Week 11 - Presentations
November 13, 2014
-Roots of Empathy, basics baby as teacher, 27 week program, teaches empathy -program vs centre
One of the presentations today was about a program called Roots of Empathy, that is run wherever it is required or when someone asks for the program to come to their school or centre. It was interesting to hear about a child related program that is not simply a day to day care centre. The program was based on learning about babies, and the philosophy was "babies as the teachers". It encouraged the children in the program to learn empathy and how to care for and interact with babies. I found this presentation interesting as I could see the program being very useful for children and families who are expecting new babies or have recently brought a new child into their family. A sibling can be a large adjustment for a young child and for a family, and this program would be very helpful in teaching the young child to understand that babies do have feelings, and what they can do to help and care for those feelings.
-Turner Fenton Play School - half day, hs room converted, hs kids get to work in the room for credit, observation booth, consistent buddy, run programming (book circle, learning circle, craft, bulletin board)
We also had a presentation on the Turner Fenton Play School, which I found to be incredibly interesting. This centre was a half day program that occurs part time during the week at a high school in a converted high school classroom. The high school students enrolled in family theory courses get the opportunity to put what they are learning in class into practice in the play school and to learn how to incorporate programming for the children. I am extremely jealous of all of the individuals involved in this program. I would have loved to have this opportunity while I was in high school, as I would have been far more prepared for my practicum experiences once arriving at university.
I did however find the "buddy system" that was run in the room to be a bit odd. Each high school student was paired with a young child in the program to travel around the room with and to play with throughout their duration in the room. I personally believe that this does not allow for relationship building with other children in the room. I believe it would be ideal for the high school students to use the buddy system for a period of time, but to then allow for mingling among the other young children to encourage more relationships.
Another thing that I liked about this program was the fact that the room incorporated an observation booth. This allowed for students doing projects or observations to use this area to watch the children and go unnoticed. I think observation booths are so wonderful as they allow for the observers to watch the children in a more natural environment. If a child knows you are observing them, they often act unnatural or different than they normally would.
Again, another great class of presentations. It is so great to hear about so many different child care programs in the general area.











