One Seven Helping

FAMILY CHILD CARE TRAINING PROGRAM

LEVEL ONE - UNIT SEVEN

HELPING CHILDREN GROW AND DEVELOP

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. Reviewing caregiver’s role in supporting children’s development.
2. Understanding the importance of children’s social and emotional development.
3. Developing approaches that support children’s healthy social and emotional development.
4. Developing approaches to encourage children’s feeling of acceptance and belonging.

CHATTER BOX

"After twenty years of experience caring for children and extensive training around child development and care I would offer four pieces of advice to every caregiver. 1. Talk with children, not to them. 2. Read to children, from birth to adolescence. It is never too early or too late to share the wonder of books with children. 3. Share the world of music with children. Music calms, stimulates and moves us. Quite simply it makes the world a more beautiful place. 4. And this is really last, but not least, never stop learning all you can about children and their development. The day you think you know all there is to know, is the day you should retire!"

THE BASICS Each child is born with their own unique potential. In order to achieve this potential, children need nurturing care which supports their growth. Your role is a crucial one. You help children reach their potential by:
· accepting each child as an individual deserving of respect;
· meeting each child’s basic needs;
· providing a supportive learning environment and activities that encourage each child’s growth and development and allow them to learn about themselves and their world.

Accepting each child...     Everyone wants to be liked and respected for who they are. Children need to feel this acceptance so that they can develop self-esteem. They are dependent on the primary caretakers in their lives, their parents and their caregivers, to understand them and encourage their growth. Children in full-time home child care spend more waking hours with their caregivers than they do with their parents and that is why it is so important that the messages that you give them help them feel good about themselves.
    Including toys, activities, foods and practices that reflect children’s culture, language and lifestyle, into your daily environment and routines is essential in giving children a sense of acceptance and belonging.
All children grow, learn and go through the same stages of development. You should have a basic idea about the typical stages of development so that you will know what to expect. However, not all children develop at the same rate and at the same time. Some will develop more quickly in one area than another. Each child follows his own timetable.
    Each new developmental stage presents a challenge to the child, and to you. These are special times in each child’s development when they are trying to master a milestone, such as learning to walk or learning to use the toilet, when they will become frustrated. It is the energy of this frustration that pushes them on to achieve their task. Usually before any growth spurt the child will experience temporary frustration and/or regression. These difficult periods often occur during times of change, such as when starting day care or kindergarten.
    It is during these times of stress that children can become overly demanding and their behaviour can be frustrating for their caregivers. An example of this is during the notorious "terrible two’s" when children are trying to assert their independence. It’s difficult to deal with this negativity and the constant use of the word "NO!" (One caregiver noted she counted how many times a two year old going through a rather stubborn period said ‘no’ to her in one child care day - it was 47 times!) This is the time when you have to realize that the child’s behaviour is not personal and fortunately, it’s not permanent. There are just certain stages that children pass through in order to grow and develop. On the up side, when children do achieve their milestone or learn to cope with new situations and change, they will be happy in their success.
    An important part of accepting children is dealing positively with the difficult times as well as the good. Children behave as they do for a reason. If you have a baby in care who is very demanding, try to find out why and then look for solutions. Is the baby new to care and having difficulty adapting? Have there been any recent significant changes at home? Is the baby teething? Or, is she getting ready to sit, crawl or walk and feeling frustrated with her efforts? What can you do to help?
    Provide support and experiences that will help a child achieve the milestone that they are working on. Is a child having trouble adjusting to the day care? Take time to provide extra attention and effort. Is an infant learning to walk?   Encourage baby by taking him or her for hand-held walks and by providing safe available surfaces, such as couches and foot stools to hold on to. Is a child trying to assert his or her independence? Provide positive ways that will involve personal choice such as choosing their beverage at snack time or which job they want to do at tidy-up time. Your active involvement with the child’s efforts will benefit both of you.
    You can’t eliminate demanding behaviours but you can change your response to them. Remind yourself that no matter how annoying the stage, it is temporary and a part of the development process. Try to see each stage as a challenge - what can you do to help? If you find yourself feeling frustrated, first employ your sense of humour. If you’re still tense call a friend, or take everyone for a brisk walk to the park. The worst thing that you could do would be to let your frustration interfere with your supportive relationship with the child.
    Remind yourself that children aren’t having any better a time going through a difficult stage than the adults around them are having living with the stage. They are also being challenged by these stages and need our continued support and guidance. Being patient and accepting of the ups and downs of childhood shows children that they have a caregiver that they can depend on. Our acceptance and encouragement will help them achieve their goals.

CHATTER BOX

"I’ve always gotten a lot of emotional satisfaction from my work as a caregiver. But I have to admit after three or four years, I wasn’t feeling very challenged by my work. I had really fallen into a routine of caregiving. I registered for a short course on child development as a way to renew my enthusiasm and it really sparked something in me. I realized that I was always thinking about, and planning for, the whole group. When I started looking at the children individually, where they were in their development, and what I could do to help them achieve their individual goals, it opened up a whole new way of thinking for me and a whole new world of challenges."

MEETING CHILDREN’S BASIC NEEDS All children must have their basic needs satisfied so that they can grow and develop. Understanding the importance of these needs and finding ways to meet them makes an important contribution to the child’s ability to develop to his or her full potential.

Meeting children’s basic needs forms the foundation for growth and development.
Ø Children need a safe environment where they are free to play and explore.
Ø Children need good health so that they will have the energy and enthusiasm for living and learning.
Ø Children need to feel secure and understood so that they can reach for independence.
Ø Children need to feel loved and capable in order to develop positive attitudes about themselves.
Ø Children need to learn to get along with others. Learned social skills help them become a part of the bigger world.

Children need to be safe and feel safe. Child-proofing your home child care environment provides children with the opportunity to play freely and explore the world around them, an important part of learning. Helping children develop their own safety skills gives you the confidence of knowing that the children will be safe when direct supervision is not available as children grow older.

Children need good health.   Good health brings the energy necessary for growth and development. Caregivers can meet children’s health needs in many ways. By providing healthy foods, a clean environment, and attention to healthy habits such as hand washing and exercise, you are showing the children that you care about them.
    Consider each child’s individual physical needs. Infants require gentle, frequent personal care such as diaper changing, feeding and cuddling. Older children need to be kept clean, comfortable and well-fed so that they will feel good about themselves. And all children need fresh air and physical activity.
    Show the children that you care about their health and encourage them to feel the same. Teaching them how to care for, and about, their own bodies will have positive effects on their health for a lifetime.

Children need to feel secure and understood. Children depend on the adults around them to care for their needs. In order to develop a sense of trust in their world they need to feel safe, and understood by those adults. Your home child care is really a second home for your day care family. Having a place where they can just be themselves and where their feelings are respected will give children the opportunity to feel good about themselves and develop a positive self-image.
There are many ways that you can help children feel secure.
Ø Let each child know, with words, smiles or hugs, that you care for him or her.
Ø Treat each child as an individual and meet his needs: feeding each child when he/she is hungry, letting him/her rest when tired and comforting him/her when frightened or hurt.
Ø Follow consistent routines within a regular schedule every day. This gives children a sense of order and the security of knowing what comes next.
Ø Gather together early in the day to talk about the upcoming day. Discuss any outings or activities that you have planned.
Ø A security object, such as a blanket or bear, gives children comfort and reassurance and helps them deal with their feelings. At stressful times, such as when a child starts into care, their need for their special object may increase. Be patient and always allow this comfort at rest time. When you accept a child’s need for security, you are sending that child a message that you are accepting him or her.
Ø Give the children words to talk about their feelings. "You were really angry at John for breaking your tower of blocks." "You feel so proud of your painting."
Ø Respect children’s feelings and encourage them to express them in appropriate ways. Hitting is not an acceptable reaction to anger, but telling the person how you feel is.
Ø Show children non-verbal ways to express and work through their feelings, for example, art, music and physical activity.
Ø Read stories that describe children in typical situations and how they feel and react. Talk to children about the stories and the feelings.

Children need to feel good about themselves. Children feel loved when they know that they are appreciated for who they are, not just for what they achieve. Discover and celebrate the unique strengths of each child in your care so that you can help them believe in themselves.

There are many ways to help children feel good about themselves.
Ø Point out their positive qualities and provide encouragement and positive reinforcement for all their efforts.
Ø Be available for the children. Meeting such needs as thirst or hunger; helping out with a game or activity; sitting down to watch a "play" that’s been planned; or taking the time to answer questions and/or chat; all help the children feel significant.
Ø Do things that tell them that they’re special. Take and display photos of the children. Display their art work and creations. Have their name marking a place where they hang their jacket or store their personal items. Celebrate their success and achievements, large and small.
Ø Speak positively about the children, especially in front of them.
Ø Respect their ideas, wishes and interests. Follow-up on their interests with resources and activities; let them suggest the menu for lunch, choose the book for story-time or suggest an outing.
Ø Plan special events and activities that you know the children will enjoy. Celebrate their birthdays or other special occasions with a special treat, activity or outing.
Ø Thank the children when they have helped out, for example, at clean-up time or tying a toddler’s shoes. These comments will show your appreciation of them, and reinforce these positive behaviours.
Ø Let them know that they can count on you to be available to help them work out their problems, or to set consistent, safe limits for them.
Ø Touch is one of the most powerful messages of caring. Showing the children that they are huggable and lovable will go a long way in helping them gain a positive outlook on life and themselves. Pre-school children are often real "cuddle bugs" but you will probably sense what younger and older children are comfortable with in terms of physical affection.

ACTIVITY

Develop a list of at least 20 positive words that you can use to help build children’s self esteem.

Children need to feel capable. Feeling capable has to do with mastering behaviours such as being able to listen and follow directions; learning self-help skills such as dressing; and learning how to recognize and print your name. Nothing succeeds like success and when children start to feel capable, they are motivated to try to do more and more. Caregivers can help children feel capable by providing opportunities for success and encouraging children to keep trying.

Here are some ways that you can help children feel capable.
Ø Encourage the children to be self-sufficient. Take each child’s developmental level into consideration and encourage an appropriate behaviour. Even young toddlers will enjoy rubbing their hands together under running water to wash their hands. For slightly older children encourage such skills as setting the table or clearing away their own dishes.
Ø Remember that everyone develops at their own time and at their own pace. Tailor your activities to match each child’s individual capability so that everyone in the group will feel equal success. For example, if you are baking muffins, school-agers could gather the ingredients and do the measuring, toddlers can dump the ingredients in the bowl and help mix, while preschoolers could butter the muffin tins and spoon the batter in. What’s baby doing? Watching and listening to all the action!
Ø Start by giving the children things that they can do easily, such as puzzles that they can put together with ease. After they have succeeded, give them more challenging things to try.
Ø Encourage the children to "Try, Try, Try, Again." Reassure them that making mistakes is part of any learning process so that they won’t become discouraged and give up trying.
Ø Allow enough time to let children work on a new skill such as putting on their own shoes. It might seem easier and faster to just do it yourself, but they need to practice. When you feel impatient, try to imagine the day when everyone in your group ties their own shoes!
Ø Help children learn to follow directions by breaking tasks down into smaller, manageable steps and keeping your directions clear and simple. Tidying up the play area might be broken down into tasks like 1) put the blocks in the green box; 2) put the cars in the yellow basket; 3) put the books on the bookshelf. You can also incorporate practice for following directions in play. For example "Find something blue and put it on the table. Find something round and put it on the floor, etc."
Ø Encourage the children to play by themselves sometimes, with such activities as drawing or puzzles.
Ø Help the children learn basic information about themselves and where they live. Teach them their full name, address, phone number and your name and number.

CHATTER BOX

"I finally found the secret to helping little ones learn phone numbers - we put them to music. Somehow singing the numbers makes it easier for the children to learn. This has created some amusing situations though. When we registered for story hour at the library, the children heard the librarian asking me for my phone number and they all burst into song."

Ø Have the children help out in your day care home with such tasks as playing with younger children, helping clean up the toys or setting the table. Don’t forget to reinforce with lots of praise.
Ø Acknowledge the children when they have accomplished something, no matter how small the accomplishment.

ACTIVITY

Think of at least three typical activities that go on each day in your home. How could children of different stages of development be included in the activity?

Children need to get along with others. Everyone has to learn to get along with others. In a home child care situation, children have the opportunity to learn about making friends, to play and share, and to work and co-operate. Because there is often a mixed age group, the children also learn to get along with younger and older children.

There are many ways that caregivers can help children get along with others.
Ø Teach children some of the strategies for making and keeping friends. These include: smiling and greeting others by name; sharing and taking turns; being interested in what others are doing and asking them questions; listening carefully when others speak; giving compliments that you really mean; and sticking up for those who are already your friends and saying good things about them.
Ø Help children gain the confidence and ability to communicate their needs, feelings and thoughts to other people. Encourage them to practice this skill by asking them questions and taking time to listen to their answers without interruption.
Ø Help children develop an awareness of the needs of others. "No loud voices please, baby Emily is having her nap." or "We are waiting for Katie to come home from school so that we can have our snack together."
Ø Teach young children that some things are their own, such as a security blanket, and they don’t have to be shared. Other toys, books and play equipment do.
Ø Younger children are just learning to share and will require more guidance from you.
Ø You may have to initiate sharing by reminding the child that he or she has had a long turn with the toy and now it’s someone else’s turn. Once children begin to grasp the concept of taking turns, sharing becomes slightly easier because they too will be getting a turn.
Ø Foster a feeling of teamwork by organizing a group project. Making a large mural for the wall which includes everyone’s art work will be a source of pride for everyone. Cooking together is another enjoyable group activity.
Ø Encourage the children to care for each other. Buddy up an older child with a younger one. The older child can help the younger, and will benefit from the admiration of his little buddy. Ask the younger children to help prepare an afternoon snack for the school- agers or to entertain the baby. Everyone has a role that they can fill and it will help them feel like an important part of the group.

Providing a supportive learning environment and activities... Children learn about themselves and their world through their daily experiences with the people, environment and events around them. Children’s daily experiences have a significant effect on their growth and development and that is why caregivers play such an important role in helping children learn. Providing children with individual support and interesting experiences will help children discover the joy of learning.
Children learn about themselves when you help them sort out and articulate their feelings; gain insight into their own unique qualities; gain confidence in their abilities; and learn to deal with others. As you share their everyday life with them, you can help them feel good about who they are and offer gentle guidance and encouragement when needed.

Talk with the children as you go through the day together. Answer their questions (after question, after question...) with simple straightforward answers and discuss your thoughts and ideas with them. Sharing activities such as making muffins for snack, sorting the laundry or watering the plants can become fun learning experiences for everyone. As you’re walking to the park, you can talk about the names of the streets and the street signs, the dogs or cats that you see, or look for all of the houses that have a number three beside their door. Take advantage of these casual opportunities to help children learn about the world around them. Children are interested in everything around them, so the possibilities are endless.

Provide books, toys and activities that are open-ended. That is, that they supply ideas that will create continued play. After reading a book about starting school, you might encourage the children to talk about their feelings about going to school, and then play school themselves. Playing with a plastic farm set may spark an interest in paying a visit to a real farm and finding out more about animals. Building blocks, such as Lego, can be played with over and over again and children particularly enjoy this activity because they can decide for themselves on the direction that their creation will take.

Share your own interests with the children. Talking about your own ideas and beliefs will expand the children’s world and establish a connection between you. Do you love reading? Then you will probably enjoy reading stories with the kids. Help them become comfortable finding their way around the library and teach them about the joy of books. Do you enjoy nature? Share your knowledge and enthusiasm with the children, in your backyard, on your walks or at the park, about birds, squirrels, plants and trees. Cooking, crafts or computers - choose an activity that you enjoy and share it with the children in your care.

Build on the interests of individual children within your day care group as well. A child will feel special and appreciated when the focus is on his or her particular interest. If there is a child in the group who is especially interested in fish, for example, he might be invited to bring some related books and toys from home to share with the group along with any information that he has. Others in the group could then be encouraged to add their own items and information to further build on the interest. You could arrange for a field trip to a museum and additional supporting activities as a follow-up. This kind of active learning is very responsive to the children’s interest and would be enjoyable as well as informative.

ACTIVITY

Make a list of each child in your care, and your own children. Beside each child’s name write at least one subject/activity that child has shown an interest in (e.g. cars, bug collecting, dinosaurs). Now think about and jot down ideas that you could use to support that interest.

EVALUATION

OPTIONS
5) ASSIGNMENT
6) QUIZ

ASSIGNMENT

1. On separate pages in a journal (use a note book or stapled pages of lined paper), list the name of each of the children in your care, including your own.
2. On each child’s page identify and list for each child, milestones or developmental stages that they are currently working through. For example an infant might be learning to sit on their own or an older infant to pull themselves to a standing position, a toddler to walk unassisted or to share, a preschooler might be learning to dress themselves or to recognize letters, a school-ager might be dealing with new responsibilities and learning to manage their time effectively or developing street-safety skills.
3. Now list at least one activity that you will include in your daily practice to encourage each child’s development in one of those areas you have identified.
4. Each week, note in your journal any progress the child has made in that area, and any other activities you want to try.
5. Maintain the journal for at least a month and use it as a way to measure both the child’s progress and your own contribution in helping the child meet developmental challenges.

QUIZ

1. What are some of the important ways that you can show acceptance to each child as an individual?

2. What are some of the ways you can help a child of a culture or language different from your own to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance?

3. What are some of the things you could do to help a child who is experiencing frustration when trying to learn a new skill?

4. What are some of the ways you can help a child feel a sense of security?

5. How can you help children develop self-esteem?

6. How can you help children learn to get along with others?

7. What are some of the ways you can encourage children to express their emotions?

8. What are some of the activities/strategies you would use to encourage self-sufficiency in a three year old child?

9. Learning to follow directions is an important part of school-readiness. What are some of the activities/strategies you would use to help young children develop the ability to follow directions?

10. How could a toddler help out at lunch time? A preschooler? A school-aged child?