Struggle to study Diploma traineeship in baby room

[beckynj]

Hi,
I have been doing Diploma traineeship with a centre since December last year. I’ve only started to do my study this month and I’m really struggling...
I’m put in nursery room where children range from 4 months-17 months. The day is long and chaotic. Babies’ sleep patterns vary so it’s hard to get programming done. As I’m a trainee, I don’t have to do much programming like others but I do a lot of other things. Our room leader is quite disorganised and always behind programming. The job of caring for babies, cleaning, preparing materials for daily activities usually falls on me and the room assistance. I don’t have time to do much study.
But the real struggle is the assessments I have to do. I’m doing Fostering holistic development of children & Analyse information to inform learning. The task is to choose an area of play-session or a specific place in the centre and answer questions relating to fostering social development of children. Things to consider:
1. How does the area provide opportunities for different forms of social interaction with respect for each child’s needs, interests and developmental stage.
2. Structure experiences and equipment that promote cooperation and conflict resolution.
3. The use of natural resources.

I do understand the thinkings and concepts of planning learning environment for children. The problem is my room has nothing... the room is huge but it’s a wide area and everything is pushed against the walls to avoid clutter and accident. The room leader is paranoid about safety and she doesn’t want to change it. We have a couple of small lounge pushed against the wall, a small gym/play centre for kids to walk and climb on one side. Then lockers to store their bags, a low shelf for books, shelves for toys and that’s it. That leaves a huge empty floor in the middle to run a race

How can I answer the questions for my assignment when there’s nothing to work with? I can’t find any resources gearing specifically towards this age group.
Any suggestions would be greatly helpful.

[Lorina]

You may need to talk to your room leader about re-organising the room to make it more open-ended/inviting for the children. Even though they are only babies, the room still needs to be welcoming and inviting. You can try and add a few experiences within the room and see how the babies respond to it. If you room leader disagrees just mention that you need to do it for an assignment...

,
Lorina

[beckynj]

Thanks Lorina.

I mentioned this issue to the room leader but there’s not much she can do. This centre lacks support financially and mentally. I’ve spent some of my own money for resources and materials (even toys) for the room because I was told we have no budget.

Any ideas I can use to make the room more inviting for babies that won’t cost too much? I’m sure I can be honest in answering the questions that the state of my room doesn’t really provide or support the children for learning. But I need to explain and point out how I can set up the room to support their learning and development.

[Lorina]

You could probably do some DIY projects around the room to make it more inviting. Hang ribbon off a hula hoop in a corner for the babies to kick and hold, set up a sensory area, have a craft area with edible finger paints, set up an exploration area... there is a lot to do once you get an idea of what types of experiences you want the babies to be involved in.

You can find some activities here for the babies as well:
Games and Activities

,
Lorina