As I was observing the director and assistant director of
the daycare I was observing, I have learned that running a daycare takes
dedication and at sometimes it’s hard work. I observed the director first and
she taught me the ins and outs of a daycare, she showed me that in order to run
a daycare you first have to aid she has to have education and experience of
what you need to do as a director. The director also said that, she has to hire
and fire employees. I asked her about childhood obesity and what she does to
help prevent obesity in children. She said that she focus on the big picture of
the child, because that way you can have a clear understanding of what needs to
be done with the child. She said that, she talks to parents on how to inform
their child on obesity and what types of organizations they could get into in
order to keep their child in shape. We both walked around the school and she
pointed out this student who was 15 months and was in the 95 percentile of his
weight. She told me that, the teachers as well as the parents make sure that he
have small portions of serving while in school and outside of school, and
making sure that he get exercise at least 15 to 20 minutes a day to help
maintain his weight.
Next, I moved onto the assistant director and how she feels
about childhood obesity. The asst. director in the daycare takes care of the
payroll and enrolling students in the school. Her job is very demanding and she
goes to meeting twice a week, and she told me that three years of working in
the daycare, she haven’t had a vacation because of how her work schedule is and
how demanding it could be. I asked her about her input on childhood obesity.
She told me that, the director and she is working on putting a gym or a more
structure playground in the school. She also said that, she makes it her daily
routine to keep parents informed of the physical education programs that are coming
up in the near future. She also works at
a children gym and she’ll give parents free memberships to test the place out
and have the students be involved of becoming healthier.
The challenge about childhood obesity is actually getting
parents involved on knowing the importance on childhood obesity. Many parents
ignore the comments that the teachers make about children being overweight and
then the parents start to worry about why their child is having trouble
breathing while sleeping or just want to be in the house every day, all the
time. There is a field house across the street from the school and some of the
communities families go there to take swim lessons. As a daycare, they’ll have
to keep informing parents to get involve and hopefully one day the parents
would listen.
After reading your posting on your observation at the daycare and talking to the director and the assistant director it look like you got alot of information and detail what is done about obesity at their center. I think making a gym is a great idea. Where I work we have a gym and the children of all sizes love to go and play in the gym. This is really needed especially when the weather is bad and the children cannot go outside to play and get exercise. This is a good topic you are doing your research on. Good posting and good luck with you research.
ReplyDeleteFocusing on the 'big picture' of the child when it comes to childhood obesity is where we all should put our focus. We as educators can do nothing if the families don't buy into proper nutrition, healthy diet, and activity.
ReplyDeleteTammie, I thought your blog post was very insightful. When you met with both the Director and Assistant Director, did they give any feedback how the school addresses child obesity? I am curious if the school takes a general stance towards the subject by addressing physical education and nutrition vs. having a one-on-one with the parents of child whose health may be in jeopardy. Also, after meeting with them, did you come of with any ideas to help you become a greater advocate on this issue?
ReplyDeleteYes, I have observed the same thing at the center where I am observing as well. The director wears many hats it seems as if their job is never done they are always on call on and off from the site. Just observing the director made me shake my head because she never got a break in between with all of the phone calls, talking to the parents, and helping out in the classrooms. I believe anyone can become a director with the right education etc. But, it takes a special that is able to multi-task every single day honestly I do not know if I would be ready for that type of responsibility at least not yet. I am glad that I am learning what advocating with many hats is all about and it is not all peaches and cream.
ReplyDeleteI thought your blog is interesting because it lets us know how much parents believe in child obesity. I felt that they are young and they'll continue growing later in life. I liked how the school you observed in cares about the child's health. Did you tried to talk to the parents about this situation? How they handled it? Did you change his/her eating habits?
ReplyDelete