Home Inventory Assignment 1

Molly Ruden

Bowne

Child Development I

23 April 2019

The Shastry Family

I interviewed the Shastry Family. The family consist of Jennifer, the mother; Tajas

Shastry, the father; and Rohan Shastry, their four-month-old son. There are no pets currently in

the family. The Shastry’s live in a two-bedroom apartment on the tenth floor. Jennifer is

Caucasian and Tajas is Indian. The language spoken in the household is English. Jennifer is a

dermatologist and Tajas is technology scientist. While Jennifer and Tajas are at work, Rohan

attends a daycare. Tajas normally drops Rohan off and Jennifer picks him up. Jennifer and Tajas

frequently verbalize to Rohan and respond positively when he reacts. The interview revealed that

Rohan frequently sees family members and guest and ventures out of the apartment daily.

Multiple books and toys were visible during the interview. The apartment had outlets covered

and designated space for play.

The Shastry Family was above average for the Variety category- score of five. Tajas, the

father, provides care for Rohan daily. Jennifer and Tajas read or sing stories to Rohan daily.

Rohan eats breakfast and dinner with Jennifer and Tajas. Rohan receives visits from family

members weekly and travels to see family monthly. Multiple books were visible during the

interview. One communication technique discussed in Keron Gwaltney’s article was to get to

know the family ahead of time. Throughout the interview, I learn about the Shastry’s lifestyle

and how busy Rohan’s parents are. This is important to know when addressing the Variety
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category. One thing I would say to Rohan’s family is, I recognized Rohan gets a lot of time

outside of the apartment and with visitors. Socializing is important for his cognitive development

and growth.

The Shastry Family was below average on the Responsivity category- score of 8. Jennifer

or Tajas did not introduce Rohan to me by name. Rohan did not receive praise more than tow

times during my visit. Jennifer or Tajas did not kiss Rohan in front of me during the visit.

Because I did not see Rohan be kissed, I do not know how often he is kissed when visitors are

not around. I would use the active listening strategy for informing the parents about what I

noticed. I will show that I am listening to the parents and reply with feedback. One thing I may

say to Rohan’s parents is, I noticed you have colorful balls in Rohan’s play area. When Rohan

plays with one ball, try telling him the color of the ball to help him learn his colors.

I noticed Jennifer and Tajas seemed slightly nervous in the beginning of the interview.

Maybe they were worried I was judging their parenting. One thing I could have improved on

before the interview was having a longer conversation on the phone with Jennifer before the

home visit. If I would have communicated with Jennifer more about what I was going to be

asking and observing, she would be less nervous. Another thing I could have done was have

more of a conversation with Jennifer and Tajas before the interview stared.

During the interview I could have used better active listening skills. It seemed like I was

reading off questions in the beginning because I was nervous. I could have showed the family

that I valued and was listening to what they were saying. Another thing I could have done was

point out more positive things the family had in their home. I could have commented on how the

apartment was set up for Rohan. I also could have given more positive feedback during the
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interview to make it seem more like a conversation. In the future I will work on my active

listening skills, so parents know I value what they are saying.

When I first called the family about the home visit, I was nervous they would not allow

me to visit. The first part of the interview seemed forced. As the interview went on, I became

more comfortable communicating with the parents. The family I interviewed was a classmate of

my older sister. Towards the end of the interview we talked about my sister and our tones

sounded more relaxed. I tried to be professional during the interview, but I worried Jennifer saw

me only as my sister’s little sister. I learned that Rohan is able to sleep better at night and his

learning is not hinder because of living in an apartment. Rohan socializes with family regularly

and experiences new places often. The HOME helped me understand positive learning

environments and how important communication is. I did not recognize the importance of messy

play. I also noticed the tone of voice used when the parents talked to me verses Rohan.

The beginning of the interview was the most awkward. The conversation almost felt

robotic and forced. This could have been avoided by making the interview more of a

conversation by elaborating on Jennifer’s responses. This was an important experience as a

future educator, care provider, and parent. I will learn from my mistakes and awkwardness from

this home interview and apply them to my future experiences. I will improve on my active

listening skills. I learned that parents want and need to be a part of their child’s learning

experience. I also learned the importance of positive reinforcement to the parents about their

child. If I were to repeat this experience, I would have had a longer phone call before the

interview. A longer phone call before would have made the parents and me more comfortable

during the actual video. The final thing I would want to improve on is my active listening skills. I

would make sure the parents know they are herd and that I value their opinion.
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Resources

Gwaltney’s , Keron. “Parent-Teacher Communication Advice from Veteran Teachers.”

TeacherVision, 16 July 2001, www.teachervision.com/parent-teacher-communication-
advice-veteran-teachers.

Haake. “Communication Skills.” Improve Your Communication With MindTools.com, 2014,

www.mindtools.com/pages/main/communication_skills.htm.