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Psy395Fall2005
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Bornhava

Hi! My name is Kristin and I am a psych/soc major here at Canisius. I am a first semester senior and I will graduate in December. This semester I worked with Dr. Bayer to find a practicum site that would suit me best, Dr. Bayer set me up with Bornhava.

My interests strongly lie in the hands of children. I hope to one day become a school social worker, and work with children of all backgounds, including children with developmental or mental disabilities or illnesses. For the past year and a half I have worked with Compeer of Greater Buffalo. They set me up with two wonderful children who I spend time with every week. Ryan has many illnesses including ADHD, tourettes, and ODD. Debra is not diagnosed with anything, but had a very hard upbringing and felt a mentor would help to guide her through her teen years.

Most recently, Dr. Bayer introduced me to Bornhava. Upon my first visit, I was overwhelemed. Although I had much experience in the mental illness field, I had not had any in the developmental field. Bornhava was a whole new world. During the first few hours I put in, I got aquainted with the building, the teachers, and the children themselves. I later on learned about the disabilities each child had, but also what each child had to offer.

Bornhava is a place of growth. I work in Tara's classroom, with children of the age of four. These children are wonderful. One child has down's syndrome and the other 11 have various learning disabilities. Some of the children use very little verbal language, some use sign, others have no communication skills. It was very hard at first to understand the children, or to get used to the sign language.

Yesterday, I brought my boyfriend with me so that the kids would have a male 'friend' to play with. I also brought him so that he could observe the classroom. It was then that I realized just how much these children had grown over the two month span that I had been there. Those children have learned a lot just in the short time I have known them. It is wonderful to step into a classroom and know that everyday these children will have learned something different and new. I help with circle time, gym, music, play time, and most importantly I help these children learn.

Not only is Bornhava a place of growth, but also a place of friendship. Everyone is a "friend". When the children are speaking to each other, or a teacher, they refer to them as friends. Bornhava is a home, where everyone is welcome. It is a wonderful place to have done my practicum and I am looking forward to working with them for the six week summer program. I would recommend anyone to put in hours at Bornhava.

Jan. 10th-

Met the kids today. They are all so cute, and at first nothing seems wrong with them developmentally. I have a classroom of 12, all with learning disabilities and one child with Down's syndrome. Today I felt like a kid again. We sang songs, played dolls, wore fun hats. At lunch all the children wanted pudding, because one child, Kamron, only eats things that are choclate and cheese! How I wish that diet worked!! Everyone here is so nice, and family like. Playing with the kids was great, I'm sure next time will be even better.

Feb. 3rd-

Today we went outside to go sledding! Bornhava has a HUGE and beautiful backyard where the kids can run on the track, play on the playground, go in the gazeebo and go sledding! I am taking a great interst in both KAMRON and LINSEY. Kamron does not communicate with words, and he is very hyperactive, always moving around. Tara, the other teachers and I thought that having him wear a vest (heavy) would help him to settle down a bit, rather it just seemed as a annoyance. I am very comfortable here. The kids are wonderful, the classroom is fun, Tara is a wonderful teachers,and everyone is so nice! We sang a lot today because we had music class. It is so different watching everyone use their own way to interract with the children. We ate lunch after music, had circle time where we sang more about numbers, hands and the calenders, then we had craft. We do a lot with them in the short time they are here.

March 17th-

Today was a St.Patty's day celebration! We wore hates, and did the Irish gig in gym class!! All the PT, OT'S, teachers, aids and therapists were threre and the kids had a blast!! They learn so quickly and all the children interact with each other so well!!

April 5th-

The kids remembered me even after a longggg break!! I got lots of hugs upon my return and got right back on track with them! Today we had some special activities to do. We were practicing on the calender what day it was. Also Tara has a board where the kids have to put their names when they enter the classroom. We are also letting them see the spelling of their name, and the other children's by the lunch mates, have specific names on them. The children are doing wonderfully and I see so much improvement in just a few short months. Kamron has tried to eat some chicken nuggets and actually like them. I see myself a lot in Linsey just in how she acts with the other kids and things. I really love being in with Tara and the other aides.

April 19th-

Completed the req. for the practicum hours today. However, I am going to stay here through the end of the semester, and hopefully work for the 6 week program over the summer! The kids are moving on to different places, so I am really looking forward to the next few weeks!




Hello Again....I decided since I liked Bornhava so much to take a job there this summer. I am working there as a teacher's assistant in the same classroom I did my internship in. It is a six week program and I already love it! I am going to keep a journal here each day to show the progress both of my own, but also of the classrooms.

July 11th, Day 1
Today was my first day back, and same with the kids. They had a two week break and were very excited to head back to school. My morning classroom has eleven children, and all of them but one, have down syndrome. This is much different than I am used to. The children arrive at 9 and stay until 11:30, then the next class arrives at 12:00 and stays till 2:30. I enjoyed working with both classes, but my morning class is more of a challenge. The afternoon class is the same class I worked with during the school year, so I was happy that they remembered me. The teacher is new but it seems we will work together wonderfully!

July 12th, Day 2
Since yesterday was more of a welcome back, lets get situated day, today we really hit into gear. We tried to inflict a certain routine on the children and they went with it well. We spend a lot of time interacting with Occupational therapists and speech therapists, so there are always a lot of hands in the room. There is also a one-on-one that works with one of the children in the morning. It seems like the children have learned a lot since they have been attending school. Most only use very little language in the morning class, but signing happens alot. I am learning quickly, I can already say a lot of words!

July 13th, Day 3
Today was a great day, except the waking up at 7:00 is really starting to catch up, especially since I work another job and take classes. They children are really adapting well. I enjoy having a lot more say in the classroom, and I love working with different types of children. There are some new faces to the school, so everyone is getting used to each other. The children in both classes have learned to be very independent. They want to do a lot on their own, and they try very hard. We have been working with sounds, animals, and expressions.

July 14
The morning class and the afternoon class are much different. I see that a lot of the children we worked with have regressed a bit since school was off for two weeks, so a lot of the time is spent rebuilding what they have already learned. I am having a lot of fun doing it though because the kids are amazing!

July 15
The last day of the first week! It went very well. The children have adapted to having a new teacher and new faces in the classroom. The teacher, speech therapist, PT, OT, the onesely and and myself have all been working very closely and it seems we all have the same goals for the classroom!

July 18
Each week we have different activites. This week is vehicle week. The children are learning the different sounds that the cars, trucks, bikes, etc make. We are also teaching them, and I myself am learning the appropriate sign language for each vehicle. It's amazing how much the kids and I are learning from each other!

July 20th
Today we are taking a field trip to the fire hall and also having a vehicle "party" in our parking lot. The children will get to experience the look and feel of each of the vehicles. They were able to sit inside a dump truck, walk into a motor home, and take a ride on a clown car. They loved it. I enjoy watching the children learn from the teachers and from eachother, I have already seen progress.

July 25
Another good week just passed. This week the children are learning about different animals. We have incorporated a lot of books and reading into the classroom. The morning class is having more difficulty with it since most of them do not have much language. It seems that they are struggling to make the sounds, however their sign language is great! The afternoon class is excelling. They have worked with all types of sounds and words so we are attempting to expand their sentence structure by listening to books on tape. SO far so good.

July 26

We had a petting zoo today and the children loved it. They were able to distinguish betwn. each animal and make the sound or sign associated with it. I was impressed at how gentle and caring they were for the animals. We are also teaching them the importance of handwashing and cleanliness. They are using wipes before and after lunch and they are each taking turns collecting them and putting them into the trash bins.

July 28
Another successful week. We are working with the children on a lot of different things. Today we had Mixing with Marcia. Marcia is one of the OT who comes in and works with our children. Today we sat at the table and prepared brownies. We had eah child pour the mix in, crack an egg, and stir. The children who were a little more advanced were able to take more time with it. All of the children loved the idea of cooking! The each were able to keep it in the correct place and they followed directions.

Aug. 1
Today I worked with a little boy named Reid. Reid normally had a one on one but today she had a doctors appoint. I realized that a lot of Reid's behaviors act out because of attention. If the attention is not on him, he will do something, such as open the classroom door, so that a teacher will be right by his side. He seems to need a constant caretaker, or someone always there reinforcing his behaviors. However, when the one on one, Leigh, is right there with him he seems to do rather well on most occasions.

Aug 2
We taught the children today the importance of space, myspace, and doing the right thing. In music we song songs about my space and that our friends need to stay in our own space. It seems that the children always want to sit in someone else's share, or sit on a friend's lap. We are teaching them to stay in their own space. DO the right thing is what we tell our friends when they do something wrong. Each child knows what that means and they seem to be learning and answering to it.

Aug. 3
Today we had a water party. The children were able to head outside and play on the playground with a water table, pools, and sprinklers. Each child loves the water, but one in part. Kamren has really shown his liking toward it. He does not use words, but by his expessions we can tell how much he enjoys the water. He had a great time and was actaully on his best behavior.

Aug. 8th
The kids are beginning to get a little wound up, I think they know the end of the summer school is approaching. We are starting to really get them into a routine so it kind of stinks that we are done in a week. We have established a nice routine for them to follow. Play is the first hour, then circle, craft, snack then reading and puzzles. The children's fav. part of the day is play, but they really do get involved during circle time. Most of the children love signing.

Aug. 12
Today we took a field trip to a friend's house for a pool party. We walked there but the children were so well behaved. The kids really do a great job of imitating behaviors, especially when they recognize the positive outcome. We had a picnic lunch with pizza, fruit, and salad then we head into the pool. Many of the afternoon class children were able to swim on their own with the floaties. One of the teachers happened to say the word drown and one of the girls kept telling us she was drowning. Other then that the pool party was a success!

Aug 19
Today was the last day of classes. The children seemed to be excited to have a two week break, but they also seemed sad because they would miss school. It was esp. hard for me because a lot of these children will be leaving Bornhava come the fall, I after two semesters of working with them I was pretty attached. I saw a lot of progress in most of the kids, but wish I had more time to work with some of them as well. I really enjoyed my time at Bornhava and realize what a great experience it was!