Carl Jung once said, “One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant for the soul of the child.” (Jung) Children are born ready to learn and are anxious to know everything about anything. Learning and developing these concepts helps build the foundation for the rest of your life. However as a little child you thrive from human relationships and you learn from what teachers, parents and other adults around you are doing. Positive role models will influence the child positively where as negative relationships will influence the child negatively. This is why early childhood teachers and the relationships that they make with their students are so important. Many theorists have studied children, and their behavior and why they do the things that they do. Most theorists come to the conclusion that you learn by hands on activities and by physically participating with others in activities. One of these theorists was Maria Montessori. Montessori believed and taught that children thrived from physical learning. She believed that children were there own person and could do things by themselves, if they were taught correctly. “The most important period of life is not the age of university studies, but the first one, the period from birth to the age of six. For that is the time when mans intelligence itself his greatest implement is being formed.” (Montessori) According to the American Montessori society, Maria Montessori observed children and discovered that they do in fact learn “through sensory-motor activities, working with materials that develop their cognitive p... ... middle of paper ... ...uccessfully have social and emotional well beings. Teachers have the ultimate power in shaping a child and better preparing them for the future. Children are so precious and must be taken care of by someone just as precious. A unknown author once stated that “One hundred years from now, it will not matter what job I had, or what kind of car I drove, or how much money was in my bank account, but that I made the difference in the life of a child.” Helping a child grow socially and emotionally is such a successful and powerful feeling and knowing that you personally made a difference feels good. As a teacher it becomes your job to recognize that these children are their own people, and they are independent, they have certain wants and needs, and adore attention. It is your job to acknowledge this and use their needs to transform them into healthy people and citizens.
The student’s future profession of early childhood development grow deeper when the vital role is played by the relationship. Children develop through their relationship with their parents and caregivers, but the stage of development will be ongoing with others in their lives. The relationship with their parents matter and will affect relationship with others. (Bronfenbrenner 1989) all the relationship the child had, the relationship with their parents had the most significant impact on the development and well-being of those involved. People learn how to be with others by their experiencing how others are with them. Parents are warm, sensitive, responsive, consistent, and available for their babies is internal models (Gowen and Nebrig, 2001, p.8).
The cognitive process of child development and learning has influenced theorists such as Piaget, Vygtosky, Montessori, Bruner and Dewey to develop learning theories which highlight how the cognitive operation of learning occurs and how it is best achieved. The work of these theorists has become the foundation for much research and insight into how children develop on their journey towards learning.
The relationships between children and adults in a learning environment, and among the children themselves, are the basis for building a safe, strong and caring community in which everyone is accepted, respected and comfortable. The warmth and support children receive influence the development of greater social competence, fewer behavior problems and enhanced thinking and reasoning skills at school age (Bruce, Cairone & the Devereux Center for Resilient Children, 2012). Supportive interactions occur when teachers listen attentively and displaying unwavering, genuine care and compassion to children. Young children are full of laughter, stories, anecdotes and simple tales of their lives and they love sharing their life experiences with teachers. Teachers should be aware that young children’s voice should be valued and heard. Garvis and Pendergast (2014) suggested that while young children’s voice is being heard and teachers acknowledge their feelings, reciprocal and responsible relationships are more likely to be built. The art of listening is even more important during times when difficulties are present in a child’s life. Strong relationships with young children provide insight so that teachers are able to provide prompt help when children are facing risk factors in
She believed that children could learn to use real tools safely. Materials should not be kept out of the children’s reach instead children should be able to reach materials when they needed them. Montessori believed that this will help them become responsible for their own learning. In addition, she believed that for children to grow and develop skills, adults should let them do everything they are capable of. This will foster children’s independence, and will allow children to take responsibility. Finally she thought that careful observation was the key to determine what the children were interested in or need to learn [Mooney, page 33]. Teacher should take the time to observe children and reflect to better prepare the best possible environment, and to plan curriculum.
As children growing up, we tend to imitate and aspire to be like the people we look up to. Looking back at my childhood, my passion for teaching and working with children comes as no surprise. When I was in 5th grade a young boy my age was as others stated to be "different." Teaching him, reading to him on the bus, and just always wanting to get to know him made me realize how much I would like to do this professionally. Seeing how the grown ups interacted, and was so effective with children really amused me. I had been surrounded by children my whole life, and as I got older, I would try my best to lend a hand and help all the other children that has disablities. After my first experience in a school, I grew fond of working with students in a classroom setting. I began looking up teacher development workshops, and graduate courses to expand my knowledge about what possibly would happen if I went into the special education feild, in order to support and apply while teaching at the time. After becoming familiar with the different realms of education I became aware of a few things. I ...
Many contemplate why they would want to become an Early Childhood Educator. Some may enjoy the challenge of teaching and the new experiences in the classroom every day. Others choose to teach because they love to be around young children while helping them grown in knowledge. Becoming a teacher might not been the first objection and some may even refuse the idea, until they have had successfully helped a child learn their ABC’s or even just counting to ten. No matter what the reason may be, working with children can have it
I believe that learning is a journey that both child and educator set out on together. This journey is a privilege that I take seriously, realizing that a child’s early years are a key formative time in their life. I believe that it is during this time that important foundations are being set in place that will not only impact them in the present but will also influence them later on in life.
As an effective early childhood educator, creating strong partnerships with children and their parents, as explained by Shonkoff et al. (2000; as cited in Wood 2008) has shown that to provide a productive learning environment a teacher must have a positive relationship with children and their families.
As a teacher in early childhood development, I believe that the teacher skills and personality influence how children understand, observe and react to the classroom environment and the world around them. Even though part of teacher responsibilities are academic, daily interactions that encourage social, emotional and physical development are important. One of a quality effective early childhood educators’ characteristic is that they should have patience.
Early Childhood Education teachers know that our children deserve to learn the important lessons from us and to acquire important habits with our help. Teachers and future teachers want our children to grow up to be responsible adults. Also, teachers are trying to find the perfect way to deal with children with different type of behavior. Teachers have to deal with parents, giving them a satisfactory result of their child developmental progress and security. My philosophy of guiding young children behavior is to use the combination of collaboration, positive attitude, and patience.
Successful teachers develop the whole child by making integrated efforts to promote their student’s academic, social and emotional learning. Children need to be aware of themselves and others; make responsible decisions, and be ethical and respectful of the people around them.
Maria Montessori was born in Italy in 1870 and influenced childcare massively in the 20th century. Montessori believed that children learn best through using their hands. She felt that one of the main factors that contributed to the child’s development was the ‘prepared’ environment. Children learn through exploration and the adult’s role is to create an environment where they can do
...preschool years they will learn to initiate and carry out tasks based on experience or exposure to those tasks. Interactions with parents, teachers, peers, and other adults are important in a child's life. These relationships actually shape the brain and lay the foundation for later developmental outcomes, from academic performance to mental health and interpersonal skills.
...child needs and deserves a secure, caring, and inspiring environment in which to blossom and flourish emotionally, intellectually, socially, and physically. It is my desire as an educator to provide my students with the learning environment necessary to motivate and inspire each and every one of them to become to their fullest potential. For myself, teaching is about giving; giving the students support and security, giving them respect and dignity, giving them opportunities to succeed and a quality education, and not only giving them my time and effort but also giving myself. Our society requires its children to not only receive a solid education, but that they are taught by a highly qualified educator who is sensitive to their individual needs and deeply committed to their success. I am such a person and will always strive to do the very best by my students.
A teacher holds the key to knowledge, success, and fun. Every child deserves a teacher that understands and accommodates different