Brainstorming for Next Year

As part of our state's standards, we are required to have a family literacy night every year. While I was getting ready for my field experience this morning, I came up with an idea for our night next year.

I'd like to do a family read-a-thon. The kids could collect pledges on a per book basis, and we could use the money we raise to support a charity (not sure which one yet). The actual night would be two hours of reading as a family and participating in various activities. It would serve two purposes; one being to teach kids to give by supporting a charity and another being to teach families strategies to use as they read together at home.

I'm sure my board would be behind this idea. They have always supported my attempts to bring in families. I'm excited! It makes me sad, though, that I have to wait so long to put this plan in action...I don't want to wish summer away, but I am looking forward to next year. There are so many things I'd like to do differently.

In other news, my field experience has gotten better. One of the things I've learned is that the center has an excellent idea of what their care should of infants should be. They have a great daily schedule that includes early literacy skills as well as a great deal of fine and gross motor skills. The problem is that there doesn't seem to be a clear idea of who is in charge in each room. No one plans anything on a daily basis, because no one knows who's job it is.

I have been noticing a lot more adult to baby interaction, so I'm feeling much better about that. I was reading at article last night in Young Children about communicating with babies. One thing that stuck out to me was the idea of starting a conversation with the infant before handling him/her. I think we, adults, often forget that babies are humans who deserve respect; we pick them up and move them around as if they are toys. I don't think we mean to disrespect them by doing this. We just want to love them and keep them safe. The article talked about how when we do things like this, we are telling the infant that what s/he wants doesn't actually matter. We really need to talk with the infants - tell them what we're going to do with them and ask them for permission (if they are old enough to understand and respond). I just thought that was a powerful point. We wouldn't want someone to come over, pick us up, and move us somewhere us without a good reason, so why shouldn't we give babies the same respect?

I have two more days in the infant room, and then I'm moving on to preschoolers. While I love how cute and cuddly the babies are, I'm looking forward to seeing someone else handle preschoolers. I teach by myself and it can be easy to get stuck in a rut because I don't have new ideas being presented to me on a regular basis. Watching someone else will, hopefully, open new doors for me.