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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2001-01-31, Page 6Ready Autumn waits for -a push from Bonnie Hastings, who's watching for the path to clear during outdoor fun at the day care. The educators dine with the chil- Hastings. dren and conversation ranges from When everyone is awake there's pets' names to mothers' ages. another washroom break before they Once finished, the children line up enjoy some more time out of doors. at the door to brush their teeth, As Because the day care is located in the Hastings leads them to the wash- high school on cold days they can room, Fleet and Mundell tidy up the access the gymnasium for recreation. lunch dishes and move chairs and As Hastings' day started early her tables out of the way. shift ends just before the children A child is sobbing inside the door come back indoors. to the room as Mundell approaches. More kindergartens have joined or Her story is that she hurt someone's returned for the day in time for feelings and now feels bad about it. snack, cook Sue's homebaked cook- Mundell tells her that as long as she ies. has said she's sorry there's nothing While the children's time at the more can be done. "You've done all day care is very structured it is inter- you can do now. There's no point in esting that there is never the sense of feeling bad about it. You've said urgency which often accompanies you're sorry. It's over." such time constraints. It is an atmos- Upon their return to the room, phere of calm busyness. some children grab their outdoor Supervior Lori Brooks says the clothes in anticipation of an after- work done by people like Hastings is noon at kindergarten. One of the, important. "The salary, (educators educators will walk them to the pub- receive an hourly pay of between lic school. $10-$12) seems low. It isn't deserv- The remaining youngsters put ing of the work done when you con- their shoes in a bucket outside the sider the forming and shaping of a door, then find- their blankets placed child's mind in the early years." on the cots and begin to tuck in for It is a field in which it can be a the afternoon nap. Lights are out, long time before permanent employ- curtains closed and soft music plays, ment is found. Brooks notes that this while for the next two hours children centre has been fortunate because sleep. Early risers can ,enjoy quiet there isn't a large turnover. She cred- play. its the benefits, and the little extras. Despite the fact that the teachers Employees get 12 sick days which have already eaten, they now get a can be used to be home with their lunch break. Hastings has the first child. hour, and spends it, basically, "hang- And not many careers allow you to ing around." bring your family to work. Hastings' The hour of supervision which fol- son Colton, three, attends the pre- lows is spent catching up on jour- school room when her husband is on nals, reporting any occurrences, or shifts. ins and outs for fees. "There's "People here enjoy their jobs. always something to do," says They enjoy children," says Brooks. Having fun Nathan's dancing gopher was a big hit as Bonnie Hastings led her group in show and tell dur- ing their time in the circle room. The critter twisted and turned to I'm Alright!. PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2001. A walk in their shoes Day care workers enjoy life with the little people By Bonnie Gropp Citizen staff Imagine eight hours spent in the company of over 20 curious, exuber- ant youngsters. It's a world where every emotion is bigger, while most of the people are smaller. But it's also a world where you are charged with the important role of shaping the mind of a little child. It's 7:15 a.m. and, on the early- shift this schedule, Bonnie Hastings is first to arrive at the Clinton Co- operative Childcare Centre. She opens and prepares the facility for the first arrivals, who will be there in 15 minutes. Hastings has been at the centre for seven years. She first worked the after-school program then a split which meant coming for a portion of the day, going home and returning later. She is now one of two full-time early child educators in the pre- school room. There is also a toddler room for children 15 months up, and the kid's club for school-aged children. This particular day there will be 24 little ones, ranging in age from two- and-a-half to five years in the pre- school room. With a teacher to child ratio for this age of eight to one this means one supply teacher will also be working this day. In the pre-school room, the num- bers change throughout the efe While the youngsters are dropped off at different times, some of the earlier arrivals will also be leaving to attend kindergarten classes at the Clinton Public School. Still others will be joining the centre in the afternoon. For the children, time at the centre is well-structured. Because this is a fairly warm winter day, well above the -10° C guideline, at 8:30 a.m., Hastings and the other teachers pre- pare the pre-schoolers for their out- door play. The activity for today is snowmen, though a substantial amount of time is spent pursuing all types of winter fun. A group of youngsters enjoys some time tobogganing down a small hill, while others play on the outdoor equipment. There are only two educators in the yard at this time because they do not have full atten- dance yet. Hastings and Shari Mundell wander from group to group making sure that everything is fine, while keeping a protective eye on the activities. A third teacher, Stacey Fleet is in the toddler room. Conversations with the children are at a level that can be understood by the young charges, but never down to them. A quite serious dis- cussion gets underway with a boy regarding dinosaurs and their food preferences. Because all the arrivals for the day haven't come to the toddler room yet, Fleet is able to help outdoors, allowing Mundell to go in and pre- pare 'ter activities for the Kid's Club. "It's good she has the chance to do this," says Hastings. "We had a lice scare yesterday so there was extra work in there. Everything has to be washed and sprayed." Even though the day is relatively warm, one might assume the hour spent supervising could seem quite long. Hastings says not so. "I love being outside. This part of the day is great." She notices a child sitting alone by a tree. The girl said she had been pushed by one of her friends. Hastings spoke gently, but firmly to her about the best way to deal with problems. "Basically, I told her it didn't do any good to sit by herself and think about it. If you have a problem with someone then you need to talk to that person about it." The hour now winding down, the pre-schoolers, when asked, promptly clean up the shovels and toboggans and line up at the door. Those with wet hats and mitts are asked to give theni' to the teacher to dry and the line moves indoors for the big job of outerwear removal. The youngsters know what's expected of them and complete the practice with virtually no assistance. In a matter of minutes boots are placed on mats, coats and snowpants hung in cubbies. After their morning snack, the children move on to story time. Then it is free time and creative play. Fleet sits at a table with four girls as they create the theme for that day, cotton ball snowmen. At the next table Hastings and another group of four are playing with plasticine, while Mundell is in the 'grocery story' with another group. A few others are enjoying more rambunctious pur- suits such as playing, while some look at books or play with puppets. Throughout the time, the educators switch from area to area, and the youngsters are encouraged to do the same. While the children play, taped music is playing in the background. Suddenly, the lights dim and Hastings says, "Look at me, please. It's time to tidy up for circle. Make sure you're helping tidy up all the toys." Absolutely every child without hesitation gets on with the task. When the work is complete they gather in the book centre and are divided into two groups for show and tell. The children have brought items from home or that they made at school, which are discussed, by all in the circle room. They also sing songs. Outside the circle room, staff clear and wipe tables, then prepare for lunch. Some of the curtains are closed and one can almost feel a shift to a softer mood. The children, too, appear altered, as those not yet involved in show and tell play quiet- ly in the book centre. Fleet also begins to set up cots and blankets in the space not occupied by lunch tables. At 11:15 , she leaves for the public school to pick up the morning kindergartens. By her return the rest of the children have had their wash- room break and are ready for lunch. Everyone is seated and with folded hands Johnny Appleseed is sung. It is nothing less than amazing to observe this many youngsters sitting down to eat. It is surprisingly calm. The day's menu consists of tuna noodle casserole, meat pie, vegeta- bles, coleslaw, fruit salad and milk. There are some comments from the finnicky, which are treated matter- of-factly, "You need to have a taste of everything," says Fleet, to one youngster. "You know that." There is no argument. Editor's note: This is the third in a series of stories about area peo- ple and the jobs they do. As an attempt to provide some insight on what it's really like in certain professions, not just our perceptions, we invite you to join us as we take "A Walk in Their Shoes".