The Parent and child development class is back, and that means so is the very well known ‘take care of a baby assignment’.
This has been the first time this assignment has been done since the last teacher Mrs. Zeko retired and left no one else to teach it. This popular assignment brings in students who want the experience of taking care of a baby.
These “babies’ are designed to teach the students the responsibility of parenting, the project involves taking care of the baby for 4-5 days. Some of the responsibilities are simply giving the baby attention, feeding it, changing the diaper, and addressing the basic needs of the baby. These challenges make the assignment more realistic and teach real responsibility. There can also be a lot of training that comes into taking care of the baby.
“We discussed the project in depth during class. We watch videos, participate in hands-on training, and have in-depth discussions. Students are not surprised by the care they have to give. It is the waking up, reactions of others in class and interruption of their schedule that makes it difficult,” Parent and Child teacher Natalie Queen said.
The students take three weeks to train and take care of the baby so the only change is taking it home.
“My expectations for it were somewhat easy but that was not the case,” Senior Laney Burkeholder said. “My baby cried so many times but it was still fun, challenging but fun.”
While the baby assignment is designed to be a learning experience more than a lesson in responsibility. It quickly becomes a lesson to manage your time when the baby is brought to class or outside school activities and helps with having responsibilities under the pressure of having a baby.
Queen does have some advice for students wanting to take this class.
“Breathe. Work through the issues and enjoy the project. Everyone can do hard things. Losing sleep is one of them. Being able to adapt to certain situations is very important. You will have to do it the rest of your life.”
By the end of the project, many students walk away with not only a deeper understanding of the responsibilities of parenting but also a greater appreciation for the importance of staying calm and flexible in challenging situations.