Month One

Wow. I can't believe it has already been a month since I started at the preschool. I feel like I've learned so much and that my skills as an educator (as I suppose I could be called) are really developing.

I'm finding more and more that what I'm learning now has to do with specific situations as opposed to just general activities. I learned that if there's a problem with a specific situation, for example, a group of kids are playing with toys and another comes in and "disrupts" their game that sometimes it's better (and easier) to redirect the disrupter than to try and resolve the issue. The particular situation I noticed involved 3 girls playing their little game and then one of the boys came in and decided the toy he was playing with was going to attack the dollhouse. It was better to just redirect the little boy than to try and get him to play the girls' game.

I've realized that one of the major roles of an early childhood educator is to be a mediator. My mom is just a master at that and I'd love to be able to deal with things as well as she does. A couple of times I've caught myself just watching her as she interacts with the kids, because I'm almost in awe of what she can do. I'd love to, one day, have those same skills, and I'm thinking/hoping that they will come in time as I gain experience.

Another thing that I've learned is how manipulating my voice really affects the response I get from kids. For example, I am way more likely to get (and keep) the attention of a child if I lower my voice to a whisper than if I was to just talk normally. I also have noticed that when you want the attention of a child across the room, it's more effective to use a "sing-song" sort of voice than to yell.

Although I'm learning so much, I have to say that the best part of my work experience is getting to experience all the cute things that kids say or do. I love how they laugh at their own jokes and how they find everything so funny. One of my favourites is when they're doing an activity that requires rolling up their sleeves and they're wearing a short-sleeve shirt, they just think it's the funniest thing that they don't have sleeves. I love how they make up their own songs. I love how when they're telling a story about something they find funny that they end up laughing so hard that I can barely understand what they're saying. I love how, when I'm listening to something their saying and I come down to their level so I'm not towering over them that they find it necessary to come in really really close to me.

I'm so excited to continue learning and that I have this great opportunity. I will continue to take full advantage of the time I spend at the preschool and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the semester.