Mindful and Reflective Practice

Mindful and Reflective Practice
The information presented during this course has increase my knowledge and experience about my role as an early childhood educator. The resources presented helped me to learn ways to promote healthy development and well-being of all children and how to be an advocate for them. I believe this class enriched my knowledge about infant-toddler care and education to the point that I would most like to express to others its importance. One thing that I would like to share is that infant–toddler care and education is crucial for physical and cognitive development. The caregiver/parent interaction is necessary for the children to keep alive the desire for communication and learning. I would like to express to others that we should keep in mind at all times that children are unique individuals that deserve care and respect. The caregiver should be a role model from day one, so the child will learn to copy her, and later on impart the same behavior to others. She should interact with the children to develop a relationship that will help the child to express feelings and emotions in a nice way. Also, I would like to express the importance of teamwork. Parents and caregivers need to work together in developing relationships to promote healthy development for children. According to Mary Benson McMullen and Susan Dixon, “ Each family and professional must learn to work and make decisions together to support the child’s healthy development and to ensure the family’s well-being” (McMullen & Dixon, 2006). In my opinion caregivers need to start developing the relationship with the parents from day one, and supporting their wishes on what they prefer for their child. One way of doing this is by respecting thei...

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...eed to take out toys and play with children, but in this class I learned that interaction means going down to a child’s level and talking to them, respect them, and allowing them to lead in their games. I think this is a valuable lesson because I learned to let children explore and learn their toys without me showing them how to do it all the time.

Continuing to study education and children psychology will contribute to my future profession because I believe teachers never stop learning and that we need to continue going to school to be able to provide excellent services to children. I think educators need to continue and not stop their studies because children need the best education and guidance. I learned in this class that educators need to be role models for children and their families and that we need to respect their culture to be able to understand them