As I read, Rethinking Early Childhood Education from p. 49-53 the author talked about teaching different winter celebrations such as Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa etc. She was teaching children that not everyone celebrates Christmas because they have their own values and beliefs. When I was taking my first practicum class at Head Start there was a child who's family didn't celebrate any holiday's including his birthday. I feel it's important to follow their beliefs and find other ways or activities for the child or children to do around the holiday season. After I read 'Staying Past Wednesday' on p. 155-157 the author talked about a kindergartner named Jessica and how she and her brother died. How do you teach children about death or loss? I feel that this is an emotional subject to talk to children about. However, it's important that they gain an understanding of what death means. I recently, experienced a three year old girl at our school program, her mother died in a car accident when she was only two years old. She was also in the car with her mother when this happened and she is now being raised by her grandparents. Every so often when she falls or gets hurt she will cry for her mother and would sometimes say "mommy not here." What should you do to help children cope with death? If children are feeling sad we try to comfort, talk, and help them get through the hard times.
In chapter 5 New Possiblilities for ECE the author talked about her experiences on teaching child health, safety, and nutrition to college students. The women in her class worked in small groups to discuss the importance of safety such as, always have someone supervising the children. For the topic health they discussed the dangers of what would happen if you shake a baby such as, brain damage and blindness. The women also shared their life experience with the class.
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So, what did you or the other staff do when the child fell and started to cry for her mother? I mean I know that when some of my children first start coming to school or are returning from a long break that they experience some difficulty separating from their parent and sometimes cry for their parent. I comfort my children by telling them what we are going to do during the day and that at the end, that mom and dad always come back. But what do you say to a child when you know their mom or dad is not going to come back?
ReplyDeletehi dawn!
ReplyDeleteCeleberations and Holidays are a common topic that comes up in early childhood programs. Some early childhood programs seem to build their curriculum around holidays, just going from one to the other on the calendar. I personally believe it is important to honor the traditions of all the children and families in your program. This helps to strengthen the connection between family home and school. In your blog, you mentioned during your practicum, you encountered a child who didn't celebrate any holidays. How did the teachers respect this child and family? At your center how does your staff choose what holidays to celebrate?
-suzanne
Aloha Dawn,
ReplyDeleteI have a child who sneezed that I responded, "Bless you." The child told me, "My mom said, not to say bless you, it's excused me." Oops. yes, I should say excused you instead of bless you. This child's family came from Jehovah witness and does not celebrate any event not even his own birthday. At that moment I reminded myself to respect his belief and values. I need to be aware that I do have other activities for that child to participate on. Do you have any problem and difficulties finding and searching other activities or strategies for to teach this child?
Hi Dawn,
ReplyDeleteI wonder more about how the readings are challenging your views on teaching and learning.
As I think about the influence of holidays on the classroom, I wonder why this is so central to our teaching. As a child, I remember being in school (about 30 years ago) where Christmas was the primary part of learning. I wonder how Christmas is reflective of the majority of the world and other holidays are placed aside. Should our classrooms reflect the majority? What does this imply about how the world is viewed? Does this influence how children see the world? How might classrooms change if the majority was secondary and minority ideas were positioned as primary?
I am continuing to think about this....
Jeanne
Hi Dawn!
ReplyDelete“Wow!” My prayers goes out to that three year old girl and her family. In the school that I work at, there’s counselors who are trained to work with children experiencing a lost like that. I’ve learned that as a teacher, I want my students to be able to come to me with anything on their mind, or anything that there are experiencing and if I don’t have the answer and/or solution, I will find someone (a professional) who will know the answer and solution.
“Yes!” Death is a very sensitive and emotional subject to talk about, especially when talking to children about it. I feel as a teacher I know my limits and I’m so glad that there are other resources that can help me out with this subject. I hope there is some resources in your school that can help you out with this subject?
Hi!
ReplyDeleteWow! I can't imagine what I would do when there's a death in the family. Yes, we read stories about death and how to cope with the person. But putting in a real life situation is much harder than you think. It's really nice to hear that you have concerns and want to help. When she's hurt and say mommy maybe you both can speak to her spirit. Explain to her she can always talk to her when she's by herself or with you when she's down. Mention that she's not able to see her but she there in her heart forever.