Dr. Taylor's FCS 4840- B.Miller volunteer

On May 29 and June 5 I volunteered for the Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, IL at The Caring Place. While volunteering I worked with sixteen two year old children. While interacting with the children I was able to observe the developmental differences of the children that were raised in various environments and cultures. It was interesting to see how the children reacted to myself and how they interacted with their peers. From this experience, and learning about disadvantage in society, I was more aware of why a child might isolate themselves from others and what might cause them to behave a certain way. During my time at The Caring Place I conversed with the teachers, and was able to gain more insight as to why some of the children behaved a certain way. By doing this I was able to adjust how I dealt with certain situations. The teachers were excited to have me do volunteer work in their classroom for the reason that they had just recently gained seven additional two year old children and there were only two teachers, until they are able to hire another teacher. By having me in the classroom I was able to help them with numerous tasks to ease their work load. They have expressed their appreciation for having another adult in their classroom to help. I enjoyed my time at The Caring Place and I plan on volunteering at Carle for the rest of the summer. I am glad that I can give of my time to help a child care facility that needs more people to help care for children that are currently there.