The Early Childhood class at Newton County Career and Technical Center is giving students the opportunity to prepare for their future careers while still in high school.
Course instructor Michelle Robinson, said that students who choose to take her class are typically preparing to enter a career caring for or teaching children once they graduate.
“Most of the students in my class want to pursue a career in teaching,” Robinson. “Or, they are wanting to care for children in some capacity, like at a daycare.”
Robinson said that the class teaches a whole array of skills that are helpful in the early childhood career field.
“They learn about the different stages of development a child goes through and the nutrition needs at each stage,” Robinson said. “Along with all of the lessons, each of the students gets a lot of hands-on experience during the class.”
For the hands -on experience portion of the class, students get the opportunity to take care of a RealCare Baby Infant Simulator from Reality works. Robinson said that caring for infant simulators “helps teach empathy, nurturing, decision making and patience.”
During the infant simulator section of the class, a student chooses a 24-hour period during which they will be responsible for caring for the infant.
“I usually have them take the baby simulators on a Friday after school, where the simulation will end on Saturday afternoon,” Robinson said. “That way, it doesn’t affect their school day or any of their other classes.”
When the student takes the baby home, they wear a sensor so the baby can recognize that they are the caregiver during that time. Each of the babies also has sensors that can indicate when a diaper is changed, when it is given a bottle, when it’s rocked and burped.
Robinson said that neither she nor the student knows what kind of temperament the baby will have.
“They come already programmed so I don’t even know if it will be a fussy baby. All I choose is when the baby will turn on and off, given the designated care period.”
After the student is done caring for the baby and it is returned, they get a printed-out paper that shows all of the activity and any of the missed care.
“Anytime that one of the students misses a feeding, doesn’t change a diaper or doesn’t support the head, that’ll show up on the report,” Robinson said. “It can even pick up if it is shaken or mishandled.”
When it comes to the beneficial portion of this part of the class, Robinson said that the lessons they learn are crucial.
“It really shows each of them the seriousness of caring for infants,” Robinson said. “Caring for the baby simulators helps them learn how to handle the stress of taking care of them and allows them to improve their communication skills.”
Robinson went on to say that the baby simulators are not the only hands-on experience the students get.
“We’ve got a daycare at the career and technical center, so my students get to interact with them, too. They get to practice putting together lesson plans and caring for them. With all of that said, when each of them finish my class, they have a pretty good idea if they want to work with kids when they’re older or not.”
