Entry #20, 17 November 2009

There was a "Supper Night" at the nursery today. Apparently a lot of parents had concerns about the food being provided to the children, and so, to give them a taste of it, they have a Supper Night.

The cook prepares some of the food which the children usually eat, I believe there was a choice of 3 main courses, along with dessert. It's not meant to be a full 3 course meal though, something which I don't think the parents get. Nonetheless, the Supper Night was first held last year, and I was told it was a great success. Judging by the numbers this year, there was again a lot of interest.

I imagined that the parents would already be friends with each other, if not at least acquainted. When they turned up, however, they seemed to keep to themselves and their own children, and even seemed a bit edgy. I suppose many had just come straight from a hard day at work.

Moving Forward

Prior to the arrival of the parents, things were a bit chaotic, as most staff didn't even know what was going on, much less what they had to do. Needless to say, a bit more direction would have been useful.

The parents should also have been encouraged to mix amongst themselves, and get to know their children's friends. Although some knew the names of the other children, they were unable to match names to faces.

Entry #19, 16 November 2009

I tried to be more strict with L'e today, giving him warnings and explaining unacceptable behaviour, and finally putting him in time out. Normally when the other staff do it, he'll cry loudly as soon as he's sat down. When I did it however, his mood didn't seem to change at all.

He remained happy and playful, often times not even bothering to stay in the spot I put him in. I did use a loud and harsh tone of voice, but he just didn't seem to be bothered. Maybe I didn't yell enough, or wasn't rough enough, or maybe he just feels too close to me. He likes to sit in my lap, as well as be picked up by me, as I usually carry and swing him around in a playful manner.

I saw S'r today with the triangles he had previously arranged according to the colours of the rainbow. Again I felt it was just a coincidence, as he didn't seem to be arranging the triangles in any pattern. Rather, he was digging through them and stacking them in coloured pairs, i.e. 2 red ones, 2 blue ones, etc.

Once he had all the coloured pairs he needed however, he promptly arranged them according to the colours of the rainbow. I recognised the colours this time because there were some cartoon rainbows on the window.

Outdoors, S'r enjoys a game, where he holds an adult's hand and steps from number to number, from 1 to 5. This time however, he stepped from 1, stepped onto 2, and seemed frustrated. He made an annoyed sound, moved back to 1, then back to 2, and repeated the cycle once again.

The next time, he threw himself on the ground, kicking his legs and made more annoyed sounds, as though he was frustrated. He then repeated the whole sequence another time, starting from 1 and ending on the ground.

He also seemed to make eye contact with me on a few occasions, although only for a very short time. Previously, however, his eyes would just float past me as though I wasn't even there.

Moving Forward

I can't shake the feeling that I get more results from L'e by trying to reason with him rather than yell and punish him. He's also a very energetic child, so I really don't blame him if he can't sit still for long periods of time. His energetic movements also translates into him being a bit more rough than other children, which tends to upset them sometimes and land him in trouble although he was just playing on his own.

Apparently a lot of S'r's behaviour is according to schemata, which are patterns of repeatable behaviour. I wonder if the way he acted on the numbers is some sort of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, whereby he felt that "something" was wrong about the process, only he couldn't figure out what, and therefore had to keep repeating it till he felt it was right?

Entry #18, 13 November 2009

The children seemed very enthusiastic in greeting me this morning! J'a saw me through a window, waved and ran to the door to wave some more at me. F'n went “Hello Mark!” 3 times in just a few minutes.

M'n, from the 1-2s room, was in the 2-3s room today. She enthusiastically explored every area of the room. When she was in the Maths area, she reached her hand out for each of the 5 boxes which were stacked there, and gestured for me to open them one by one.

Unfortunately her curiosity also brought her to the creative area, where she managed to open a container of glitter all over the floor, which sent a staff member ballistic. Other than that, M'n was better-behaved than the 2-3s, in my opinion.

G'e was in the room again. And he choked on some pita bread! I saw him with his mouth stuffed till it was overloaded, and thought I’d better watch him, and luckily I did.

He brought his hands to his mouth, and started to convulse (it looked like he was trying to cough but couldn’t, instead only shuddering). I ran to him and gave him a few firm blows on the back, while telling him to “Spit it out! Spit it out!” which he managed to.

First came a big glob of unchewed pita bread, then he coughed up some gooey liquid, and another glob of unchewed pita bread. He seemed to be OK after that. I asked him if he was alright, and he responded “Yes”, so I told him to take a drink of water, and eat his food slowly next time.

Moving Forward
I love it when the children greet me, or take interest in what I’m doing (like asking where’s Mark gone, or what are you doing Mark?). It makes me feel like we’re actually building a proper relationship, rather than having it in their minds that I’m just some big adult bossing them around.

While some of them have a preference for sitting on my lap or hanging around me, I’ve yet to see any of them reject another adult and say “No, I want Mark” though.

I find it strange that the younger children seem better behaved. Perhaps they haven’t adjusted to their new environment, and they feel insecure. It’s a good thing that they’re accompanied by staff that they’re familiar with.

That’s the second time I’ve been around when a child was choking (I’m not counting the time a child was choking because he was trying to put a whole spoon in his mouth). It’s a frightening experience, and it seems to happen far too often for more liking.

Entry #17, 12 November 2009

Three of the children from the 1-2 age group spent the day in the 2-3s room today, to ease them into transitioning between rooms. They were O'a, G'e and C'e. I was already familiar with all 3 of them, and they were familiar with me as well.

O'a and G'e already knew my name, as they usually call out to me if they see me walking by. C'e remembered a little game I had taught her, which was to go 'Oh oh oh!' in an increasing pitch, sort of like a singing exercise.

Initially, G'e seemed to adjust well to the room. He spoke very clearly in short sentences, like saying "Help", or "Me hat", or "More". He also responded well to instructions, such as "Please sit in the book area" or "Please pick up the counters you've dropped on the floor".

During outdoor play, he even spent most of his time playing with F'n. They shared a ball, with F'n kicking it and G'e throwing it.

However, I feel G'e got a bit confused and frustrated by the rules of the 2-3s room. When he went to the sand/water area, he was told that only one person was allowed, and that person wasn’t him at the time. He also spent a lot of time trying to get some cars off other children who were hoarding them, and so he was ushered away again.

Later on G'e began putting his feet on other children, or on their chairs, which greatly upset them.

In the ICT room, the children were told that whoever sat the nicest would be rewarded by feeding the fish. B'a sat very nicely, and so fed the fish. As soon as the reward was over, she began to be exhibit challenging behaviour.

Moving Forward

I suppose it takes time for the children to get used to transitioning from one room to another. At least the 3 of them seemed relatively at ease. When I was in another nursery setting, I was responsible for accompanying a child from the 1-2s room to the 2-3s room. She was greatly upset, crying whenever I left her, and hardly even touching her food.

I wonder if G'e began to disturb the other children with his feet as a sign of protest or frustration.

I think B'a’s behaviour was a good example of the downside of using reward systems to manipulate children. Once they figure it out, they themselves will learn to use the system to their advantage.

Entry #16, 11 November 2009

I spent about 2 separate 1 hour sessions looking after S'r (the supposedly autistic child) today.

He seemed unsettled, acting like a child who was very tired. We were in the outdoor play area, and whenever I put him down, he bolted straight for the door back into the nursery. When I picked him up, he cried and struggled, but occasionally suddenly leaned his head against me and kept quiet and still, as though sleeping.

When I was holding him, I tried to make eye contact with him, but failed. I rotated my body while holding him, and his eyes seemed focused on something, because his pupils kept darting to stay in the same position. I turned around and rotated my body again, and once again his eyes seemed transfixed on something.

When we were indoors, S'r's focus seemed to be either climbing things or knocking things over. I was told he was extremely gifted, and thus was looking for a challenge by climbing things. I didn't find that very convincing at all.

Anyway, it appeared to me that he took 7-coloured triangles at random (simply from the top of the container), and stuck them together. Later on, the same staff member who told me how gifted S'r was asked me who'd put the triangles together. She then pointed out how amazing it was, because the colours were arranged exactly according to the colours of the rainbow.

I was also told he's very good with numbers. He excels at arranging numbers in order, and when given a phone/calculator he pressed the numbers in rising sequence.

Moving Forward

Having looked after S'r for only a short amount of time, I can understand why Special Education Needs children need 1-to-1 attention. He has to be watched constantly because he likes to climb things, and knock things over.

Also, his 'Special Education Needs' doesn't mean he learns at a slower pace than others. On the contrary, the child may be a genius! (I don't even know what all the colours of a rainbow are).

Despite his lack of social skills, S'r recognised the man (parent or carer, I do not know) who came to collect him, and immediately ran to him as any other child greeting a parent would. And when he's not distressed by something, I find that he's always very cheerful, laughing, smiling and singing to himself all the time.

Entry #15, 10 November 2009

M't, from the 3-4s room, is always happy to see me. She flashes a big smile, and when I call her name she'll even laughs merrily. Today, she even jumped up and down, which got her in trouble because she was meant to be lining up properly for something.

How odd that a child should be reprimanded for being happy to see me. I recall in my previous setting the preschoolers and I used to play a game, where we'd make rhymes of each other's names. Like I'd say Anna Banana, and she'd go Marky Mark. The room got a new staff member however, who was strict and told the children that's not how we talk to adults...

Moving Forward

I guess it's a bit subjective what's considered acceptable behaviour in kids, and most childcare practitioners don't have the luxury of making their own judgments, but rather have to err on the safe side. Nowadays I try to keep from rhyming kid's names, but I still do it every now and then.

Entry #14, 9 November 2009

Maybe I'm just not used to it, but I really don't like punishing or even threatening punishment on the children. It could be why they don't tend to listen to me when they're being challenging though. Most of the other staff are quick to issue threats followed by punishment, for example "Do I have to count to three?" or "Do you want to be sat on your bottom?"

I felt a silly sense of achievement today though, when L'e actually listened to what I said when I asked him nicely. He was playing under the table during snack time, and I said in a pleasant, non-threatening tone, "L'e, please come out from under the table and sit on your chair."

Maybe he was just bored of being under the table, but I hope it's because he's been bonding with me somewhat. He definitely wasn't listening to any of the other staff member's instructions, to the point that he was frequently put into time out. He's just so full of playful energy that he finds it impossible to sit still, and gets in trouble because when he plays he's rough and (I'm assuming) unintentionally hurts the other kids.

K'm was in a very cheerful mood today. He grabbed every object that had a handle, and used them as  electric guitars. He strummed enthusiastically, even mimicking a rockstar's facial expression and movements by hopping around and singing!

We also had toy coins today. I was examining one in my hand when K'm ran up to me, shouted "Money!", grabbed it from me, said "Thank you!", gave a cheeky smile and pose (like a cowboy shooting a pretend gun and going "Gotcha"), laughed heartily and quickly stuffed it in his pocket.

Moving Forward

I should probably be less reluctant in dishing out punishment to foster some authority over the children. With a room full of kids, it may not be in everybody's best interests for me to slowly speak to them one by one. I'll still try though, as often as the situation permits.

It's good to see K'm adapting more to Nursery. When I first met him, he wouldn't say a word, and would only communicate by tugging at my clothes or tapping his finger on me. He still seems terribly upset when his parents drop him off. He cries inconsolably, but as soon as his parents leave, he's smiling and playing away within minutes.