REFLECTION: MY EXPERIENCE AT A DAYCARE 1

REFLECTION: My Experience at a Daycare

Shannon Kasstan 0548744
Lakehead University
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INTRODUCION

As soon a child is born, he/she embarks on a world that is full of surprise, exploration,

and imagination which is a result from his/her upbringing. Children are often influenced by their

early experiences which contribute to their long-term success. According to Lissy Gloeckler, a

child’s “later growth and development builds on the skills and abilities of early development that

are constructed during the first few years of a child’s life and that the basic structure of the brain

is built over time through interactions and relationships” (Gloeckler, 2015, p.45). In order for the

child to have successful and healthy relationships, he must be immersed into this environment at

a young age, which is why daycare is crucial for the learner. After completing eight hours of

volunteering at Step by Step Childcare, I realized the importance and impact that the teacher has

on the learner and their development. This volunteer opportunity allowed for me to get a better

understanding of how infants, toddlers, and preschool learners are all different with their

cognitive, motor, and social skills; as well as, how the teacher within the childcare programs is a

huge influencer to the developing child.

Although I got the opportunity to see how the children solve problems and interact with

each other throughout the day, I also got to witness classroom management, family interactions,

and teamwork amongst the employees. I recently had the opportunity to have a placement at St.

Patrick Highschool, where the students were older and put into a category. For instance, the

student is either placed in applied, academic, college, or university; as well as mainstream or life

skills. I noticed within the daycare, there is not categorization or separation amongst learners, but

the children are divided by age. The programs are as followed: infants (2 months- 13 months),

toddlers (13 months- 3 years), preschoolers (3-4 years). These division are important for
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ensuring that the learner is learning with similar peers; however, this leads into many problems

with differential learners and classroom management.

CLASSROOM MANGEMENT

Unlike high school, where students are divided into certain classes according to their

learning abilities, the daycare has no division except regarding their age which allowed for me to

see first hand how the teachers use classroom management constantly within all three programs.

When I was at the daycare, I had the ability to work in all three programs which gave me insight

to different ways to interact and mange the room with different age groups.

Firstly, I was placed in the Infant Program, where I was able to interact with infants who

could not quite walk, who were starting to crawl and walk, and who were advancing to a slight

run. These three different stages do engage in differential learning, management, and structure,

as well as shows how the “growth [of the infant] occurs in other developmental domains as well

as the infant moves from a primarily reflexive state to displaying emerging cognitive skills”

(Gloeckler, 2015, p.47). These developments mean the infant teacher must provide the proper

skills for each learner. For example, one baby in the program was able to hold a brush and paint,

where one baby did not quite understand the concept of a paint brush, and another infant just

wanted to eat the paint. Some infants, I found, were at different stages so it was up to the teacher

to decide what gross-motor activity was beneficial for each learner, as well as supervise. Within

the infant program, the ratio of staff to infant is 1:3, which meant at times you would be

watching three different learners all at different stages of their development. Two important

things I took away from the Infant Program was placement and flexibility. What I mean about

‘placement’, is where you are located in the room. For instances, in the infant room you are
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typically on the ground all day at eye level with the infants, as well as, in a good position where

you can visually see all the infants. This ‘placement’ is beneficial for my teaching because it

shows that learners often interact better with a teacher who does not seem like they are in a

complete authority position, as well as, being able to visually see all students is important for

inclusion and safety. Secondly, the infant program is completely, ‘go with the flow,’ and

flexibile because infants are not at the stage of their development where they can wait to have a

nap, food, or go to the bathroom. So, when I was in the room, one infant wanted a nap, while one

wanted food, and one needed to be changed, which once again works with management and

flexibility. However, when I went into the Toddler Program, I found, there was more structure

and the toddlers had more of an understanding about the routine of the room.

The second room I was placed in was the Toddler Program where the learners are gaining

more gross motor skills, as well as refining early abilities. During this phrase of development,

“toddlerhood is also marked by children’s increased self-awareness, learning of self-help

skills, increased self-regulation, along with learning to successfully interact with and
relate to others. The self-help skills that toddlers are learning show their innate desire to
grow and develop skills necessary to be autonomous. They are moving into what [is] …
called the second birth of the baby, the psychological birth of the baby, where they
recognize they are a separate human being with goals and desires of their own, separate
from caregivers” (Gloeckler, 2015, p. 47).

During this phrase of the learners’ life is important that the teacher gives the toddler support,

love, and a welcoming environment to discover themselves, but as well as still be a comfort for

the developing learner. As stated in Gloeckler’s article, “Child care classrooms, [are] an

important context for toddlers’ experiences, require that professionals and researchers pay

attention to the quality of the experiences toddlers have in these settings” (Gloeckler, 2015, p.
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48). Paying attention and support to the toddler is important and works again with classroom

management. Within the Toddler Program, the staff to toddler ratio is 1:5, with often fifteen

toddlers and three staff. Unlike high school, where the teacher may have thirty students to one

teacher, here it is a lot different due to the fact the toddlers a lot more demanding and sensitive to

certain things. For example, in the program one girl was crying because a little boy took her

crayon, where another toddler was yelling because he fell down and hurt myself, whereas

another two toddlers were fighting over a stuffed animal. I found this program a lot busier than

the Infant Program, but as well as my placement because there was always so much going on and

the toddlers do not quite understand reasoning or sharing; however, are learning these skills. This

program, like the Infant, showed me flexibility, compassion, placement, management, and

patience which are all attributes that I think are critical for a teacher.

The third program that I participated in was the Preschool Program, where building

relationships was a lot more prominent and critical for the learner. Similarly, to what was stated

earlier, “for children to become emotionally healthy functioning adults they need close

relationships with significant others as young children. They need responsive, respectful,

reliable, and trusted adults to interact with reciprocally and repeatedly over time to actually form

healthy brain circuitry” (Gloeckler, 2015, p. 48). During this stage, I found that the preschooler

really valued the relationship amongst the staff and relied heavily on the acknowledgement that

was provided. For example, one preschooler drew a picture, that you could not really make out

what the picture was, but the learner was so pleased and need the teacher to also be very pleased

with the picture. This longing for pleasing and praise was really evident in this school age group.

In this program, the ratio of staff to preschooler is 1:8, which typically has three staff to twenty-
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four children. This program is preparing the learner for school so it is important that the teachers

of the young children are “instrumental in setting the emotional tone and climate of the

classroom while at the same time they are responsible for providing both support for child self-

regulation and developmentally appropriate learning opportunities. Therefore, teacher-child

interactions are considered an important pathway to children’s development within the classroom

context” (Gloeckler, 2015, p. 49). As this program is preparing the learner for school life, the

teacher within the program has to ensure that the preschooler is being challenged and has some

learning opportunities. When I was there, the preschoolers would often sing songs and read

books throughout the day which helped with their cognitive skills. The preschoolers would draw

pictures and be asked to write their names which would contribute to their gross motor skills.

Lastly, they would have more of an emphasis on sharing and interacting with each other which

pushed for social skills. These skills are important for the teacher to ensure that all students have

before moving on because every preschooler needs to have the proper foundation to move

forward and be successful.

LEARNER, PARENT, AND TEACHER RELATIONSHIP

As stated earlier, the relationship between the learner and the childcare worker is often

labeled as gentle teaching. Gentle teaching is providing the learner the proper tools to learn and

guiding the learner in the right direction, but as well as helping them with their mistakes and

failures in a gentle way. This gentle teaching that the staff provide to all learners are important to

help create an responsive and respectful care to the learner, but as well creates an environment to

buffer children from excess stress and elevated cortisol levels. Once again enforcing the crucial

need for positive, growth-promoting environments for young children (Gloeckler, 2015, p.47).
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As the learner has a safe place to grow develop, the parent and staff also have a very interactive

and respectful relationship.

As the parent drops their child off at Step-By-Step Daycare, they are constantly involved

within the child’s learning and development. At the daycare, every child has a daily sheet that the

parents get at the end of the day. On this daily sheet it provides: the child’s nap time length, food

intake, bowel movements, and any extra comments about the individual. Having this daily sheet

to communicate with the parent allows for any questions or concerns to be brought up and taken

care of right away. Also, when the child is dropped off and picked up, there is a brief

conversation about anything the parent might want the staff to look out for, or anything in

general that the parent wants the staff to accommodate for their child. This interaction between

staff and parent allowed for me to see what I will have to partake in when I become a teacher

because all parents or guardians want the best for their child and having a relationship with the

parent will further help the development of the child.

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Within each program, there is a general routine that happens everyday to help with the

child’s development. Teachers “help children regulate their emotions and behaviors, help them

learn through daily routines, and provide learning opportunities for both cognitive and social-

emotional skill development” (Gloeckler, 2015, p.47). Having a daily routine allows for the

learner to know what is happening next and not be in the dark, which allow for the individual to

focus completely on oneself and developing. The daily routine for the learner, where is be the

infant, toddler, or preschooler, is evident in the classroom for the learner and parent to see. The

daily routine is shown in every room with very simplistic pictures on the wall so that the learner
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can visually see and understanding what is coming next. This not only provides structure for the

developing learner, but works with their cognitive ability to remember. One routine that I found

all the toddlers and preschoolers knew was after lunch it is naptime and all the children will go to

their assignment beds and laydown. Having a simple routine like this allows for the child to

know what to do after as well as able to keep everything on track. For example, having the exact

same nap and bedtime will allow for a better flow for the individual. For me as a teacher, this

goes to show that structure helps with ensuring that the learner knows what is expected as well as

what there is to expect. Personally, I would like to have a daily routine evident to my students

written on the board because it will show the class what direction that we are heading in.

Like mentioned earlier, the parent receives a daily sheet discussing general things that

happened throughout the day; however, each teacher in the program is also expected to fill out

daily reports of the children. These daily reports of the child allow for the teacher to see how the

child is developing and succeeding with his peers. This report reminded me of evaluations or

assessments that teachers in school classrooms often use to check for understanding. In a similar,

the daycare uses the daily report as an assessment for instances where the child is not developing

as expected then a further action will take place. Visually seeing this assessment in action

allowed for me to grab some tricks and ideas from the daycare teachers. For example, the

teachers do not walk around the room with a clipboard, but are constantly interacting with the

learner so if the child does something remarkable or is not progressing then they make note of it.

I find just interacting with the child is the best way to see development because the teacher gets

to really see and understand how the child works and thinks.

CONCLUSION
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After this experience and opportunity, I feel confident using the strategies and ideas into

my own practice and profession. Throughout the day, I had the opportunity to work will all

different ages, developments, and behaviours which has allowed for me to take what I have

experienced and learned and use it in my own classroom. Although I had the opportunity to work

with different age groups, I also got the opportunity to work with different teaching styles from

different people. Each room had different staff members so it was awesome to see different

techniques with dealing with certain problems or children. Personally, after my placement and

this volunteer experience I feel I have learnt so much, but also feel that there is so much more to

learn through the rest of this semester and my next placement. The most important thing that I

have gained from this volunteer experience is that all children learn in different ways and a

teacher needs to be interpersonal and compassionate to all learners no matter their differential

learning styles.
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References

Gloeckler, Lissy (2015). Toddles and Child Care: A Time for Discussion, Dialogue, and Change.

Zero to Three; 36,2. p. 45-52.