Entry #2, 21 October 2009

Wonderful! Today I met 8 children in the 2-3 age group, and they were more akin to what I was accustomed to. Within this age range, they had more developed personalities, and most noticeably of all, they were better communicators!

None of them exhibited stranger fear towards me, and within minutes K'n was laughing uncontrollably at every game he played with me, and sought me out repeatedly during outdoor play.

B'a was also very receptive to my attempts at communication, and one member of staff said to another “Look at B'a! Since when does she talk to strangers?” B'a did seem shy, and not very self confident in the way that she usually asked for assistance, and in a broken, whiney tone. She seemed to enjoy playing with me, and staying close to me.

When B'a hurt her finger and remained upset for almost an hour, she even chose to sit on my lap rather than seeking out the other staff. She did, however, insist that her finger needed “Mr Bump”, which the staff member denied. I assumed Mr Bump was a plaster, but later discovered it was a little icepack.

I'c also played and laughed with me, together with K'n, when I initially entered the room. I later noticed he exhibited a lot of challenging behaviour, such as provoking other children and ignoring communication from adults. I tried to gain some of his trust by paying attention to his needs, lowering myself to the ground level so that we could make eye contact easier, and being patient with him.

I feel I'c was unjustly upset, as at one point he was clearly trying to comply with an adult’s instruction to come and have his nappy done, but he got confused when she asked him to put the breadstick he was eating back on the table. Instead, he lingered in the area not sure what to do, and the adult gestured at his seat, to which he gingerly sat down. The staff member interpreted this as disobedience, and reprimanded I'c who was clearly confused and upset.

Later on, when I brought I'c to wash his hands, he refused to leave the washing area on his own, instead repeatedly washing his hands again and again.

Moving Forward
Today made me draw more comparisons with my previous setting.

Could it be that the children there were able to form better relationships because they were better communicators? And why where they (if at all) better communicators?

The obvious and incorrectly assumed answer would be that my previous setting was “better”. I really don’t feel that way at this point. I loved the children in my previous setting, but always felt that the place had many…shall we say, “shortcomings”. On the other hand, my current work placement honestly seems like a utopia!

I thought of 2 main differences in the settings which might have contributed to my perceived differences in the children’s level of communication and relationship-building. My previous setting had:

1. Baby signing starting from the youngest age group
2. A lot more time allocated to singing
   

I wondered if I could find some way to connect with I'c and get him to be better-behaved, or would his fate be set in stone.