(En inglés)
From the Field: Strengthening Relationships
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Kristin: We are so excited to introduce this new segment. It's called "From the Field."
Dawn: And "From the Field" features stories with teachers highlighting their practices and expertise.
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Cecilia Ruvalcaba: Oh, I am so happy you guys are playing together. You're sharing. We're sharing the bucket. How many are in there? Trinity, how many do you have?
For me, to be in child care is important because I have – I've always had these relationships with all kids of all ages. The way we communicate with babies, the way that we teach them, we guide them, has to do a lot with the way that they feel. They get comfortable, they grow.
Essentially, the babies just want to know they're cared for and they're loved. I talk to the babies a lot. They look at me, they see me. They talk to me, in their own way. When they smile, I know I'm giving them the care, the love, the words that they're looking for.
Like, there's this little song that I always sing to Gio because he speaks Spanish, so I always say, "Gio, Gio, dónde estás, Gio, Gio?" So, I'm saying, "Where are you?" Teacher (off-screen): Giovanni, where's my friend? Cecilia (singing): Gio, Gio, dónde estás? Dónde estás, Gio? And the other babies respond to it right away because they hear me singing it all the time, and then they're looking for Gio. They all have different backgrounds and different languages, and to share – not to see as different, but, like, to share so that we can be a family in here.
Because essentially, this is important for the kids. They feel like they're at home in here. In terms of building relationships with the families, I usually come up with them and try to talk to them about how wonderful their baby is, how wonderful, how he engages in play, how we're building this connection. "Oh, we had so much fun dancing today. We did this and this. Your baby moved like this today." And then they feel great about it, and then they know that we're caring for them. Not only that, they see us as, they're learning. They're learning from these teachers. So, little things that the parents can find out about their own kid that they probably didn't know.
Essentially, I have a belief that if we give them a healthy and a happy childhood, they're going to be successful when they're adults, and they're going to be, like, have all these memories, and they're going to be so happy. It's just the childhood. Let's just play, live, and be happy.
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En este video echamos un vistazo a cómo Cecilia, una educadora, apoya el desarrollo social y emocional, forjando relaciones con los bebés y las familias. Este video es parte del módulo de Apoyo al comportamiento positivo, uno de varios Módulos de aprendizaje de educación superior de la Alianza EarlyEdU (video en inglés).
