Community Service Learning Project At De Anza College Child Care Center

*Enabling environment- children learn best in positive surroundings when the activities are set out for their personal requirements and there is a good relationship between practitioner and parents of the children.

Before taking this class or completing my service learning with Child Protective Services (CPS), I really had not had any experience with CPS. I just made the assumption that the agency was biased and flawed based on the experiences other people had with CPS. I also did not think it would be a place that I would want to work because I did not want to work with children, although now I realize that was a really unfair opinion I had of the agency. I also thought a lot of people abused the service because I had heard a lot of stories of people calling CPS on each other out of spite. After learning about CPS and being able to observe what the agency does, I do realize the agency is not what I thought it was. I also realize

My job role includes ensuring the happiness, wellbeing and safety of all the children I work with and to make sure that I help, together as a team with the other practioners that I work with to provide a stimulating environment where the children can learn and thrive from.

I believe that each child is unique individual who needs a secure, caring, and stimulating atmosphere in which to grow and mature emotionally, intellectually, physically, and socially. It is my desire as an educator to help students meet their fullest potential in these areas by providing an environment that is safe, supports risk-taking, and invite a sharing of ideas. There are three elements that I believe are conducive to establishing such an environment namely, the teacher acting guide, allowing the child’s natural curiosity to direct his/her learning, promoting respect for all the things and all the people.

This service learning course has provided me with an insight to core values and characteristics that pharmacists need to possess to become true health care providers. I volunteered at the St. Louis Crisis Nursery this semester for my community outreach portion. My first trips to the Crisis Nursery were filled with initial prejudices and thoughts about how horrible this situation this was going to be. I remember being terrified to get out of my car to walk up to the building, let alone actually interact with these children and parents. The small town I am from, was not socially or ethnically diverse. I also attended a private school where many people we well off financially and I stayed friends with many of these people when I attended High School. I was reluctant to listen to the parent’s stories or honestly, feel any sense of compassion or empathy for them. I felt that they likely put themselves into the situation and that they could get out of it on their own too. However, as I continued to attend volunteering at the nursery, my outlook changed drastically. I actively engaged with the children and formed relationships within the small amount of time I was there. I talked to the parents and began to feel sorry for the situations they were put into. I actually looked forward to my weekly visits to either play outside, read to, or even be a jungle gym for the children. Empathy is something that cannot be taught, but it can be something one can learn- which is exactly my

The meaning this service learning project provided me with was how important it is for us, the Hamline University, to build a meaningful relationship with Hamline Elementary. This was invoked because of the impact the students seemed to have due to us being there and working with them. The students were excited for a communal learning experience, and I think that is going to help encourage them to pursue a college career. Because I work at Hamline Elementary and have been doing so for the past 2 years, I have made strong connections with the students and faculty and think highly of them all. The experience was very similar to what I do at Hamline Elementary on a daily basis. Given this, I had a feeling that the content may have been a bit of

Classrooms environments are very important at the time of learning. According to our textbook, the environment is viewed as an established behavioral place that forms how we act and behave (Vukelich & Christie, 2016). The environment in the classroom I visited was adequate for learning because it has all the things a preschool classroom has to have according to the textbook. The classroom has a bulleting board, a dramatic play center, a writing center, tables for manipulative and games, whole group meeting area, a computer area and an art area. There was also on a wall a picture of every single child with his and her names. My visit was from 10:30 to 12:30. When I first arrived, children were in a transition from one activity to another. The next activity was to watch an ABC phonics video. All the children knew what they have to do. They had to sit nicely and quiet on the floor. Every single child knew how to sit. They crossed their legs and put their hands in their laps. When the teacher saw that all the children were sitting properly, she assumed that they were ready to learn. During this activity I observed that Matthew and Jose were not engaged with this activity because they were looking to other children instead to look to the screen. For the next activity the children had to take a tablet from a cabinet. I was surprise because every single child knew the number of the tablet they have to take. Later I noticed that it was because in the classroom every child has a

I chose to attend the touring session because I had a class from 11:00 am to 12:15 Pm. It was my first time leading a tour, and it was a good experience for me as a first-year college student because from that event I have learned how to lead a group and give a good information about the building/places we been together with the high school students as a group. That even also made me to consider the places I hadn’t been before, but I heard about them. Participating in that event was a very amazing because I was able to make a connection with the high school students. During the event, I felt like I am getting connected with the community I am living in because

When working in a child care setting you need to plan a healthy, safe, and learning environment. Indoor and outdoor environments should be attractive and make children feel safe and secure. When parents drop their children off, they need to know their child is in good hands. To ensure them it's a safe place, make sure you have security at the facility. A healthy environment is important and can help ,prevent children and teachers from getting sick.

Both owners have experience dealing and relating to children of all ages. Miss. Vena Valceus has more than 25 years of experience raising four children combined with child supervision and regulation grained from working as a nurse in hospital and home health care sector. Mr. Kervens Germain-Philistin has had first hand experience of the miracles that an afterschool program can do in making a difference in an individual’s life. He was once a student of “Saint Paul’s Afterschool program” located near downtown Delray Beach. In addition, he has accumulated more than 5 years in tutoring and mentoring children of all ages and races through his volunteering efforts at “Saint Paul’s afterschool program” prior to being an employee, and “Take Stock in children”. Additionally, Kervens Germain-Philistin, who will manage the administrative duties of the center, has recently obtained both a nursing degree from Care Hope College and business degree with a minor in finance from Florida Atlantic

My junior internship at Neighborhood House provided me the opportunity to gain experience and expanded my knowledge working with the diverse population. Neighborhood House has prepared me to work with all population such as race, gender, age, and all culture. I had the opportunity to be in three different programs during my journey as social work student in Neighborhood House. The three programs were; Food Support, Early Childhood, and Youth Leadership.

Prior to beginning my Community Service Learning placement at North Lake Woods Public School, I have thought about how I will benefit, contribute and reflect on my placement. I will be completing my placement in a Grade. 1 classroom consisting of 18 students. I am eager to expand my knowledge on how children develop through an interactive experience. During my placement, I hope to gain insight on how children develop, interact and learn by completing naturalistic observation. I will be assisting and observing the students during their daily school activities such as mathematics, language and everyday developmental exercises. With my significant amount of experience working with students in my secondary school peer tutoring program, I believe

In Maryland, 75 hours of community service are required for students to graduate. Getting in the way of many after school activities, students should not be required to have community service hours to get a diploma.

For example, I can create a positive an open environment where parents and children can feel comfortable enough to have open discussions. I could also make myself aware and learn the culture and funds of knowledge of my students and parents so I could learn and understand their educational background while trying to meet them in the middle with having them understand the school curriculum. This would build a trustworthy bond, which is helpful for the parents who have questions about their child’s education, what should be offered to them and what should not be. It would also be my job to make the parents aware of their rights and responsibilities as a parent whose child is in the school system. (Berger, Riojas-Cortez pg.

Community service is the most effective way students can learn practical applications such as team building, leadership, and problem-solving skills. The article “12 Reasons Community Service Should Be Required in Schools” stated that