a day in the life of a day care assistant
Amanda Jacobs
– Assistant Art & Life Editor –
Ellen Hitschler, STLCC-Meramec day care assistant, lives each day according to a lesson plan. This lesson plan is for the many children, ranging from age three to five, to whom she has devoted the last thirteen years of her life.
On this particular morning, I, like Hitschler, began my day with these same smiling faces.
Entering the blue classroom, I was not only greeted by Hitschler, as the children call her, but a young boy as well.
“He is a very outgoing child, you can tell he spends a lot of time with his parents and that he has siblings,” Hitschler commented on the child’s extrovert personality.
While they were playing outside I was given the chance to watch as this young boy played and helped his younger sister, who is in a different classroom.
“We get children that come in at all different levels I usually can tell kids that have been to other day cares or baby-sitters,” said Hitschler when explaining to me the differences she sees in new children. “We do get kids that come in with different levels of motor skills and cognitive development skills, it just really depends.”
The second child to arrive came shortly after myself. “He is my little helper,” said Hitschler loudly so he could hear the compliment as well. “He loves to clean and organize.”
As the two boys build, what they say is a hot wheels track out of their wooden blocks, Hitschler studies and takes notes on the way the two interact together. “We keep track to help us see how they are developing,” said Hitschler.
At 9 a.m. the lesson plan begins. When the children come they search for their own name, which is laminated onto various winter shapes, such as a snowflake, to place onto their cubby where they hang their coats and keep their show and share.
More and more children kept flooding into the classroom. Some not wanting to leave their mothers and other barely noticing that they had left, but all of them were welcomed inside by Hitschler’s warm voice and contagious smile.
To begin group time, Hitschler sings a catchy tune in her chipper voice. The children chime in as they make their way around the rocking chair near the window. Underneath this window are various charts that depict who will be the helpers for the day. Choosing these helpers is the first thing they participate in during group time.
Hitschler has the children recognize the name on the note card and read it aloud. The positions chosen are line leader and also the caboose, lunch helper, plant helper and teacher helper. I notice how exciting these positions are to the children when I see the boy chosen to water the plants quickly jump up from his Indian style position on the floor and exclaim how much he likes watering plants.
After helpers are chosen, they read a book titled “Penguins.” This particular book has been chosen because the class in studying penguins at the time. Hitschler asked questions while reading and the children rose their hands and proudly stated the answers.
Breakfast follows group time. Today the meal consists of bagels and fruit cocktail, as well as milk. The children first wash their hands and then take their seat at the child sized tables to eat their meal.
The children, along with Ms. Ellen compliment a young girl’s new haircut, and welcome a new classmate. One girl greets the 3 year old student, also a girl, with a friendly pat on the back. She then promises that her and another classmate will be her friend until she reaches the age of four and a half.
Hitschler later comments that the two girls that have befriended their newest classmate are exceptional young girls.
“Sometimes you have to encourage students to take others under their wing by asking them to play with them, or even just show them around the classroom,” said Hitschler when asked if all the new children are greeted with such enthusiasm by their classmates. “It is really good when it does happen, it is great when new friends are made.”
A little after 10 a.m. the children formed a line, which was encouraged through song just as group time. Once the line was made and jackets were on we followed each other outside.
“Playing is a very big opportunity for a child to learn,” said Hitschler as the children played tag, rode bikes and even made sand pies all around us. “Even when playing with blocks children are learning about shapes, balance, gravity and cause and effect.”
As I observed the children play together and with the various teachers, Hitschler included, I noticed how well they share and communicate with one another. “There are children becoming aware of their feelings and figuring out how to express them,” Hitschler commented on the subject. “Sharing, for instance, we still have some disagreements, but nothing major. The children have learned to put their want into language by asking, rather than using their hands and just taking it.”
Hitschler complimented her students all throughout the morning, whether it was a young girl who told her to be careful while carrying the sensory table filled with water or the young boys who cleaned up their race track. “I notice the children developing socially. They have become better at expressing themselves, cooperating, gain a higher self esteem, and even solve problems among themselves.”
“We are getting these children ready for kindergarten. Even when working on their social skills we are helping, once you have that in place the cognitive will follow,” Hitschler commented when speaking of the importance of social skills.
“They need a good emotional base from which to grow on. Children are just like sponges and it is a great thing seeing them absorb things that will help them grow.”
