ECC 700 Journal 1

Stephanie Torres

Regarding my field work placement, I have decided to complete the twenty hours
required at Kid Krazy Daycare & Preschool. The school offers a UPK program for families in the
neighborhood during the morning session. However, the school also has an afternoon
Kindergarten program, as well as three other classrooms for younger age groups. Although the
school has a UPK program, the other programs are not publicly funded.
The school is divided into two separate locations which both reside in Astoria, Queens.
Even though they are separated, both locations are in constant communication and the director of
the school travels from one to the other on most days. Each location has their own assistant
director which allows them to become very familiar with the families from their designated
location. One location holds three classrooms (for ages 2 to 4) and the second location holds four
classrooms (for ages 1-4). The day at Kid Krazy is divided into two schedules -- morning and
afternoon. Most of the children in every classroom assist the whole day (from 8AM - 6PM).
There are a few children however which only attend for one of the sessions.
For the purpose of my fieldwork, I have decided to observe the infant/toddler and prekindergarten age groups, specifically observing one and four year olds. I am familiar with Kid
Krazy Daycare & Preschool because I used to be a teacher's assistant in one of their locations
during from fall 2014 until early 2015. During my employment with them, I taught in the Tumble
Tots (one year old) classroom during the morning schedule. Aside from being the teachers
assistant for the one year old classroom, I occasionally subbed in for the pre-kindergarten
classroom when they needed an extra hand.

My experience in education is not limited to my time at Kid Krazy Daycare and

Preschool however. During my time as an undergraduate student I had a few other experiences as
a volunteer, tutor, and an after school counselor. Prior to working in the one year old classroom
at Kid Krazy my experience was limited to childhood and adolescence. Those experiences were
crucial in defining my desire to go into the field of education. However, volunteering at
Mericats Castle School during a winter break from college influenced my decision in early
childhood education. Even though my time volunteering with ages two to four was very limited I
am eager to begin learning and gaining the skills required to be a successful early childhood
educator.
Although I consider my experience at Kid Krazy to have been highly beneficial, I am
certain that by taking a step back from being one of the teachers I will be able to observe more
objectively. The reason behind choosing the age groups that I did comes down to being able to
gain new insight in the field of early childhood education which I may have missed before. Also,
during my time as one of the teachers assistants I rarely had the chance to sit down with more
experienced teachers and discuss what being an early childhood educator really entails. Through
being on the field and observing I aspire to gain new skills, experiences, suggestions, and overall
insight into early childhood, not only from observing the students, but also by observing and
conversing with their teachers.