Blog Post 4 Bilingual
Education and Academic Success Blog Journal/ MBoddie
Observing and Interacting With Families
of the Children in Your Setting:
Name: Monica Boddie
Date Observed:
February 22, 2013
Name of
Program/Setting: Christopher House Up Town
Whom I spoke with: The
parent of Juleana Gonzalez, and the parent of Josue Ruiz
I continued to go into the field
to observe and interact with professionals, children, and families in my
setting. My experiences were interactive, and I came during a time when the
study theme was a cooking exercise. As an early childhood professional, I work
with children and their families over a sustained period of time and have
created a bond with the children as well as the families. I have observed the
growth and development of the children and I listened to the thoughts of family
members regarding the program/school, their children, and other areas of
interest and concern.
As I consider how to
engage family members, and encourage them to share their thoughts and needs
regarding advocacy as well as the advocacy work in which they may be involved;
I listened intently to their responses. As a childhood professional it is
important that I support the families’ efforts, connect them with appropriate
resources, and/or empower them to help themselves. As I think of the ways in
which I would like to be treated as a child’s parent or family member, my first
thought is respect and concern for me and my family. I bring sensitivity and
respect to your interactions. Because of home visits, parent conferences and
face to face interactions I have gained a rapport with the children and their
families.
My area of interest in the early childhood field is the importance
of bilingual education and academic success. Bilingual education means teaching
in two languages, in the child’s mother tongue and in the secondary language.
My purpose is to advocate for the children and the families so that they will
have equality in education and a plan for educational success, no matter what
language that they speak.
Three focus questions:
- What can teachers to in the classroom to have rich
language based environment that promotes natural language development?
- What can I do to help students make the transition from
their native language to English?
- What are the methods of teaching bilingual education at
the early childhood level?
These three focus questions are answered
through out the classroom during interactions with the students and the
families as well as through out the materials in the learning environment. Ways
in which educators can give of themselves while learning about others is
essential within my advocacy plan. Language rich environments, transitioning to
native languages, and teaching bilingual education are an intricate part of the
classroom setting. When anyone walks into the classroom they can see by the
environment if in fact bilingual education is being taught and respected.
Questions asked while
observing
and interacting with the Families
of the
Children in My Program/Setting:
1. How does language
impact behavior?
2. What can teachers to in the classroom to have rich language
based environment that promotes natural language development?
3. What can I do to help students make the transition from
their native language to English?
4. What methods are
necessary for teaching at the early childhood level?
Whom you observed and
interacted with in your setting during this module:
The parent of Juleana Gonzalez
and the parent of Josue Ruiz
During the moments when I spoke with the parents the students often came
over from their activities to share their interactions with me and their family
members. My first interview was with Ms. Gonzalez and her husband. Ms Gonzalez
did most of the talking however Mr. Gonzalez did add some input. The children
were interacting in a cooking activity with their parents. I noticed that there
were not many parents there for the activity. During my interview Juleana came
over often to bring foods for her mother to taste. Mr. Gonzalez was making a
pizza with Juleana while Mrs. Gonzalez talked. I asked Mrs. Gonzalez the
following questions:
1. How does language
impact behavior?
Mrs. Gonzalez stated
that language is very important in relation to behavior because communication
is key in all situations.
2. What can teachers to in
the classroom to have rich language based environment that promotes natural
language development?
Mrs. Gonzalez stated
that the teachers can continue to ask for parent volunteers and utilize them through
out the classroom. The teachers can bring in guess speakers, encourage the
children to explore books and magazines, and during interactions at home
encourage more language in the children’s native tongue.
3. What can I do as an
educator to help students make the transition from their native language to
English?
Mrs. Gonzalez stated
that she sees that I love and respect the students and their families and that
I should continue to be a voice for them. Providing resources is an area that
Mrs. Gonzalez likes and she feels that I should continue to find resources for
the child and the family.
4. What methods are necessary for teaching at the
early childhood level?
Mrs. Gonzalez stated
that understanding the child and where they come from is essential when
teaching at the early childhood level.
I asked if there was
anything that she would like to share and Mrs. Gonzalez stated that she feels
that having the parents to come in to volunteer and to participate is great.
Once the other parents hear about the activities from the other parent’s maybe
they will take time to come in also. I shook her hand and thanked her as she
and I went over to interact in the pizza making activity.
My next parent that I interviewed was Ms. Ruiz; she appeared to
be more introverted and appeared not as talkative as the parent before. I am
not comparing parent I am a making an observation based on my observation of
her child and her interactions in the classroom.
Questions asked while
observing
and interacting with the Families
of the
Children in My Program/Setting:
- How does language impact behavior?
Ms Ruiz says that
language is important and that if a child does not have language they will communicate
with their bodies. Ms Ruiz stated that her daughter is quiet even at home
however when she is in an environment that challenges her she behaves
differently.
- What can teachers to in the
classroom to have rich language based environment that promotes natural
language development?
Ms Ruiz stated that having the families to share
article from their culture and bringing activities shared in their culture to
school to share with their friends is a great way of encouraging language.
- What can I do as an educator to
help students make the transition from their native language to English?
- Ms Ruiz says continue to
support the child and not feel that if the child is corrected when they
say something wrong they will feel bad. Have more posters on the walls and
change them from day to day to show how others live within their own
culture.
- What methods are necessary for teaching at the
early childhood level?
Ms Ruiz stated that a good education and love of
children are necessary for teaching at the childhood level.
I
asked Ms Ruiz if she had anything else to say and she laughed and said “I
better get back to my pizza making my baby keeps giving me dirty looks.” Ms
Ruiz and I went over to the table just in time for the kitchen worker to come
with a big pan to take the pizzas to the confection oven to bake. The parents
wanted to know why we could not bring the small oven to the classroom.
We
had to explain that there are rules and regulations put in place to protect the
safety of the children. The teacher helped the children to sing a song and to
participate in finger plays while waiting for the pizza. The children learned
the recipe which was placed on the wall with words and pictures. The words were
in English as well as the home language of the child.
One of the parents said that she has a recipe
book in Spanish and that the class could use it as they modify some of the
techniques for an age appropriate level of children.
·
Any special learning experiences you may have had or an
experience that provided you with insight about children and families including
advocacy efforts
I noticed that the parents appeared to be very happy to see
lessons taught in both English and in Spanish, and that their seemed to be
curiosity when the children sang songs and participated in finger plays in both
languages.
·
At least two insights gained from your observations of, and
interactions and experiences with, children’s families regarding advocacy
efforts and needs related to your area of interest within the field of early childhood
My insights that I gained is that the parents and families
talked about their hopes and dreams often, and stated tat speaking proper English
will help their dreams to come true. Another insight that I had was as the students
were curious about the names of the materials that they were using, some would
say the names of the materials in both languages and ask for clarification.
Teachers who do not speak another language need to be careful when
communicating not to say the words incorrectly.
Quotes that I will share in my blog this week…
Bad language is not good it only confuses you when you are trying to get a
better understanding.
