlers not to get stuck at an area or at a single activity. This may be because the toddler is not secure at a particular area and is apprehensive about joining other children. It can also be due to the fact that the toddler is not particularly confident about trying something new. This is meant to prevent the child from being discouraged because he or she has found something too difficult to manage in the past. I therefore engaged the toddlers in the conversation about what he or she is currently likes to do and might potentially do. Parents also form an integral part of their children’s lives and I therefore included them in the planning process. I made sure that I took their comments in this crucial process. I sometimes organized informal discussions with them or the toddler’s guardians and took their views. I found that working children requires someone who is dedicated in shaping our future generation. Man may not be able to reward you in terms of salary and job promotions but nature and God will always bless you. The children were well behaved although some would sometimes defy my request. Communicating with these children was not a big challenge as they understood English. These children are used to different visitors so I feel this is not a problem even in future. Children are the best group to work with and I feel that this exposure impacted me the requisite skills and increased my pool of knowledge. I came to understand and appreciate children so much and discovered that for them to become upright in the future, they must have positive mentor from their early age. They like playing a lot and admire people who like fun and are not very strict. However, they must be dealt with using ultimate care as some have unpleasant behaviors like pinching their colleagues. This is more so among children of between three and four years of age. Work Cited Larkin, H. and, Hamilton A. Making the most of your learning opportunity. 2010.Print. . Read More

I have become a critical thinker with ability to influence other positively. The background d has also enabled me to be creative, innovative and have the capability of generating new ideas during my day to day activities. I brought these attributes to the child care center as I felt they would be of very much importance when it comes to making the toddlers more responsible and independent. On top of this, I am a very good orator able to describe events vividly. This coupled with my excellent communication skills would ensure that I communicated with the children effectively.

They would get my jokes, stories and instructions well. I was also sure that that I would not experience when speaking with parents, visitors and the staff at the center. My exemplary listening skills would be very useful in understanding and evaluating to the needs of the toddlers. These among other personals I brought to this center were to help me deliver my best in this placement. Journal Entry 2: Specific Incidents which influenced my learning experience. My working at the childcare was one of the most memorable occasions in my professional life.

All what I had been worrying about in the past seemed to have less impact. The staff and the children were too welcoming and supportive. What encouraged me most was that the members of the staff are used to new interns working with them. This had given them a perfect opportunity to understand their main weaknesses and strengths. This is due to their vast experience in this childcare. During my first days, I was taken through a comprehensive orientation program. I came to understand when the institution was founded, the founder members, the hierarchy of the staff, core mandates, vision, mission, achievements, legal and administrative framework, and challenges among others.

I worked hand in hand with the center coordinator who introduced me to his colleagues. I was taken around theCentre from the playing ground offices and kitchen among other places. On my second day, all the children were requested to assemble in the assembly where I was introduced and given a special name. This is what the children were to use when referring to me. I came to understand that there are many people who came at the center from time to time and hence they must be issued with special names to minimize confusion when addressing them.

This is due to the fact that most people happen to share names and these small children might confuse them. At first, the children had developed fear when interacting with me due to the fact that I was a stranger. I was interested in making the children more socially interactive and be independent in their activities. Most of the children initially looked happy when they were being dropped by their parents and they would keep on peeping through the cars’ windscreen. However, as soon as their parents left, they began crying and wanted to follow their children as they left for job.

This was due to the fact that they began having a sense of insecurity and they were not sure what to do next. This behavior was especially rampant with new children who had not been at the place again. In order to overcome this, I encouraged parents to make sure that their young ones have at least interacted with other children for a few minutes before leaving them. I would then start having fun with the children and slowly lure them into visiting other areas within the center to get them out of their parent’s vicinity.

For the children to feel that their parents are around, I would request the parents not to leave with their vehicles during the first few days. This would ensure that the children do not feel insecure and ask many questions about their parents’ whereabouts. After the children have familiarized, parents would then leave with their cars without any problems. Children had become so happy and secure to an extent of even saying goodbye to their parents and picking their snacks before their parents left.

This was so wonderful.

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