For this week’s blog post we were suppose to observe an adults with a child. Well I had the opportunity to do this observation on a two hour bus trip to see the Mayan ruins in Mexico. The adults and child all spoke Spanish so it was hard for me to understand all of what they were saying, but you could tell that the little girl was the center of attention. By watching the nonverbal cues and facial express they were all having a good time on the bus. My Spanish is limited as I have said before but I could hear that someone was counting with her in Spanish and saying her alphabet. This seemed very appropriatebecause she looked to be about 4 years old. This little girl did very well on the bus with everyone and every now and then she would turn around and I would try to visit with her the best I could, her mother would help me out, because she knew English. This little girl was very animated and was making the adults that she was with laugh and smile. You could tell that she was comfortable with them and with me and who she was. “They need to feel respected, and they need to fee grounded in themselves and accepted for who they are, and heard” (Laureate Education Inc., 2011). I think that the adults that were communicating with the child, did a nice job of making her feel confident and her self-worth was amazing. She knows who she is and is not afraid to show it, even at a young age. The adults knew who to communicate with her, and encourage her, by what she was doing. “ Children communicate, really, all different ways and use their bodies so much that if you’re sensitive, you can really pick up about cues about how to communicate” (Laureate Education Inc., 2011).
I feel that I communicate with children on the same level as the observation I made. Observation of young children is the key to see how to communicate with them. That is a big part of my job. I want to get to know my students so I observe them with other kids and with their family. Making the child feel safe and loved is another part. That is what the adults and mom did for that little girl and that is what I try to do in my classroom.
Resources:
Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Communicating with young children.Baltimore, MD: Author
Rachael,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! This is the perfect example to show you that spoken language is not the only means of communication! There are so many other components of communication that can help us to understand and relate to one another. Despite the language barrier, you were able to observe and analyze this interaction very well. You are absolutely right: "Children need to feel that, to know who they are, and…they need to feel respected, and they need to feel grounded in themselves and accepted for who they are and heard," (Laureate Education, Inc., 2011).
Ashley Richards
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (2011). Strategies for working with diverse children: Communicating with young children. Baltimore, MD: Laureate Education, Inc.
Rachel, your description of your observation of communication between an adult and a child really illustrates how deeply you have internalized the concepts we have been learning about this week and it was interesting to read how you were able to apply what we have been learning as well as your natural skills to a situation where you were in a foreign environment surrounded by people from a culture different than yours. Respectful communication between children and adults is so important to building positive self-concepts and social identities that resonate with strength.
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