Camp!

As I am working on my blog I realize that I talk a lot about traveling, and not enough about camp. As camp is the reason I’m here, I’m going to try and include some random stories as I go. For this first entry, I’ll just talk about the center. As I said earlier, I am working on Vogelweh Army base in the CDC (Child Development Center). In the CDC we provide care for infants through two year olds. Right now there are only two year olds as the “intermediate care center” is under repair.

Every morning we get picked up in front of our apartment at 7:45 in a 15-passenger van. We ride with counselors that commute to Vogelweh Army Base and Kapaun Air Force Base. We’re all usually pretty quiet in the morning so our 15-25 minute commute goes by fast with reading and listening to iPods. The ride home, however, is a different story. Everyone is hyper from playing with the kids and everyone tries to tell their stories so it gets pretty loud!! In addition, the back of the bus is a ride no one could forget! The van exaggerates every slight bump so you are flying all over the place. It’s sure to give anyone motion sickness! Not exactly my cup of tea after an 8 hour work day!

The Vogelweh CDC itself is basically an ‘L’ shape consisting of two hallways with rooms labeled ‘A’ through ‘I’. Rooms A through D hold 1 year olds, room E holds two year olds, and rooms F-I hold infants. Since I’ve been in the center I’ve worked in various rooms, but mainly in room B with my one year olds. They are so adorable and totally have me wrapped around their little fingers!

My favorite part about the CDC is their philosophy and planning. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve never worked with this age before, or if it’s because this is an Army center, but there is so much planning that goes on! Every activity they do in the room ties in with the children’s cognitive and physical development. They need to take observations on all of the children stating what they have noticed and what the kids need to work on. Then, the teachers need to plan activities that correlate to each child’s need.

In addition, everything in the center is preparing children to be self-sufficient. All of the toys are at the children’s level so they are the ones to take them out and put them back. When we eat meals or snack, we eat “family style” where the children are encouraged to serve themselves and eat in a style that encourages socializing. Then, the children dump and clean their own plates. It’s fantastic! The other thing I love about the center is their use of sign language. They encourage children to use baby sign to communicate things like “more” “drink” and “all done”. This way the children can communicate clearly without getting misunderstood and getting frustrated.

Overall, I’m really enjoying our work at the center! I’ll keep putting camp updates in my blog with updates on children and activities! Stay tuned!