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Show Hilltop February 11, 1999 -- - -- -- "" llllllilfll ",IUI" "",m "' 1 ul"" l,""lu'! :.illIIIlllllill-ii- ""V ";;;r;Or;;;Slll 4 Post Dated Checks Payday Loans red Loans jSeciJ f C, jl 'mmmmmmmmmm W" 111 Sp-- I lii! - ' , m m MI 5 "T fe L,., ' 21 82 N. Hillf ield Rd. 2 Y 0 Yf jrfffS"pr ) Mkrfii,;i , - Jf .r "Your Personal Loan Center" LAYTON "fon V, , I,, SSiM SpiW Vajidril(jvith coupon. Expires 22899 Photo by Steven Diana Wilkerson, right, recently named the Daycare Provider of the Quarter, reads a story to children, from left, Rikki Warren, Kylie Sloan, Ryan Geer, and Jayden Crawford. R. Ford i&na.' named M :of r the quarter provide by Steven R. Ford Hilltop Times staff 1 5 While it's sometimes tough enough to care for your own children, Diana Wilkerson, who was named Daycare Provider of the Quarter, cares for six children every day, only one of which is hers. For the last three years, Wilkerson, known as "Miss Diana" to her children, has been providing daycare for military members, first in North Carolina and now at Hill. She began because she had an infant and decided she wanted to be home with her child instead of going to work outside the home. Wilkerson, whose husband is in the Marine Corps, rises at 5 a.m. to get ready for each day, and her children begin arriving at 6 a.m. Hie last child leaves her house at 5 p.m. "Sometimes if s hard because you're working in your own home, so your home is your business," Wilkerson said. "It's not as if I can call in sick because I have a responsibility to six children from different families. I feel like I have an obligation to my parents to be there for them. They're in the military. They have an obligation to serve their country, and I have an obligation to make sure that I'm providing adequate care for their children." Adrienne Daniel of the Family Child Care Office presented the quarterly award plaque to Wilkerson. Though she says that the office has many wonderful care providers, she acknowledges Miss Diana is truly top notch. "She makes pies with her children," Daniel said. "She takes them on field trips. Her activities and curriculum are outstanding. She mentors other, new providers. She's just an outstanding provider." oriWilkerson's program is and she to activities ented, plans many teach the children. The care providers have a curriculum to follow every week, and Wilkerson supplements that program with several ideas of her own. She has taught her children to cook to teach mem how to do things for themselves. She has focused some weeks on tying shoes. "This week is geared toward recognizing your name," Wilkerson said. "I will write out their name and they will trace their name. I have a manners board with their name on it, and they will show me where their name is." Wilkerson, who has had formal training from the Child Development Center, uses a number of methods to discipline the children, none of which include spanking or corporal punishment. The mother of three has found other ways. "I like to redirect the children," Wilkerson explained. "I explain to them, for instance, if they're hitting each other, that I am here to protect them, and not only am I here to protect them, I'm also here to protect the other children, and their hitting is not allowed. We also do what I call the cool pre-scho- ol SDGIEfiM down method, thinking time. I will put the children in a specific place and they will sit there for a few minutes to think aboutwhat they've done, and then I do a one-on-o- ne with them and explain to them why they are there, so that they understand why they're being put there. Then I give them a hug and a kiss, tell them I love them and they're off playing again." Wilkerson explains that "thinking time" is different from the recently popular "time out" concept in that it's not a punishment. In thinking time, the child, with the help of the daycare provider, learns to form his or her own solutions or alternatives for the unacceptable behaviors. Though she has had many rewarding experiences,.Wilkerson particularly remembers one child she had at Camp Lejeune who was autistic. No one informed Wilkerson of the child's special needs, but the fact didn't escape her, nor did it intimidate or hinder her. "Right away I knew something was wrong," Wilkerson said. "The parents knew and they didn't relay that to me, and I let them know that I felt that she needed some special education, so they put her in a and I had her for half of the day. Before she went to school, we'd work on speaking because she didn't speak. She was almost four years old and didn't speak. First we started with sign language, and I had one of the inspectors come in to see her six months after she was in my program. The inspector said to me, 'Is this Rachel?' And I said, 'Yes.' Then I said, 'Rachel, say hi to Miss Patti,' and Rachel said, 'Hi, Miss Patti!' And Miss Patti started spe-cial-- ed pre-schoo- l, Wo LuXdj Hill AFB; uXiW3uIILLD3X (331) Utah crying. Rachel really flourished in my pro- gram." Wilkerson has had several special needs children over the years. Some have come from abusive backgrounds. Some had attention deficit hyper activity disorder. Some were adopted children who had suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome because of their birth mother. All these children were able to prosper in Wilkerson's care program. "My main concern is being able to work with the parent so that we're at the same level," Wilkerson said. "I don't baby sit I don't consider myself a baby sitter. When the parents come to pick up their children, I like to be positive with them. Parents want to hear that their child is being good so that when they go home, they can spend some quality time together instead of punishing the child because they were bad." To parents and other care providers, Wilkerson offers this advice: "Just remember they're children. Give them lots of love. They need lots of love. There are days when you think, oh my goodness. Why am I doing this? It may be a hard day, and you don't feel good, but then a child comes up to you and says 'I love you,' and it's ail worth it." " -- Hill Air Force Base Airshow I 1 u e zwm 1 ) |