Blog 6: Second Interview Questions

Questions for Mentor:

1. What do you believe makes you an expert in this field, other than years of experience?
2. Why did you choose to work with children as a career?
3. What do you do that you believe makes you stand out from other child care providers?
4. What is one of your greatest accomplishments in this career choice and what did you do to reach it?
5. How long did it take for you to be licensed as a child care provider? What were the steps you had to take?

S.F. Blog 5A: Problem Statement

(1) Topic: Child Care

(2) Problems in your topic and what you will do once they are solved.

• A problem which is often seen and that was even mentioned to me by my first interviewee was the fact that it is hard to find a person who will take good care of a child. Lots of times the children can be abused or ignored when taken to a daycare or a babysitter, and that is not good for the child.  It would be really hard to find a solution for this, since it is in such a wide spectrum and depends on each person. It seems the most efficient way to overcome this problem would be to have certain criteria, which I'm sure there already are, on who can take care of a child responsibly.
• Bad facilities also seems to be a big problem. There was an article that I read on MSN saying that day cares contribute to behavioral problems in children. Sometimes there are also inadequate restrooms and playgrounds for the children to use. 

Both of these problems seem hard to solve for the science fair, but perhaps there is an easier way to go about it that I am not aware of. So I need to find a mentor soon and speak to them more closely about it and that will also help me find out what I will do once the problems are solved.

Blog 4: Working EQ

The Pentagon

(1) What positive thing happen as a result of what you have completed so far?

A positive that happened as a result of my mentorship was that I was able to meet a lot of really wonderful children. I was able to learn a lot about them, have fun with them, and help them enjoy themselves. I was really able to open myself up to them and it helped me become more confident with children.

(2) Pick a piece of research or your interview.  How has it helped you improve your understanding of your topic?

A lot of my research pieces have helped my understand that a lot of what goes on in the early life a person, the childhood, is what sets them up for the rest of their life. It all has to do with brain development. During childhood, that is when your brain is making all the synapses in your brain; connecting memories or experiences to other memories. These are crucial because they will be what takes you on through the rest of your life, so as a child care provider, one must make sure to do their best for the child to have good connections and synapses in the brain.

(3) What has worked for you so far in the senior project?

My first interview was really great at giving me a good base to start off with on my senior topic. The research I've done has also helped me understand children and their brain a bit more, which will definitely help me in the future when faced in situations where children have "bad" behavior.

(4) What hasn't worked so far? 

I haven't really been able to find a mentor so far, since I'm not sure what sorts of people I should trust the most in this field. The person I interviews for my first interview was a great source of information, but I don't feel like she would be the most beneficial person to me as my mentor.

(5a) What possible question or questions come to mind regarding what you would like to study this year?

• What is the best way to deal with a child who is being troublesome?
• How can a parent know where the best place to leave their child is?

(5b) What is your end goal this year with your senior project?

I hope to have gained a lot of experience in regards to caring for children properly and efficiently using fun activities that the children will enjoy. I also hope to gain more confidence by interacting with the children and also with other people who are experts in this field who will be able to help me with my project.

(5c) Who would you like to talk to you next? Why?   

Perhaps someone in the childhood development field. They would have a lot of information on the ways kids learn and why the behave the way they do, which would really help out when taking care of children. It helps you be prepared for different situations when you are more informed.

Blog 3: Interview Preparation

1. Who do you plan to interview? Why?

I plan on interviewing the owner of the day care center I volunteered at over the summer. She is actually my aunt and her name is Maria Castaneda. She has owned that day care for quite a few years now, so I feel she has a lot of experience that will help me in answering a few questions about my topic, and she might even be able to give me different resources. It will also make it easier for me to get a better ground in how to interview someone, because since she is a family member, it'll be easier to speak more casually and comfortably with her.

2. You have to ask five questions. What additional questions do you plan to ask?

Along with the given five questions, I would like to ask her exactly how she decided to become a child care provider and the steps she had to take in order to become what she is today. Also, what special classes did she have to take to prepare herself? What are the best ways to have the children learn while still having fun? What are the basic need-to-knows of child care? 

Blog 2: Topic Choice

A. What is your topic and why?

My senior topic is Early Childhood Education and Care. When I first went to do my mentorship hours at the day care center, I didn't think I would stick to this topic once school started. However, the more hours I did, the more I really got to like the children I looked after and the way a center worked. The children were really fun to play with and there was so much you could do with them. You could read them a book, have them read to you, help them with their homework, and then play with them afterwards! I just really enjoyed those hours spent with them, and I really liked seeing their happy faces.

B. What do you hope to accomplish this year with this topic?

• iPoly Citizen: Children tend to sense when you don't take them seriously, so being respectful to a child when looking after them helps in being respectful to everyone around you. As a volunteer in a day care center, you are taking care of a person. Taking care of a person means that you're looking after their well-being the best of your abilities, which also helps with being an iPoly Citizen; taking care of yourself and those around you.
• Effective Communicator: I plan to use my engagement with the children in the day care centers to improve my social skills. Such as when you must be empathetic towards the children so that I may help them better if they are having difficulties in something. Being empathetic can help when a team or group of people are having difficulties understanding one another. 
• Effective Learner: Working with a child is really hands on, so I plan on learning a lot about taking care of children by doing what the owner of the day care does to keep them all on track. Learning about something, or watching someone do it, and then repeating it yourself is a great way to become an effective learner.
• Effective User of Technology: I plan to search and use research under my topic that will help me understand the way a child develops. This will help me be a better user of technology by knowing which sources are credible and how to more quickly search for the information I need.

Blog 1: Summer Mentorship Component

Literal (Know)

Contact information: 

Day Care Center: Castaneda Family Child Care

Owner: Ms. Maria Castañeda 

Phone #: (626) 962-2006

Log of Hours (spreadsheet)

Literal (Need to Know)

Questions that were raised:

• What sorts of extra classes should a person take if they want to care for children with special needs?
• How much paperwork is required before starting a day care center?
• What forms are routinely required to fill out about the day care for the government?
• What are some ways to keep the children entertained, other than just playing with them?
• How much of the money the parents pay to keep their children in the day care is kept by the owner?
• Does it differ by how employees the owner has?
• Are there fees needed to pay to the government for running a day care?

Interpretive

I think the most important thing I gained from this experience is that there is a lot more to taking care of a child than is let on. It really takes a lot of energy and patience to manage a child. You have to be extremely patient with a child, but you also have to be stern when need be, and it really is a lot of work.

Applied

What I did this summer for my ten hours, has made me lean to child care/development to be my senior topic. Playing with the children and talking with them was really a lot of fun, even though tiring, and I just want to know what the best ways of caring for a child are when they are not at home. Having two nieces that I often babysit has also contributed to my interest in this topic. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work that has to be done before caring for children full-time, and my mentorship experience has piqued that interest.