The Friendly and Organized Environment in a Family Home - Essay Example

Home Visit Assignment The parents, Reyna and Jason live with their daughter (Kyreni) and baby boy (James) in a cozy, 3 bedroom house. The small and close knit family consists of the parents, their 2 kids, and Reyna’s visiting mother. The neighborhood is a friendly one, with parks, library, school, and a community center for family activities and neighborhood events. The family’s home provides a friendly and organized environment for the children’s development and healthy growth. However, there are lots of areas that need improvement especially since the arrival of the new baby boy, James. During the first visit, I observed that Kyreni is a very intelligent and skillful child, actively responding to playing games like, memory. However, her parents admitted to Kyreni having become extremely bossy and temperamental often using sign language to communicate or otherwise when speaking, switching between her native Spanish to English. It seems that Kyreni is showing signs of jealousy towards her younger brother James and has resorted to various methods of communication in order to obtain her parents’ attention. She often resorts to crying where Reyna is forced to ignore the baby and tend to Kyreni in order to make her stop misbehaving. Both Reyna and Jason are devoted and loving parents, providing them with care and support. The have a healthy and learning environment, with plenty of healthy activities for Kyreni to participate in, like educational toys and books. Although, the parent’s relationship with the two kids is strong, I feel that they are still lacking a certain amount of organization and involvement. Due to the second baby, both parents find little time to play with Kyreni and be involved in her activities. They feel that the only time they can actually communicate with her effectively, is during the short and brief time they can spare to play with her. This might be the only time Kyreni feels comfortable and happy. The short time she has to play with her parents allows her to feel tat they have finally come to her level and treating her as an individual. This feeling of not being thrown in the same category as her younger brother brings about a positive change in her behavior and attitude. She is, for the duration of play time, able to cope with her emotions and actively mingle with her parents knowing that for the moment she has her parents’ undivided attention. Even though, parents always love their children, they still need to provide a separate and special bonding time with each of their children to help them get a sense of their unique and individual relationship with their parents. At a young age, like Kyreni’s, children are unable to develop a sense of perspective. It is like first learning to drive a car, the slightest deviation from the road or straight line, causes one to panic and be unsure of the world around them. Similarly, children having to deal with jealousy and anger need adults to provide them with as sense of direction and healthy ways of coping with these new and undiscovered emotions. Jealousy is of course a natural feeling and it can’t be completely erased but its experience can be minimized and dealt with effectively. Although, Reyna and Jason displayed a lot of love and care towards their children, there was still a certain amount of organization lacking. This was largely due to the fact that Reyna’s mother is visiting. The parents admitted that they always lacked routines and weren’t good at scheduling, but their day was still a bit more structured before Reyna’s mother visiting. They have adhered to the little routines with Kyreni such as brushing her teeth, reading/singing to her before bedtime and giving her back rubs if she demands them. However, her nap schedule is really off and only takes them when she feels like it. It is really important to provide growing children with routines in order to facilitate a safe, regular and organized physical environment. Having routines and fixed schedules helps children to feel secure and comforted. By following a schedule and adhering to daily routines, children establish patterns and logical association of tasks and activities. It instills a sense of time and regularity in them. Being organized and having a well structured physical home environment, helps children to maintain good habits and positive behavior. This is especially important in Kyreni’s case, for example just by scheduling her nap time and adhering to it, will help her establish a set pattern and routine. Overtime, this helps to build a child’s confidence and independence. Having a guideline and schedule to follow helps children to maintain consistency, increase cooperation, and alleviate disruptive behavior. Reyna and Jason definitely have a strong and loving bond with their children. They provide their kids with a healthy, growing, and educational environment that meets their developmental needs. There are a variety of learning activities, like reading and singing that promote creativity, verbal stimulation, and intellectual development. The parents make a lot of effort at doing various things together that encourage healthy behavior and attitudes. For example, they do have a daily routine of helping Kyreni to brush her teeth and wash up before bed. This allows her to have her parents involved in her daily activities even if for a brief period of time. There is still plenty of room for improvement which I will make sure to take note of during the next visit. The organization of the home environment has to be worked on. Kyreni needs a more reliable and regular schedule which she can follow on a daily basis. There should be a fixed nap and play time during which she can learn to be independent, responsible, and cooperative. For example, through out the first visit, Kyreni behaved in a bossy manner often ignoring the conversation between her parents and I. She did not respond when her parents told her to go and play in her room. With the James crying, Reyna was forced to ignore him and focus on Kyreni for her ill behavior. Another area of progress would be in Kyreni’s parents being more active and involved with her activities. By being more responsive and interactive, they will help her to feel respected, noticed and heard. There isn’t any doubt that Reyna and Jason adore their children very much, but extra effort is sometimes needed when a child feels threatened and ignored due to a younger sibling. Spending a little more time individually with Kyreni will allow both parents to effectively communicate with her. This will also help Kyreni to feel less insecure and more open with her parents in dealing with her angry and jealous emotions. Appendix A Abstracts of Two Articles Totsika , Vasiliki & Kathy Sylva. “The Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment Revisited.” Child and Adolescent Mental Health 9.1 (2004): 25-35. This study goes into detail describing the HOME assessment criteria and its subscales. Studies are conducted on normally developing children as well as high risk populations in order to see how they evaluate to the assessment inventory. HOME is further used to see how the children’s physical environment plays a role in their early development. It is seen that children in normal and healthy homes score higher on the HOME assessment scales. The study also reveals the strength and weaknesses of applying HOME subscales to at-risk populations. M.B. How You Can Help Your Children Deal With Jealousy Toward Younger Siblings. Helium: Child Discipline Strategies, 16 Oct. 2006. Web. This online article describes the emotions and insecurities children go through when having to deal with younger siblings. Strategies for parents are introduced, such as spending individual time with the older child, in order to help them cope with their anger. Parents are asked to take responsibility and help give their children a sense of direction during this time of early learning and development. Appendix B Parent Interview Mom: Reyna, Dad: Jason, Daughter: Kyreni (9/2/08), Son: James (8/16/10) 1. How do you "talk" to your child? How does he or she respond? -As an adult, bossy, firm. Mainly in Spanish. -She responds as an adult. Sometimes using sign language. Switches between English and Spanish. 2. Do you "play" with your child? If so, what do you do, and how does he or she respond? -Yes. She loves it! Her favorite game is memory. She has an awesome memory and sometimes beats me. 3. Do you feel that your child is "responsive" to you? Are you "responsive" to the baby? In what ways? -Yes. I try to be responsive. She needs a lot of attention now that the new baby is demanding a lot of my time. I sometimes have to ignore the baby to respond to Kyreni. 4. What do you do when your baby cries? -I try to calm her down. I say, "breathe" or "Im not going to listen to you until you stop crying." And then I model breathing. I sometimes say, "I dont understand what youre saying" 5. Would you treat your child any differently if he (she) were a girl (boy)? Why or why not? -I dont think so. I dont see a difference in gender. I treat my boy the same. 6. What do you see as the most important part of the social relationship between you and your child? -When playing thats when we can talk the most. She knows thats when I am listening to her and she has my undivided attention. 7. What routines do you have with your child? Diaper changes? Bathing? Dressing? Going for a walk? What is your response to these ties, and what is the childs response? -Were not really good with routines. We used to be more structured before my mom came to visit. Now that my moms here theres not much structure. At night we do have a routine of putting on PJs, brushing teeth, washing her face and hands. We then have to show her that its night time by letting her look out the window. Once shes convinced its night time she lays in bed and we read a book together, sing a song, massage her back/rub back. Sometimes if she doesnt want a back rub shell say, "dont! rock" or sometimes she ask us to "walk" her around while cuddling her. She doesnt have a regular nap schedule. She only takes a nap if she asks for one. Read More