So You Want to Teach the Early Years? (Part 1)

    After almost ten years of teaching very young children, I realized that:

1. At the start of each school year, it helps to work on creating a warm, safe, and welcoming connection with each child. 

2. Using the children's names any chance I get is a kind way to affirm their presence in my life at that moment.

3. Including their interests in our lessons and conversations makes learning more meaningful for them.

4. Young children tune in to my mood first before they take interest in the lesson. So as much as possible, keep your facial expression open and your posture light. Be mindful of your words as well. 

5. Children learn better when I allow time for them to do developmentally appropriate tasks by themselves.

6.  Listen, and not only with your ears. 

7. As an educator of very impressionable three- and four-year-olds, it helps to be well-informed. If I do not know the exact answer to a question, I tell the class that I will read up on it so I can get the facts and share them the next day. Pre-covid, I used to offer to look up answers together. The children were always more than happy to spend extra time with their teacher. Now I know what a Gallimimus is, and that not all bees make honey. 

8. What children experience during their early years stays with them for a long time.

9. Children respond better to a concept when we discover it together through play or at the very least when I present it playfully.

10. At the heart of every successful learning relationship is connection.

A practice on reflection for my graduate class in Approaches and Methods in Teaching Preschool.