Early Years Childcare

My Reflective Journal

Entry #27, 26 November 2009

Olivia and Chloe from the 1-2s room were with us today. They seemed extremely unsettled today.

Olivia had moments of calm, but was frequently in tears, calling out for not Mum or Dad, but for Marge, the staff member from upstairs. Chloe started the morning alright, but may have been unsettled by Olivia's distressed. As the day went on, she cried a lot as well, calling out for both Marge and Daddy.

I was advised against picking them up to soothe them, as they were meant to get used to the new environment on their own, thus building their self-confidence and independence.

Luke proved incredibly proficient in making guns out of Lego bricks. He stacked them up together with ease, and ran around the room, pointing his creation at everything and going "DSH! DSH! DSH!". I thought this was standard behaviour for a boy, but a staff member said that guns were not allowed, and kept telling him to disassemble it, sometimes doing it herself. It only took Luke mere seconds to reassemble another gun though.

Moving Forward
The standard policy is for transitioning children to be accompanied by a member of staff that they are familiar with. However, this may not have been possible today due to staff illness. Previously, members of staff they were familiar with did indeed accompany them into the room, and they were far less unsettled.


I remember in my previous work setting as well, that the children were not allowed to have pretend guns. How odd, I'm sure everyone I know, male or female, grew up playing with pretend swords and guns. As far as I know, none of them have turned out to be vicious psychopaths so far.

4 comments:

pattster 2 December 2009 at 00:08  

lolz - too much protection?

Mark 2 December 2009 at 19:50  

"Too much" is so subjective. But there's a lot of discussion about them being overprotective in the UK. Kids these days are wrapped in silk apparently.

pattster 3 December 2009 at 00:13  

they do that in uni too

i rememebr my lecturer wasn't allowed to write with a red pen on the board - cos it has negative conoctations

the whole lecture theatre laughed

Mark 7 December 2009 at 21:32  

Yea, it feels as though in the UK, they're afraid of anyone being held accountable for anything, and thus the solution is to be excessively "safe" on everything.

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About

A reflective journal concerned with communication and relationships with children during my work placement for the Early Years Professional Status (EYPS).

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It's 2 degrees Celsius! Can't we skip outdoor play just for once? Even the kids keep going "Cold! Go in! Go in!"
I normally write the posts after a long tiring day, so please point out any mistakes you see. :)