Child A:
The teacher spoke to him in Spanish and then repeated what she had said in English- in order to aid the understanding and learning process for the subject, this method seemed beneficial as the infant responded and appeared to have a good level of comprehension.
Occasionally engaged only in solitary play although not isolated
Child B:
Had a very short attention span and varied her play continuously although this probably had no link with her learning skills it was noticeable that she did not pick up Spanish as fast as the other children, but this is most likely just an individual trait.
Child C:
In contrast to the first two subjects, this infant only spoke Spanish on his arrival to the day care centre but he soon learnt English the play and interaction with the other children- this method seems successful because the vibrant mix of children have all learnt from each other and the language barriers are lifted.
Child D:
The oldest of the group she is fluent in Spanish and English and this is conveyed through her confidence with peers and staff, she displayed some obvious leadership skills but also was willing to help the younger children.
Child E: Seemed to have benefited immensely to this type of day care and was an exceptionally fast learner, as he was only two years of age and fluent in both Spanish and English.
One of the most noticeable things about the centre was the environment itself because unlike the traditional nursery will one larger space this centre had several different spaces for the children to explore and they were never restricted to a particular space.
All of the children have their own coat peg that is personalised with their name and photograph.
One of these was a room specifically tailored for the infants to nap in it consisted of padded walls, small mattresses with duvets and pillows, was central heated and at nap time the children were played stimulating French classical music. This room was totally child friendly and safe.
I saw a wide variety of activities take place and the day care staff actually interact with the children via joining in and not simply instructing I think this is particularly important and would give the infants a sense of security.
Facilities provided included toilets and basins where the children are taught to brush their teeth (although it is a requirement of the day care centre that all infants are potty trained before they attend)
There is an ICT area, a designated reading/story time area, TV area where the children watched educational videos in English and Spanish.
Overall the environment was educational, stimulating and seemed comfortable for them with all furniture tailored ergonomically to the children. Their safety was paramount with many features such as: radiator covers, padded walls throughout, high handles/locks on doors, intercoms and a video phone to prevent any false entry.
I also noticed signposted around the nursery was their policy and the fire safety regulations. For the children there were educational and good behaviour promoting posters that were written in English and Spanish.
Upon arrival I have to admit I was sceptical of this type of nursery because I thought it was only for Spanish infants and this it isn’t right for children to interact only with their own cultural/ethnical background however I was shocked by the variety of infants in attendance. I had previously thought that the children would be confused, the linguistic skills would be in two languages but neither would be developed however this was not the case, the English children particularly picked up on Spanish quickly and were able to communicate with no problems differentiating between the two languages.
My main worry was that there would be a strong segregation between the mother tongued English and Spanish children again I was proved wrong because the children all interacted affectionately with one another and their differing background cause no problems this is what I actually think makes the day care work so well; the variation of children in attendance as they all learn from one another and are enriched by this.
I conclude that the most important factor in day care is the sheer quality of it, the centre I visited was of an exceedingly high standard but one must remember not all day care is and the adjustment and suitability to day care is individual to each and every child.
Dr Kayleigh Morris 04
