Students at White River Valley are preparing for their future lives and careers. The Advanced Child Development students recently completed their study of working with children. During the unit students learned about the variety of child care options, what quality care entails and how to create activities for children. Parents have many options when it comes to where to send their children. Students compared in-home care (nannies, relatives and au pairs), family child care (daycare provided in a home), center based care (daycare provided in a building that is not a residence), laboratories (a facility that also conducts research and provides training), Montessori schools (a type of group program in which children learn independently) and Head Start (a federally funded program for low-income families).
Judy Biggert, Illinois Congress Representative/ Child Care Advocate, states that “Research has shown time and time again that infants who receive the high-quality child care and early education programs do better in school have more developed social skills and display fewer behavior problems.” Our guest speaker Chelsey Todd, Professional Development Specialist for Chances And Services for Youth-CASY, states that this area has a high need for more high quality care options. Programs that are high quality meet health and safety guidelines, have a stimulating environment and provide age appropriate activities in a planned curriculum.
Any child care facility that meets these standards can apply for national accreditation through Paths to Quality, Indiana’s statewide rating system for early childhood care programs. To review the voluntary system go to www.childcareindiana.com. The best part of the unit includes multiple trips to WRV Elementary. In class, students design activities based on first-grade standards. They create lesson plans and assemble supplies and then they go to the elementary to do art, music, science and literature activities. After each lesson they answer evaluation questions. At the end they prepare portfolios with an overall reflection, all their lesson plans and evaluations and a picture display. Olivia Cornelius said, “This experience has impacted me by helping me decide I want to work with kids of this age group in my future career.” Sam Corey stated that “Working with children helped me by making me more understanding and more patient,” and Alison Jones “gained an appreciation for their creativity.”
This program has the potential to impact both the high school and elementary students for years to come.
Betsy Misner has been the Family and Consumer Science, formerly Home Economics, teacher at White River Valley for over a decade. Her motivation is helping students to strive for strong, happy, healthy families and providing career pathways. Check out more of what is happening in the classroom by following her on Twitter: WRVFACS@BetsyMisner