Unit 1: Post 5 (Feruary 2, 2009)

I observed KinderFrogs for my Public Space Analysis. I absolutely loved it! Those kids are so awesome. They just were full of smiles and surprises such as the boogers that most of them had. All of them had very runny noses the entire time I was there; I believe they go through at least a box of tissues a day. I especially liked watching the interactions of the various people in the site.

I managed to get there for pick-up on Thursday and drop-off on Friday so that I could see the way the parents interacted with the teachers/aids and the children. The aids were very respectful to the parents and vice verse. You could tell that there was a bond between them; it wasn't uncommon to hear them discussing their families and the news. One of the teachers told me that this is possible because these kids are in the program for years with the same teachers around them. This continued exposure allows relationships to develop that don't happen in a typical school setting. The bond is very important between the teachers and parents for these kids because a common topic of discussion was the signs the kids were using. For example, one boy kept making a sign that the teachers couldn't figure out. When speaking with the father, they learned that the sign meant "harmonica" and that the child was wanting to play music.

The bond between the teachers/aids was equally, if not more, powerful as is the bond between the parents and the aids. Those teachers love the kids so much and are incredibly patient with them. They are always willing to reach out and give them a hug, no matter if the kids have snot hanging out of their noses or not. I was told back in freshman year when I started observing that I should never wear white because of the bodily fluids that tend to be present with these kiddos.