Aussie Childcare Network Forum

case study:

barbara (the educator) is working in the infant room with the correct ratio of support staff; there are seven babies raging from seven weeks to eleven months. none of the babies are walking around furniture yet, but a number of them are crawling.

two infants, twins aged seven weeks, are in thier second week of care. when they arrive there mother rita, she places them on play mats that are spread on the floor in a cordoned off area of the room. barbara is talking to 10month of bella at the mirror, pointing out her facial features as this is a planned activity this week. when she sees the twins arrive she explains to bella that she will be back soon and then goes to welcome the twins and thier mother.

barbara asks how they all are, tickling the twins on there tummy and smiling at them. she then helps rita put thier bags and bottles in the spaces provided. they chat about how hard it is to get enough sleep and the barbara asks rita if she can fill in the morning chart telling telling staff when the twins last had their bottles and sleeps and what is expectedthrough the day.

rita then gives each child a kiss on thier forhead, syas goodbye and goes to leave. barbara notices that rita feels comfortable leaving the twins and the twins are comfortable watching the mobiles above thier heads; nonetheless she reminds rita she can call during the day if she wants to.

at mid morning all babies are awake, althought participating in all diffrent routines. some are getting thier nappies changed, one is being fed a bottle in the sleep room and the rest are playing.

barbara notices that one of the twins ( brandon) has begun to pull faces and wiggle on the play mat waving his hands up and down. she also notices that somewhere in the room there is a smell that indicates a babie has soiled its nappy.

the other staff are busy, so barbara needs to work out what to do. just as she moves towards the wiggling brandon, another child miranda (11 months) bumps her arm on the shelf she had crawled up to and begins to cry. now bella also begins to cry in response to mirandas cries.

barbara takes a deep breath. first she goes to the hurt child (miranda) and as she is giving her a cuddle, she nktices that the bump is small and has left no mark, but the shelf itself has a small splinter of wood poking from the surface. she camly says, its ok lets give it a rub. the she speaks to bella saying, miranda is fine, its just a little bump, do you need a hug too? she gives hugs to both children as she watches brandon, who is now starting to make little crying noises. barbara says to the children she is hugging, lets go over to brandon, he needs a hug as well.

at this point another educator comes into the room. barbara quickly explains the situation and organises whT will happen next;
- miranda needs and ice pack on her arm; barbara will look after this as she witnessed the accident and she can fill out the incident book. she will take bella with her and she her what will happen.
- brandon is getting uncomfortable; the other educator ca look after this as this educator is familliar to the room and knows brandons curs. he probelry needs to be moved into a diffrent postion and given another toy, unless it is his bottom making that smell.
- the smell; once brandon and miranda are organised the educator who is first availble will check where the smell is coming from and change the nappy.
- the spintered shelf; barbara will put some thick tape on this when she returns and then she will write up a maintenace report and let all the other educators no about the issue by telling them and writing it on the notice bored.

the other educator moves brandonand syas to barbara she can tell his unhPpy due to dirty nappy as that is when he usely gets wriggly. barbara agress to note this information for the future and goes to care for miranda and bella.

barbara returns with bella and miranda to find that brandon has a cleN nappy. the other educator changed it and is now sitting with him on her knee. the educator tells barbara that brandon is tired that he is rubbing his eyes. she suggest that she put him to bed with his blanket as she has done this everyday since he has started care. barbara agress tha this is a good idea and the educator tKe brandon into the sleep area saying, time for sleep brandon. we need to be quiet in the sleep room. you seem very tired. where is your blanket?

questions:
do you think barbara used appropiate strategies to find out about the twins rhythms rituals and cues?
answer: yes- by talking to rit and helping her unpack the bags.

question: did barbara respond in an unhurried, gentle and senitive way?
answer: unsure

question: do you think the atmosphere in the room was relaxed and flexible?
answer: yes?

question: was either educator monitoring for sings of hunger/distress/pain or tiredness for brandon?
answer: unsure

question: was barbara meeting the babies needs as well as possible?
answer: yes?

question: was barbara interacting in a spontaneous wAy?
answer: unsure

question: do you think it would be a good time to go outdoors with the babies?
answer: unsure

question: do you think the educators were fulfilling the rituals and routines of the babies as best they could?
answer: unsure

question: were play and rest availble?
answer: no?

question: were the educators using routine times as oppertunities for interaction?
answer: no?


thankyou

All the information required is in the scenario itself. Re-read the scenario and the questions and add more to each response rather than just a yes/no answer.

For example:

Was barbara meeting the babies needs as well as possible?

barbara notices that one of the twins ( brandon) has begun to pull faces and wiggle on the play mat waving his hands up and down. she also notices that somewhere in the room there is a smell that indicates a babie has soiled its nappy.

For each question read through the scenario and find the "evidence". Include these into your response to help you answer the questions...

Hope this helps,

,
Lorina