Rexdale's Cradle Rockers

I Only Have Eyes For You

Whenever a candidate goes to interview for a directorship, it is common to receive a job description.  This job description generally says the director is responsible for everything...including but not limited to hiring/firing of staff, staff development, curriculum development, facility maintenance, tuition collection, public relations, and licensing and accreditations.

So imagine my surprise when I discovered that there were actually two jobs that fell under my jurisdiction that had not been spelled out.  The first was a simple circular cement depression directly in front of our entrance/exit door.  It was no problem on sunny days.  But on rainy days it took on an agenda of its own.  Slowly it would fill with water, raindrop after raindrop, until it had developed into a lovely splashing puddle just right for small children.  But just wrong for keeping the building dry and accident free from slipping and sliding. 

Therefore, each rainy day it always amazed me that so many staff members could walk right through that puddle of water and never see it. So there I was, first thing before I took my coat off, grabbing a broom and sweeping away that water.  No one saw it and no one missed it when I took care of it either.

The next, unwritten obligation/responsibility I seemed to have was fetching and putting on a new roll of toilet paper in the public bathroom.  Understandably that bathroom was used by nearly every parent that came and went as well as every staff member.  Yet, I can not tell you how many times I entered only to find that the toilet tissue roll was empty...yet again.

Now here's the funny thing.  The janitor always left several rolls of toilet tissue in that bathroom.  Yet time after time I would find that no roll had had the protective tissue removed let alone placed in the holder.  The only one who saw it, I guess, was me.

These are the little things that college classes never ever mention let alone teach.  Maybe beoming a child care center director is a little like becoming a parent.  If you knew all that was involved you might never opt in.

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

It seems to me that one of the benefits of being a child is being able to be noisy. That wonderful, unrestricted joy of making sound at will is a necessary part of growing up.

At our center we have noise making opportunities. As soon as you enter the building there is a very large, low hung wind chime that students can ring upon arrival and departure. Sometimes the office can hardly answer the phone because there is so much excitement over ringing the chimes. When the teachers are taking a class outside, I've seen them stop, examine the chimes, and then ask the children to identify the loud or soft sounds it can make. Whichever they opt for, they always leave the building smiling.

Next to the office door is an old fashion dinner bell in the shape of an Indian. It is a much smaller piece, and for the younger children requires the parent to either lift them up to ring it or the parent must ring it. And ring away they do. The deep sound produces some pretty interesting faces on listeners.

Inside the office there is a much smaller wind chime with only three little pipes that can be struck with a triangle shaped handle.

Its neighbor is a very large gong. Generally it sits on a ledge accessible to the children, but sometimes it sits on the floor and even the very small children take turns striking the big gong.

A child care center should be a happy place and it should produce happy sounds. Having the chance to make happy noise is such a wonderful way to express oneself.

Win Or Lose

In the natural progression of events, most parents are eager to see only success for their children. And rightly so. After all, their job slot as parents is to be the main cheerleader through the child's life. Teachers and child care providers often see this in its extreme form when they take new children into their classes.

Sometimes it comes in the form of down and out competition. The biggest birthday party, the most designer clothes, or special privileges. Sometimes, in group living, one of the most difficult lessons learned is that not all contenders can be winners. Sometimes the greatest of lessons to be learned is that of learning how to fail and learning how to learn from failure.

In general most kids are able to handle most of these situations relatively well. A few tears or angry shouts of displeasure and then off to something else. That may not be true for some parents.

On more than one occasion I have seen parents belittle teachers for not ensuring that their child would be successful...always! Or another version of this would be not allowing the child enough time to solve their own frustrations.

Perhaps we as educators need to understand that we need to help parents understand that this type of lesson...learning to handle failures...is a type of growing pain. Sure, who wouldn't want to always succeed? But there is pleasure in the challenges of conquering a new skill or measuring yourself against your peers.

If teachers, school administrators, and parents can see the benefit of testing new skills and new behaviors at a young age, then the child can learn to take that challenge, then win or lose, there is knowledge gained.

Point-Of-View

Sometimes when we work with children we forget that what they observe is seen through different eyes than ours. As teachers we are taught to remember that children need concrete examples and that eventually, with our help, they will gain the ability to think abstractly.

One example of this given in college was a video of the teacher writing on the black board. First she wrote the number 4; next she wrote the number 5. Turning to the class she asked the children to tell her which number was larger. One chap immediately told her the number 4 was larger. She tried to reason with him without success. She couldn't understand why he was so insistent. All this was answered when she went to his desk to see it from his point of view. What a surprise! The number 4 had been written physically much larger than the number 5. He was correct (from his point of view).

Understanding that "point-of-view" was brought to my attention one day as a preschool teacher. My student, a little 4-year-old named Jeffrey, was making beautiful progress at adjusting to his new classroom and classmates. He was a cheerful chap and eager to please. Remembering my training, I wore similar clothes all week, and this year, I happened to wear my hair up in a bun. The following week I elected to changed to a different set of clothes and, without thinking too much about it, I wore my hair down. Class went on as usual until the third day.

On that day, while putting the blocks away at clean up time, Jeffrey approached me quizzically and asked, "Hey, do you know where's that lady with her hair on top of her head? What happened to her?"

Wow, I thought, this child had been working cooperatively with me and thought I was an entirely different person.

My next brush with dealing with the concrete thought process was while assisting a 2-year-old during rest time. This time I had been wearing my hair slightly above the shoulder. On the preceeding weekend I had taken a haircut and was now sporting a much shorter hairline. All seemed normal. Everyone was cheerful. However, I was wondering why Ezra was staring at me so when suddently he asked me, "Did your hair shrink?"

Details, details, details. Point-of-view. It's all in the details and the point-of-view. And that includes what children pick up on and what they find of interest and importance.

Sharing Responsibility

Daycare directors are always looking for qualified staff that first know something about early childhood development and appropriate curriculum, and second that are willing to stay more than two weeks at the center. It isn't so easy to do since many candidates are free to call themselves babysitters. They are often quick to say they'd really prefer to work with the infants because all they (infants) do is eat and sleep.

Wrong! and what a dead give away. Anyone interviewing with this attitude and line of thought most certainly does not belong in any daycare I want to be a part of. So how does the director try to ensure finding the right person for the right job?

I found out quickly that candidates will often say anything they think you want to hear just so they can get a job. Do you have any experience with young children? "Sure, I was a babysitter for one week." Where do you see yourself in five years in this profession? "I'd like to be an assistant teacher, maybe."

After realizing that I could cull out some of the poorer qualified applicants I decided that I needed some help. I turned to my most trusted teachers and asked if they would assist. They eagerly said they would since if we made a mistake we'd all have to live with it.

Next the trial. Each candidate was interviewed by me. It was my responsibility to talk about the program, our goals, and the job specific information. I would then take the candidate on a tour of the center inviting them to ask questions as we toured.

After introducing the candidate to teachers and parents that we met along the way, I gave the candidate over to a veteran teacher.

It was the veteran teacher that was able to flush out the daily working details of the job. She would use anecdotals to get her point across and ask the candidate about her work history. Usually the candidate felt comfortable asking questions about my management style, the parent population, or personal needs within the job description. At the end of this time, we had a pretty good idea of who the candidate was and how they felt about working with small children.

The moral of the story is: share the responsibility. More eyes and ears can help make a better informed decision about who to invite to join your teaching team. And, in the process, the veteran teachers gain managerial experience and a new appreciation for what the management can do for them.

Voice of the Center

I never find it a problem to talk about my center. Why? Probably because it is my passion and I love what I do. I probably should be paying people to work here because I enjoy it so much. All this is good, but it is no good unless I'm able to share my passion and committment with incoming parents and staff members.

I always feel there are many "qualified and licensed" centers. Nothing wrong with any of them. But the key to a happy daycare experience is really find that one center that "fits" well with you and your family. After all, we know that no parent can return to work unless he/she is satisfied in their heart, I did not say mind here, that the caregivers are truly trustworthy and loving.

Visiting parents have a lot of incoming information. There's the space and what it is like. There are so many new people to meet and learn what their function is at the center. Sometimes there is so much incoming information that parents actually say nothing...they are almost overwhelmed.

I always try to answer their questions before they are asked. I try to point out areas of interest that other parents have shown me to be important. I invite parents to talk with staff members about how each classroom and age group operates in this new land of group living. During this time I try to allow sufficient time for parents to think about what is being said. It all needs to sink in, especially if these parents are first-time parents. Many times I invite parents to have a return visit after their baby is born. It's a different world then after they've felt the first weight of responsibility for a little person.

Even after visits and questions, I always caution staff to be on the look out for any uneasiness that parents may express. We have to earn their trust and we have to be sensitive to their attempts to grow into parenthood. There is no license or creditial available to ensure this trust. That's why it is critical that a director set the tone and model behavior that can foster this growth. The personality of each center is critical.

It's In The Stars

I've usually worked with an international staff and that has been very rewarding. To see America through their eyes has always been enlightening.

One wonderful employee, Yiwen, came from southern China. A college professor in her own country, she was in the process of taking the required coursework to become a licensed public school teacher. Her manner was always very business-like and she was always very thorough. Every child under her care received careful attention and while she did not write individual lesson plans for each child, she was capable of sitting down at any time and giving a complete 1-hour parent conference with all the details of their child' progress...or lack of same.

Since she was also in the process of becoming an American citizen, she was aware of Flag Day being celebrated in June. Toward that end, she developed curriculum that would instruct the children about the meaning of the United States flag. There were various activities to help them understand the symbolism of the flag. However, the culmination of the lessons were for each child to receive their own flag. Yiwen had seen these miniatue flags being sold in a local store. She made arrangments to get petty cash and on her lunch hour she proudly purchased 15 minature flags. She showed them to me, handed me the petty cash receipt, and then disappears into her classroom.

The next day Yiwen came to me in what can only be described as "a huff." She had been swindled, she said, and she was as mad as hornet. She wanted something to be done, and done now, about that fraud of a merchant where she had purchased the flags. I asked her to supply me the details.

It seemed that upon taking possession of the flags Yiwen had gone to her classroom. There she found the time to count the number of stars on each flag. Unfortunately for the merchant, there were 10 of the flags that did not have the required 50 stars. How could she in good faith teach the children about the American flag when these were obviously incorrect? I suggested she return to the merchant, who incidently was an immigrant from another country, and ask either for her money back, or to have flags that had 50 stars.

She did. She reported he was not pleased, but nevertheless he allowed her to stand in his store and count stars on the remaining flags until she had found the number she needed.

The story ended well with each child receiving a miniature flag complete with 50 stars in the blue field. I'll never know what the merchant was thinking but I know he knows there are 50 starts on the U.S. flag! And so do Yiwen's children. I have the greatest respect for teachers who go the distance at great personal sacrifice.

Can I Make An Appointment?

As a new director I was always concerned about hiring staff members. Really, I dreaded it. If you didn't do it just right you got a great big pile of trouble to deal with and no one was happy. If you did do it right life was really beautiful. The trouble was, I didn't know what I was doing. So of course I had to find my way.

One day my assistant received a phone call, "Can I make an appointment for a job interview?" My assistant did a preliminary screening and got all the correct answers to of course we made the interview appointment. A few days later my assistant was distressed. After all was said and done, the candidate had called and wanted to change the appointment time...and the candidate spoke haltingly. Doubtful that this candidate would make the cut she re-scheduled the interview for 9 AM on an agreed up day.

The day arrived and at exactly 9 AM a parent opened the center door to find a young blind woman with her guidedog announcing that she was at the center for an interview. I witnessed the entry and saw the shock upon the parent's face. In truth, fear, total and absolute fear came over me. Not only was I going to have to fight my normal fear of doing a poor interview job, but I was going to have to really be careful that I didn't violate any Americans Disability laws. I gulped and approached my candidate.

I invited her into the office and after a bit she and the guidedog were settled. Where was I to begin? I decided to buy myself some time so I spoke in detail about the school and about the specific classroom that needed an assistant. Secretly I was thinking perhaps she will understand that this position might not be for her. Nevertheless she listened carefully and interjected appropriate information. She had worked at a child care center before. She had several nieces and nephews that she had been partially responsible for their care. From my side of the desk I was surprised but not convinced.

We continued. Perhaps she could talk a bit about her educational philosophy. She did with ease. Somewhere during the conversational interview it came to me that maybe, just maybe she could work in our classroom.

At the time I had a very strong lead teacher who was also very patient and very interested in exploring the idea of working with people of differing abilities.

At that moment the teacher invited her to see the room. Slowly the teacher took her around the edges of the room explaining the furniture that was in place. After they had gone completely around the room the teacher asked the candidate if she would like to try to work the room with her. The answer was a strong "yes". The next day the candidate arrived and with the teacher's help they settled on a location for the guidedog to stay out of the range of the children. At the end of the week we agreed that this candidate would be a wonderful addition to our staff. She was hired.

Parents were absoluely stunned! How could a blind person care for young children? They came over at various times to see how things were going. They were shocked to see her serve lunch and change diapers. When she sat down to read a story the children were all interested. When the class went for a walk, everyone wanted to hold her hand. As one child told his mother, she can't see so we have to help her. And help her they did. And help them she did. She developed an entire cirruculum around the guidedog and how the dog helped her see. When could they pet the dog? They found out they could pet the dog when she wasn't on duty...that was when she didn't have her harness on.

For the staff, it was a series of small lessons on our thoughtfulness. It was now necessary to think about where the chair was placed or when could the furniture be moved so it didn't become a tripping hazzard.

Parents were amazed that she could tell children apart or that she knew a shoelace needed to be tied. There didn't seem to be much she couldn't do.

The wonderful thing about being open to new experiences is that it affords opportunities for new growth. And I'll never forget that when the candidate left that first day, she appologized for needing to change her interview appointment. You see, her ride had cancelled on her at the last moment. And though she was distressed, she had the courage to try again. Thank goodness for us. So every time I am anxious about interviewing I try to muster up the same courage I witnessed that day.

Graduation Day

Excitement has been filling the air around the child care center for the last month. Preparations for the graduation have been going on. There's been the practicing and planning. The parents have been co-oped into assisting their children in learning one or two lines which they will say during the performance. Everyone is busy.

Parents are readying their cam recorders and cameras. Mothers have taken their children to buy a new dress or suit. Shoes are polished. Hair is combed and fancy hair ornaments are put in place. The boys have cologne on and the girls have a dab of perfume. This is a very special event we are talking about.

The teachers have carefully selected songs, dances, and poems which will make the children shine in performance. They are prepared to cue each individual should stagefright come upon the scene. They've decorated the entire room with colorful artwork that the children have prepared. The teachers too have dressed up in their fancy clothes. We are all celebrating. The entire environment is a giant snapshot of what it is like to be in the preschool class.

Around 10:15 AM the first mini-wave of parents arrive. They have signed up to move furniture and setup the audience portion of the room. They are followed closely by those who are asked to wait on the 4th floor until the program is to begin.

In the meantime, the teachers are busy giving a quick run-through of the program with the children. They, on the other hand, are "wired" and the word excited doesn't even begin to measure their mood. Someone bumps one of the little girls. She is not amused and is in near melt-down with the seasoned teacher calmly explains to her that no ill-will was meant and that we all need to be friendly to our friends. Order is quickly restored and it is now likely that the show can go on without further ado.

Music begins and the performers march onto the stage. The teacher welcomes parents and introduces the program. Then the fun begins.

There is music from the hearts of babes and whirling and twirling from the youthful sprites. At one point I observe that a parent standing in the rear section is actually stomping his feet to the song. He's so proud he can hardly contain himself.

The other parents are torn between photographing the event and smiling from ear to ear. Every once in a while a burst of laugher or applause comes from the audience as the child thrill their parents.

Now it is time for the director to make an appropriate speech and award the diplomas. I am ever so aware that these diplomas have cost approximately the same as a few years of college tuition. Is my hair well done? Am I dressed up enough...after all the preschoolers told me to dress "fancy" as it was a celebration. And then I realize this isn't about me at all. While the mini-speech is necessary, no one really wants to listen to me. Now that I've got it, I say that Graduation Day is the most exciting day at the child care center with the possible exception of a birthday. And of course, I remind parents that they too are graduating from preschool to elementary school. There are a few tears. The babies are growing up.

Some parents take their leave to go back to their offices and share the memories with friends and families. Others take their children out to lunch to continue the celebratiion.

The teachers oganize the children for a brief rooftop play period before lunch. The excitement begins to be manageable.

It's been another successful graduation and it feels good to be part of a team to get the young children off to a good start. And it feels good to see the parents so happy.

Give Me A Friday

Working long hours in child care can be very difficult.  It offers very little time for a life outside of the center so any time there is a long weekend or a holiday there is usually a lot of excitement.

Most centers will also have floating days or vacation days that staff members can use to create a fun time.  The problem often comes when one or more staff members figure out that they can create a three day weekend by taking a Friday or a Monday off.  Realistically speaking I don't believe other staff members care as long as they can do the same.  Realistically speaking, it just isn't possible for everyone to take a Friday off.

At some point it becomes necessary to talk to staff members about the fairness of utilizing "prime" time to the exclusion of others.  This issue can really become a hot button and create a lot of unnecessary friction among staff members.

In the past I've found it helpful to first have a conversation with individuals involved and then, if necessary ask the entire staff to formulate some plan that seems the fairest to all.