When I first read the Article in the “Brattleboro Reformer Opinion, on “Early Childhood Education Matters,” I immediately was drawn to the paragraph that said, “Part of the challenges lies in the fact that you cannot go into this work because you like children—in fact, you have to like adults too; since young children are part of families.
Although the article contained a lot of good information, this section stood out to me, I don’t think a lot of teachers understand this. I don’t think I did as a young teacher in the field, I just wanted to teach. I did not consider as an educator that it would also be my responsibility to educate the parents on ways to help their children develop.
I think we also need to understand each family on individual basis and not based on race or their economic backgrounds. Each family is different even though they might be from the same neighborhood or in the same place financially.
I have met parents that are very passionate about their children’s education, and some of them are not where they would like to be in their life. But, they work hard to communicate what they need for their child, and it has opened me up to new ways of teaching their child. If I had judged them based on their current life situation, I would not have had the opportunity to learned so much from them and their child.
Early Childhood talks a lot about the whole child, we must also consider the whole family and try to understand each family structure so that we can better serve them. Observing a family during drop- off and pick-up times is a great way to get to know them. Listening to how the parents communicate with their children will give you an heads-up on the words they use and how the child reacts to them.
Talking to the parents on how they reiterate what they have learned in class will give you some ideas on review techniques for your classroom. I believe the more you step out of your box, the more creative you become as a teacher.
Let’s be honest! When you first started in Early Childhood, did understand that you needed to love adults as much as you loved teaching their child?
Never even thought about the parents pre teaching days-ha! In time, I realized how important our connection would come to be. I had many incredible parents who treated every student like their own when they helped me in the classroom. I’ve had some who could barely cope with the myriad of challenges they were faced with. I’ve been blessed to love them all as we worked together to do our very best for their child(ren). Mahalo ke akua!
That’s great! thanks for your reply.
I LOVE how you mentioned that Early Childhood is about the WHOLE child….Being an Early Childhood educator I can appreciate those words. Thank you Darla. I LOVE teaching young minds.
Hi Heather, thank you so much for your comment, I too love teaching young minds