State Policies for Relative, Friend, Neighbor Providers

Over the past several weeks, I have been working with Michigan's Early Childhood Investment Corporation (ECIC) to review state practices and policies regarding initial and ongoing training requirements for relative care and day care aide (friend and neighbor) providers who care for children that qualify for state subsidy payments. We have been looking at requirements for orientation training, infant/toddler specific training, first aid/CPR training, and ongoing training. At the same time, we hope to identify any states that have tiered reimbursement systems in place for these providers that complete extra but non required training. The final report and recommendations to the Department of Human Services will be presented in early to mid November. If you are familiar with these or similar practices in your state, PLEASE consider posting a comment with the information and/or any contact information for further information. Thank you!

Answering the Hard Questions

Have you ever experienced an awkward moment when a child asks you one of those difficult questions that you aren't prepared to answer? As a constructivist by philosophy, my gut reaction is to respond with a matching question such as "what do you think?" or at least with a reflection acknowledging that I have heard the child's interest in the topic. While at a very basic level, this response buys me time to think about what might be appropriate information for a child of any given particular age, the child's response also gives me a clue into what kind of knowledge they are really seeking so that I can begin to help them search for the answers that are most meaningful to them. Here are some examples of such situations... A six year old girl asks you, "How do babies get out of their mother's stomach?" You are on a field trip to the grocery store. Three year old Peter spots an older man with an amputated leg. He says loudly and excitedly, "Hey, what happened to his other leg?" (This situation is something that my father-in-law experiences on a regular basis, so I know what kind of response he would appreciate as the "older man") Gail, who is 11, tells you about her grandmother, who has cancer. "Can you catch that from someone?" she asks quietly. Three year old Kern asks, "Are black people black all over? Are they black inside too?" For those who are just entering professions as early childhood educators and caregivers, we might hope that these kinds of questions will never be asked, but it won't be long before the blinders fall off! Please use the "comments" section to share a time when a child asked YOU a difficult question that you were not prepared for. Now that you've had time to think about the question and possible responses, how do you wish you had responded? Share your thoughts!

A Visit to Reggio Emilia, Italy

It's been one week since I returned from the Dialogues on Education International Study Group in Reggio Emilia. Now that the jetlag has subsided (and finals week is over at our University), I wanted to share just a few of the hundreds of photos that I took on my journey. Here you will see photos of the city, the wonderful place where we stayed, children's creations, and more. Since photos are not allowed to be taken inside of the schools, I will only be able to share what was taken from the outside and when lucky, what I could purchase and photograph. It is my hope that in the upcoming days and weeks, I can also share many of the inspiring quotes that were recorded in my notes during the conference (as well as the notes of the students and preschool staff that attended with me). Attending the International Study Group offered opportunities to learn and grow alongside professionals from Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Labanon, New Zealand, Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Uruguay, UK, Vietnam, and more. After meeting an American who is currently teaching preschool at the American Overseas Academy of Rome, I was also able to visit that school once the study group ended! Enjoy...

Reggio Emilia is a beautiful city where you can stand in awe of historic buildings, walk on cobblestone streets, or find your way into a quaint courtyard (or small piazza). One thing that the Friends of Reggio Children International Association does at the beginning of each study tour is to walk participants through the city center, pointing out important landmarks and points of interest. Here are just a few!

This is my second trip to Reggio Emilia, this time with six university students and some of our laboratory preschool staff. Much of our time was spent at the new Loris Malaguzzi International Center, a state of the art facility that is still under construction. Here you will see a photo of the students in the auditorium, the current entrance to the center, and several pieces that are on display at the center.

The creations of the children in Reggio Emilia are exceptionally detailed and are displayed and documented in museum quality style. Adults honor and respect this work in a way that is inspiring! Within each center that I visited, there were photos of the children engaging with the materials, three dimensional sculptures of metal and clay, weavings, translucent paintings hanging in the sunlight, and much, much more! In one infant center, photos of the children and their work were even displayed on the floor under a durable laminate, so that as children crawled and walked through the center, the photos were truely at their level!

These photos are all taken from pieces that were purchased, given as gifts, or were portions of documentation on public display at the Malaguzzi Center

As I walked back and forth from the city center to the Loris Malaguzzi center each day, my trek took me through a walkway that cut under the railroad tracks. Along this walk, I was excited to discover a running display of children's work to re-create images of 2-wheeled transportation. These panels lined the walls of the walk, including the tunnels, and included children's drawings, photos of metal sculptures, descriptions in several languages, and the children's first names and ages. What an amazing way to beautify a walkway while also valuing children's contributions to the community. At the bottom of this post, you will also see a beautiful painting on black. This is actually a black stage curtain that the children designed for the Ariosto Theater!

Responding to the Hard Questions

Have you ever experienced an awkward moment when a child asks you one of those difficult questions that you aren't prepared to answer? As a constructivist by philosophy, my gut reaction is to respond with a matching question such as "what do you think?" or at least with a reflection acknowledging that I have heard the child's interest in the topic. While at a very basic level, this response buys me time to think about what might be appropriate information for a child of any given particular age, the child's response also gives me a clue into what kind of knowledge they are really seeking so that I can begin to help them search for the answers that are most meaningful to them. Here are some examples of such situations...

A six year old girl asks you, "How do babies get out of their mother's stomach?"

You are on a field trip to the grocery store. Three year old Peter spots an older man with an amputated leg. He says loudly and excitedly, "Hey, what happened to his other leg?" (This situation is something that my father-in-law experiences on a regular basis, so I know what kind of response he would appreciate as the "older man")

Gail, who is 11, tells you about her grandmother, who has cancer. "Can you catch that from someone?" she asks quietly.

Three year old Kern asks, "Are black people black all over? Are they black inside too?"

For those who are just entering professions as early childhood educators and caregivers, we might hope that these kinds of questions will never be asked, but it won't be long before the blinders fall off!

Please use the "comments" section to share a time when a child asked YOU a difficult question that you were not prepared for. Now that you've had time to think about the question and possible responses, how do you wish you had responded? Share your thoughts!

Connecting to the Bigger Picture

Recently, I had the opportunity to view the various pieces of documentation collected within our three campus earlychildhood classrooms, as well as in two other sites that our university students participate in as they complete their student teaching. The students had two assignments...First, to capture and display an "Ordinary Moment" that truely depicts the learning that children engage in without direct planning from the teachers. The second, to share everything that they had learned about the children after spending three weeks with them in a classroom. As we visited each classroom (the whole group of student and lead teachers learned about and questionned the experiences going on within each room), I was struck by the knowledge gained about the children when the teachers were charged with truely focusing on learning about them. A future blog posting will share more about the concept of "Ordinary Moments," but for now, let me say that it is truely amazing what you can learn about the children in your care, when you step back, listen, and watch. It is worth it!! I challenge you to take a week or two and simply focus on learning more about the children and how they are playing. Of course, you must take care of immediate needs, but try to make a concentrated effort to simply listen and learn. When the children talk to you, reflect their statements back to them and see what else they might contribute. If they are actively engaged in play without talking to you, please...let them continue in their play, uninterrupted. You will be amazed at what you learn!

Recognizing and Valuing Our Children as Citizens

On a recent visit to the infant/toddler centers and preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy, I was struck by the passionate claim that we should not view and treat children as future citizens of our world, because they are in fact, already citizens, and have been since the moment that their life began. This was one of many statements that demonstrates the view that our Italian counterparts have of the child as an important contributor to the knowledge that is rapidly being constructed during each moment of the day. Each of us who has the opportunity to spend time with a child needs to consider this view, and work to honor the ideas, creativity, and contributions that children have and make, yet which often go unrecognized and unappreciated by "more knowledgeable" adults.

As I think about the recent election of and inauguration of President Barack Obama, there was evidence that children around the world had strong opinions and even ideas to share. First there were the children in Africa who attend the Senator Obama school, and who stayed up late into the night to celebrate along with their village. Here in the U.S., the most current episode of America's Funniest Home Videos showed multiple clips of very young children repeating his name and crying out as their parents teased them by saying that McCain had won. On inauguration morning, my ALMOST 2 year old niece walked by the t.v., and noticing who was on the screen said, "Barack Omamma!" Later that morning, she was heard talking to the family cat saying, "Come Molly! Barack Omamma on t.b.! Come watch!" In Michigan, a preschool teacher placed a t.v. in her classroom and then recorded the childrens reactions to the inauguration proceedings. They debated over whether the man on the screen was Barack Obama or George Washington, deciding that since George Washington was on money, he must be dead. They also helped each other figure out which man wearing a black suit and red tie might be Barack Obama (apparently there were many on stage that fit into this category). I also say many clips of children sharing their thoughts about what might be some of the most important problems for our new president to address. It shouldn't have been surprising that many of the children addressed pollution, recycling, and the need for healthier school lunches. Why, with such important contributions coming from our children, do we still think that we need to be the ones telling them all of the answers? What might happen to our world if we started listening to the insight coming from our youngest citizens? What do you think?