Salt Spring Island Daycare Center

Today I went to Salt Spring Daycare for observation. I was there from 9:00 to 11:00 in the morning. Salt Spring Daycare is located in a home converted to a daycare, so it is quite different from Little Blue. Instead of being one open room (like LB), this daycare is divided into several separate rooms. The first thing that I noticed when I got inside was how colourful the center was. There were a lot of posters on the walls and artwork displayed in pretty much every room. I also noticed that there was a lot of natural light coming into the building, which was very nice. On the downside, I found the daycare to be quite loud, but I think that has something to do with the echo in the rooms caused by the design on the building, as well as a higher number of kids than I'm used to.

I think it was an interesting day for me to come in and observe because they had two children coming in for their first day at the daycare. There was a boy (age 2 and a half) and a girl (age 4?) and there were some difficulties when it came to behaviour.

One of the things that I observed that I found pretty funny was when these three boys made up a game and for the game they had to "take the ferry." The kids at Little Blue always talk about "going off island." I think it's an island thing!! Another time I noticed these same three boys playing a game where one of them was the dad and the other two were the children. The kids at Little Blue also play games involving families, but I guess I always thought that it was the girls who started them. This game that they had going was very realistic; when the "dad" said he was going to work, the kids started "crying." However, at the same time, the game did have a very unrealistic aspect; the "dad" brought his sword to work!

Today I really noticed peer influence. There were only a couple boys there first thing in the morning and they were all playing with their cars and there was no yelling and no running around, but as soon as some more boys came in and decided they wanted to play something a little less calm, the boys who were playing nicely got totally sucked in to this other game and pretty soon they were all running around and yelling! I find it really interesting that the "issues" that I observe at the preschool level are still so prevalent at the high school level...although, the issues have changed quite a bit!

One of the things I really liked was that there was a lot of impromptu singing from the educators. I also really liked that I saw one of the educators using sign language. I think that is really effective, especially when someone's language isn't developed. I would really like to learn sign language...yet another thing to add to my list!! Another thing that I heard a few times when there was a conflict and someone needed to move to another activity was the phrase "I'm going to invite you to find a new place to play." I think it was so effective because although you're directing the child away from the situation that isn't working, they still have control over what they want to play with next.

Today I learned just how effective giving a child the words for something can be...that makes no sense...Example: when Child A is whining or crying because Child B gets too close to their tower, if you can prompt them by saying something like "Child B doesn't know what you want, so you could say 'Child B, can you please move over because you're very close to my tower'" it really makes a difference in the situation. I think it is very calming and it can take a potentially serious problem and make it not such a big deal.

It's easy to go into another center and judge what's going on, and be picky as to what you like and what you don't like, and it makes me wonder what someone coming into Little Blue would have to say...

To Andrea and Sherry (and maybe Barbra):

I would like to say thank you again, because I feel like I learned a lot, and there are definitely some things that I learned today that I will be bringing back to Little Blue.

Making Tomorrow Conference: Inspiring Young Minds

On May 1st, I went to the 33rd annual Making Tomorrow Conference held at UVic. We started the day with a Keynote Address, and then went on to attend 2 different workshops of our choice throughout the day.

The theme of the Keynote was How to Grow a Child’s Brain and the speaker was Gary Anaka. If you ever have a chance to see him, I highly recommend it. He was incredible!! He started off by saying that we need to “build” the brain, and that one of the ways to do that is through “brain gymnastics.” He kept stressing that children have got to MOVE in order to learn, and that movement and exercise grow a more efficient brain…and what are we actually growing? Dendrites! He told us that TV causes children to: become mentally passive, experience electronic sedation, have a short attention span, and to be socially isolated. The brain learns through INTERACTION with real people, and that early childhood is the most critical time for the brain. He also gave us 10 “brain boosters.”
1) Movement and exercise: what makes us move is what makes us think
2) Learning
3) Brain nourishment: oxygen, water, and a nutritious diet
4) Safety: when we feel safe, we upshift and our brain is open to learning; when we feel threatened, we downshift and close ourselves off from learning
5) Play for FUN
6) Storytelling: it has been said that children need to hear 1000 stories before they can read
7) Reading: reading grows dendrites
8) Experience: experiences determine what kind of brain develops
9) Novelty
10) Caring

However, I have to say that the most interesting, and perhaps the most obvious thing that Gary Anaka told us was “growing your child’s brain requires COMMON SENSE. I think that is 100% true, because almost every time I learn something new, I say to myself “Duh!”


After the keynote address, we split into our separate workshops. I was lucky enough to have chosen the workshop that Gary Anaka was teaching: How the Brain Learns Best- Help For All Children. A lot of what he said was repetition from the Keynote. Children, or anybody for that matter, learn through movement.

However, he also made some really good points that I found applied to me as a student as much (if not more) as they applied to me as an educator. For example, he said “too much, too fast won’t last” meaning that if we try to feed children too much information, they won’t absorb all, if any, of it, and we are actually being counterproductive. Another thing that really interested me was that all learning must relate to prior learning. Doing this, he said, jumpstarts leaning, activates neural networks, and increases memory. He said that the brain needs to take breaks in order to replenish glucose and oxygen, store the information it just learned, and “retune” itself. He also said that the key to getting something in your brain is REPITITION.

Another key point that Gary talked about was plasticity. He told us how the brain can change, and, more importantly, how to positively change the brain. Number one: physical activity, two: challenges, three: problem solving, 4: feedback, and 5: repetition.


The second workshop I went to was called A Creative Approach to Meet the Needs of Medically Challenged Children. It was very different from what I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be about different ideas to work with children with mental and physical disabilities. Instead, it was the story of how this woman, Phyllis Lysionek, came up with a way to help her son deal with his fear of hospitals. Her son was born with Down syndrome, and then diagnosed with Celiac disease, autistic tendencies, as well as several other disorders. His entire life was centered around hospitals and he was just petrified. Unfortunately, his communication skills were lacking, so it was very difficult to communicate to him what he could expect at the hospital.

So, Phyllis designed a doll named Olly that was specially designed to “undergo” different medical procedures. These procedures were photographed in sequence and then shown to her son so he could get a sense of what was coming. Now, Phyllis makes custom dolls for all sorts of conditions; she’s even made dolls with cochlear implants!


I feel that attending conferences and Pro-D days at my age/experience level is so beneficial and I’m really getting a lot out of them. I feel like I’m way ahead of the game and I think that no matter which field I finally decide to settle into, whether it’s OT or ECE, or something that I haven’t even considered yet, I’m going to be able to draw from everything I’ve experienced and that it's really going to help me in the long run.