Lakeshore: Setting Sail for your Child's Education

Teriann Runkel
COM 111-07
4-27-07

Nothing makes me happier than spending time with children and helping them further their education. I have had a lot of experience with kids thanks to all my cute little cousins, nieces and nephews. My brothers and sister and I are quite a few years apart so I became an Aunt early on in my life. I enjoy having fun with children and most of all I benefit from teaching them and helping them learn. Lakeshore Learning Center allows me to do just that. The daycare in which I am employed is a great environment for the children that attend, as well as myself. There are many learning advantages to Lakeshore Learning Center, also called LSLC. The children are assured to be well taught and educated. The staff is experienced and professional. The atmosphere is playful and upbeat. Everyone is always having fun. One of the first things I noticed about LSLC is the cleanliness and organization, which is very important in this line of work. Everything was in its place and labeled, which I thought was really neat. Your child’s future in education is certain to set sail at Lakeshore Learning Center.
Every wall is filled with some sort of decoration that fills the rooms with brightness and enthusiasm. The decorations hanging up including posters, pictures, paintings, drawings, schedules, bulletins and much more. There is a picture of every child that attends LSLC hanging throughout the hallways. The laminated paper showed their first picture of them at the daycare and also shows what age they were when they first started. These papers follow them when they change classrooms. I thought that was a cute addition. The each poster throughout the daycare teaches the children something new. Some posters include the days of the week, some the months within the year, some include different animals and some the alphabet. Others have numbers in English and Spanish. There are also assortments of shapes and colors to educate children. Even if you think children will not notice something, they become aware of everything! If there is the smallest change, it is more likely for them to notice before you do. It is amazing how much they pay attention to the decorations on the walls. From what I have observed, they have taught the children a lot and drawn their attention. Along with posters, the walls are lined with varieties of artwork, including pictures drawn with coloring crayons or markers and colorful paintings. You may not be able to recognize what it is supposed to be exactly, but it is still cute as ever. “Just to listen to the children explain to you what they were drawing sends you home with a smile” (Angela). All the art and craft activities usually are sent home with the child after they have been displayed so that the parents can enjoy them just as much. The environment that LSLC provides is superior to other types of atmospheres I have seen children in previously. The great environment provided is also beneficial to me because it is my workplace and it is important that I enjoy it and feel comfortable there.
There are many advantages at Lakeshore Learning Center in reference to learning and education. They provide extra activities and programs for the children to participate in. One example is the program they are running right now. They are calling it “Spanglish”. Kids of all ages can go to learn more about the Spanish language and how to speak Spanish. This activity is a great idea. It is much easier to learn a second language when you are younger. I was amazed at how many of the two year olds could count to ten in Spanish. That is impressive. The daycare also provides other types of activities for the children to assist them in learning. Some days you will look out the window and see a fire truck, police car or even a boat sitting outside. The classes take short fieldtrips outside to explore the exhilarating sites. They get time to learn about what the object is, what it is for, what type of noises it makes, what color it is and also have time to ask any and all questions they might come up with. These short fieldtrips are always fun and the children have a great time while learning outside of the classroom. The educational advantages at LSLC exceed all other daycares. The owners live for kids. They work very well with them and all of the kids love them. Each owner is professional but also at the same time, they are fun. Outside each classroom is a short autobiography and picture of the teacher, for the parents convenience, to help them get familiar with the teacher and assistant their child will be spending most of his/her time with. The teachers and assistants are all involved in the daycare and are also all experienced with children.
Along with the good environment, it is very playful and upbeat at LSLC. Everyone seems to have a cheerful attitude while working with their class. There is always something fun going on. Teachers and children are always playing and laughing, having a good time. No one ever seems unhappy to be there. We all enjoy spending time with the children at the daycare and it excites us to be there with them.
One of the most important aspects of LSLC is the cleanliness and organization that is kept. Everything is constantly sanitized and cleaned to help with sickness that spreads from child to child. Washing hands is emphasized greatly. It is explained to the children that washing your hands kills germs and helps to prevent them from getting sick. The daycare provides “food handling” gloves for changing diapers, passing out food, or in the worst case any accidents that involve you to wear gloves for our protection. The floors are sweep and mopped frequently during the day as well as the carpets being vacuumed so that kids can not pick something up off the ground to put directly into their mouth. They seem to want to do this a lot, even if they have no idea what it is they are sticking in there. I was also surprised to see that LSLC was so organized. Everything has its own basket or drawer with a label to help you find things easily. Small things like cleanliness and organization can make a daycare go a long way. These two aspects are two very important features. It is important for the parents and also important for the children and be in a healthy environment.
I collected comments and compliments from my two interviewees at LSLC. My first interview was with a two year old named Christopher. He is very well spoken and a ton of fun in class. When I asked him if he thought the daycare is fun, he responded “Yeah I have fun playing in the Butterfly Room. That is what Ms. Angela calls us.” Christopher does just that, he gets his maximum of fun per day. While he has fun with all his friends, they also learn a lot. I asked Christopher what cool things he does at daycare. He said, “We do, we do music and the weather of the day!” He is right on target! In the morning, shortly after breakfast, when all the children have arrived we sit in circle time. LSLC follows Creative Curriculum and circle time is one suggestion. While the kids are all sitting around in a circle, we talk about the day of the week and the current weather that day. We have visuals for them to look at to help them learn. We also read a morning time book while in the circle. The next question I asked Christopher was what he had learned at LSLC. “I can do the alphabet puzzle”, he said “We play with lots of toys and we, we have lots and lots of fun. Mommy would be so proud of me!” (Christopher).
For the second interview I asked Christopher’s teacher, Angela, a few questions. Angela has been employed at the daycare for 1 year. I asked Angela how she would describe Lakeshore Learning Center. She responded, “It is very well managed and it is a very clean facility. I also like how they follow the Creative Curriculum guidelines.” Then I asked Angela what aspects she likes the most at the daycare, being both a teacher there and a client. She has a 7 month old son who attends the daycare as well. She likes “that nurses are always available and on hand. I also like that every room has a camera.” Angela used the word “satisfying” when talking about the feeling she has when spending time with the children.
Children are promised to have a good time at Lakeshore Learning Center. The environment is friendly, clean and organized. The staff is great with children. The daycare is upbeat and playful, but at the same time is full of learning advantages. Your child’s education is very important. Start early. Your children will thank you later.

Teriann Runkel
COM 111-07
5-11-07

The subculture I chose was very interesting. I had a lot of fun at my field site, which is also my workplace. Being placed in this COM 111 class and being assigned these series of writings and essays was extremely beneficial to me. It gave me a chance to become a better, more descriptive writer and also gave me the chance to learn more about the daycare environment and most importantly, the children. This field site experience has helped me further my studies in my Elementary Education at Lincoln Land Community College. The experience I have received at Lakeshore Learning Center, while concentrating on my subculture essays, has taught me a lot of valuable information. Children are very interesting and there are so many possible things to observe from them and write about. Children are always active and there is never a dull moment.

The experience I have gained from this subculture is very useful to me, especially since children are the largest part of my education. I love teaching and spending time with children. They are my biggest joy. It is amazing how they can make you feel when they look up to you and smile. I am positive that I want to spend my career teaching and being involved with children. I love to educate children and teach them new things. I am rewarded by how excited they get and the look on their face when they understand something.

Children definitely keep you on your toes! There is never a dreary or boring minute with my two year olds. Even when they take their two hour nap, which is when I normally was scheduled to come into work, there is too much to clean up and get ready for before they wake up again. My normal day consists of the children waking from their cots and coming to the classrooms personal bathroom for potty breaks and diaper changes. By this time it is around 2:30 pm. The children line up at the door to walk across the hall to the gym. They love this indoor gym, where they can run, jump, hop, roll, yell and act goofy. After they use all of their energy in the gym, we go back to the classroom to wash up for snack time. The children go to the bathroom to scrub their hands and then come to sit at the table. The snack is brought to the room by the kitchens cook. The kids normally drink juice and eat something like graham crackers, fruit, pretzels, cheese, and much other snack type of foods. After snack we go back to the gym or if it is nice we go outside for some play time. After about a half hour we go back inside to do music. The children listen and sing to the songs and some play instruments like bells, drum, whistles, and sticks. They love this time. They dance around and laugh. Their favorite song is ‘Ring-around-the-Rosy’. After music is done, and they start to lose interest, they have time for free play in the classroom. Toward the end of the day, I usually try to get the children involved in some type of art project. Then the parents soon arrive. The kids give me a hug goodbye and I tell them “I’ll see you later”.

I enjoy every day I am with the children. I have learned a lot of helpful information that I can use throughout my career as a teacher. These essays have helped me learn a lot about daycare environments and child behavior and activities. Children are very interesting and I am so excited to get the chance to work with them, to help educate them.