I walked through the door and all I could hear was the crying of babies "Mommy!" The teachers had soft soothing voices to calm the sad and anxious babies.
I had walked into the subculture of working in a daycare.
The relationships between the kids are just fascinating.
The end of nap time and beginning of the afternoon shift, my shift. It had been a rough morning-- the babies and toddlers didn't take long enough naps, ten minutes maybe. I knew it was going to be a rough afternoon. Once all the cranky babies and toddlers were toileted and had clean diapers on, they sat at the small yellow rectangular table and the little white square table with green legs. They sat in chairs just big enough for their small bottoms, and at just the right height to eat and drink without spilling anything all over the place. It's a dark, cloudy, rainy day so instead of taking the children outside to play we put a movie on for would hope to be a peaceful and calm afternoon. We should have known it wasn't going to be like that. It never is when the children don't take naps.
It was 3:30pm when all 17 children combined into the toddler room to watch a movie. Abraham had brought in Alvin and the Chipmunks. A very cute movie, Georgette, Caroline and I thought the kids would love it and watch it. Nope. They were so rambunctious-- it felt as if it was a Friday afternoon. The children were talking to each other about cops and robbers, two little boys were talking about "farting" and the youngest babies were crying for their bottles.
The room is quite big. Half of it is carpeted and the other half is vinyl flooring. The t.v. was plugged into the outlets in the kitchenette. The children sat spread out on the carpet, Georgette and I sat on the floor with the children. Sabrina sat on my lap while Yolanda sat on Georgette's lap. Caroline sat in a chair near the door to the middle room to answer the door when the annoying bell rang.
The day was dragging. None of the kids were leaving, it was getting late. I still had to clean.
4:30pm came, time for Georgette to leave. The kids got even more rambunctious, the boys were playing power rangers with each other and the girls decided they wanted to open up a beauty parlor and I was their customer. The kids might have been out of control but, their imagination is just fascinating. The games they come up with and play together. They can go on for hours playing. They will start off so simple and typical and then turn it into something imaginative and complex.
It is a great pleasure that all the children get along so well. The babies and toddlers stick up for one another and help defend one another. It is a true wonder watching an listening to conversations between kids.
The cutest conversation was between Sabrina and Edie. They were talking about their birthday parties and comparing their gifts. Both parties were princess parties. For a second I forgot they were only 5 years old. They were having an in-depth conversation as if they were in their 20's. They really get along great together.
The room is set up nice and cozy. It doesn't feel like a daycare room. It feels like a family room in a house. With the television table and chairs, a fire place ( which is non-working and has a kitchen set in it), a shelf full of toys, and a toy box full of stuffed animals. And lets not forget the nice bright white refrigerator. The blue-green carpet adds a certain warmth to the room, along with the green wood work around the room.
I love going to work there. It doesn't actually feel like work. More like I get to play with and watch kids as they learn new things and expand their minds on different topics. It is a great pleasure to be a part of it and witness it. At the end of the day you feel a great satisfaction on helping a young mind grow and explore.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Ethnography Rough Draft
I walked through the door and all I could hear was the crying of babies "Mommy!" The teachers had soft soothing voices to calm the sad and anxious babies.
I had walked into the subculture of working in a daycare.
The end of nap time and beginning of the afternoon shift, my shift. It had been a rough morning-- the babies and toddlers didn't take long enough naps, ten minutes maybe. I knew it was going to be a rough afternoon. Once all the cranky babies and toddlers were toileted and had clean diapers on, they sat at the small yellow rectangular table and the little white square table with green legs. They sat in chairs just big enough for their small bottoms, and at just the right height to eat and drink without spilling anything all over the place. It's a dark, cloudy, rainy day so instead of taking the children outside to play we put a movie on for would hope to be a peaceful and calm afternoon. We should have known it wasn't going to be like that. It never is when the children don't take naps.
It was 3:30pm when all 17 children combined into the toddler room to watch a movie. Abraham had brought in Alvin and the Chipmunks. A very cute movie, Georgette, Caroline and I thought the kids would love it and watch it. Nope. They were so rambunctious-- it felt as if it was a Friday afternoon. The children were talking to each other about cops and robbers, two little boys were talking about "farting" and the youngest babies were crying for their bottles.
The room is quite big. Half of it is carpeted and the other half is vinyl flooring. The t.v. was plugged into the outlets in the kitchenette. The children sat spread out on the carpet, Georgette and I sat on the floor with the children. Sabrina sat on my lap while Yolanda sat on Georgette's lap. Caroline sat in a chair near the door to the middle room to answer the door when the annoying bell rang.
The day was dragging. None of the kids were leaving, it was getting late. I still had to clean. The children were mis-behaving and back talking. I had put several children to take a break in the other rooms on mats. They still weren't listening. Working in a daycare you need to have a high level of patience. Something I never had until I started working at a daycare. The kids like to pull the cuteness factor on you all the time to get out of everything. It works to a certain point, then you just have to put your foot down. They do not always like it but they need to get used to it.
The teachers I work with are very firm. They mean what they say and the children don't get away with anything. They have been doing this for years, where as I have only been doing it for about 6 months.
Working in a daycare is not only about being with kids, but also following a strict set of rules set by the state. The state standards and guidelines are no joke. It is tough. Bleaching the changing tables after every diaper change, bleaching the tables after they are used for anything. The mats after naptime must be washed with soap and water, then bleached before being put away. If a teacher has more than 5 kids then an aide needs to be in the room.
I had walked into the subculture of working in a daycare.
The end of nap time and beginning of the afternoon shift, my shift. It had been a rough morning-- the babies and toddlers didn't take long enough naps, ten minutes maybe. I knew it was going to be a rough afternoon. Once all the cranky babies and toddlers were toileted and had clean diapers on, they sat at the small yellow rectangular table and the little white square table with green legs. They sat in chairs just big enough for their small bottoms, and at just the right height to eat and drink without spilling anything all over the place. It's a dark, cloudy, rainy day so instead of taking the children outside to play we put a movie on for would hope to be a peaceful and calm afternoon. We should have known it wasn't going to be like that. It never is when the children don't take naps.
It was 3:30pm when all 17 children combined into the toddler room to watch a movie. Abraham had brought in Alvin and the Chipmunks. A very cute movie, Georgette, Caroline and I thought the kids would love it and watch it. Nope. They were so rambunctious-- it felt as if it was a Friday afternoon. The children were talking to each other about cops and robbers, two little boys were talking about "farting" and the youngest babies were crying for their bottles.
The room is quite big. Half of it is carpeted and the other half is vinyl flooring. The t.v. was plugged into the outlets in the kitchenette. The children sat spread out on the carpet, Georgette and I sat on the floor with the children. Sabrina sat on my lap while Yolanda sat on Georgette's lap. Caroline sat in a chair near the door to the middle room to answer the door when the annoying bell rang.
The day was dragging. None of the kids were leaving, it was getting late. I still had to clean. The children were mis-behaving and back talking. I had put several children to take a break in the other rooms on mats. They still weren't listening. Working in a daycare you need to have a high level of patience. Something I never had until I started working at a daycare. The kids like to pull the cuteness factor on you all the time to get out of everything. It works to a certain point, then you just have to put your foot down. They do not always like it but they need to get used to it.
The teachers I work with are very firm. They mean what they say and the children don't get away with anything. They have been doing this for years, where as I have only been doing it for about 6 months.
Working in a daycare is not only about being with kids, but also following a strict set of rules set by the state. The state standards and guidelines are no joke. It is tough. Bleaching the changing tables after every diaper change, bleaching the tables after they are used for anything. The mats after naptime must be washed with soap and water, then bleached before being put away. If a teacher has more than 5 kids then an aide needs to be in the room.
Personal Essay Final Draft
December 14th 2006. A day I will remember for the rest of my life. Not only was it my 16th birthday but it was a day the missing piece of my heart was put back in place. It was a rainy cold night. My family and I just got back from dinner. I was a little disappointed that my brother couldn’t join us. At about 8:30pm I heard a familiar voice coming from the dining room. “Victoria come here,” it was my brother. My face lit up with joy, my brother actually came over. I suddenly went from being sad and depressed to ecstatic and loved. “I have something I want to give you” he says. I was thinking oh it’s just an American Express gift card, the same gift my brother always gave me. Boy was I wrong this year. He had a smile on his scruffy face but his eyes weren’t happy. They looked sad as if he was about to cry. “This was Grandpa Chickens and I want you to have it,” he says as he hands me this silver plastic ball with colorful beads in “paths” on it. “I know you don’t remember Grandpa Chickens and you don’t have anything of his, so this is yours. Be careful with it.” I was still amazed at the generosity and caring side I saw of my brother. He is much older than me, 13 ½ years to be exact. We don’t have many of these moments of care and love. “Only Grandpa Chickens has solved it. He told me it was his dream to see someone else to solve it. I want you to be the one to fulfill his dream.” I started crying and gave my brother a hug. I felt so close to my brother. It meant the world to me that he wanted me to be the one to fulfill my grandfather’s dream. I do not remember my grandfather at all. I was only 2 years old when he passed away. My family doesn’t really talk much about my grandfather, but when they do it’s always nice things. They tell me that he was a good man and he loved me very much. I only have pictures to remember my grandfather by. All the pictures are of me and him smiling and laughing. In many of the pictures I possess, my grandfather was wearing a gray label and I would take it off his head and place it on my head. They are very cute pictures and I always smile when looking at them.
No ordinary game, it’s a game of difficulty and memory. The Rubix Ball a plastic silver ball that is made up of two spheres that can spin around and has “paths” that the plastic beads travel on. You have to match the bead up by color, red with red, blue with blue, green with green, and yellow with yellow. The four paths that go around the ball are where you put the different colors. The red and yellow in the middle paths and the blue and green on the end paths. Getting all the beads of one color on one of the paths is very difficult. You must work on all four colors at the same time. Every day I try to solve it. I thought the rubix cube was difficult. Boy have I met my match. Trying to align all the colors together all at once is very difficult. And because it’s a ball there is a lot of spinning and mixing up of the colors. It is very challenging piece, but also very fun at the same time.
My grandfather had given the ball to my brother just before he passed away and my brother in return gave it to me because I have nothing of my grandfather’s. It was very nice of him.
My grandfather was a Motor Machinist Mate 2nd Class in World War II. He worked on the engines in the war boats. He got out of the war on February 13th, 1946. Exactly six years before my father was born. He died when I was about 2 years old. I have only visited his grave once, as it is out in a World War II Veteran Cemetery out in Cape Cod. I did not attend his funeral. My parents tell me I was sleeping during his funeral. Just as well too. I was only 2 years old and was a screaming me-me. Every day I look at the ball and think to myself I wonder what my grandfather was like. How would my life be different if he was still in it now?
This is a rather hard essay for me to write. Having something of his in my possession is like he is still here in spirit with me. I do believe he is watching over me in heaven as I am writing this and tears are forming in his eyes just as they are in mine as I am writing this. I love my grandfather very much. I wish every day that he was still here with me. I have never had a grandfather in my life. And it does hurt very much. Although some may not believe it, having my grandfather’s rubix ball makes me feel as if he is watching over me day to day and hoping I solve it.
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