Early Childhood Education Philosophy Statement

My vision for my impact on young children is that their first school experiences with me will be positive, fun, and inspire a lifelong love of learning in them. If children see and feel that school is a safe, positive place, then these good connotations will follow them into elementary school and beyond. It is also my hopes to have them ready social emotionally and cognitively for public school experiences so they will be on track with their peers for academic success.

In order to maintain a developmentally appropriate classroom, I will remain up to date with current early childhood research and practices. I believe that there is always more to learn, and I myself will be a lifelong learner long after I have completed my formal college education.

I will use anecdotal observations, checklists, and portfolios to capture what they are saying and doing as well as to document where their interests lie so that I use that to my advantage when planning learning activities in the classroom. I believe children learn more when it is a topic they are interested in and not just one that we think they should learn about. I will also get to know each family through home visits and conferences and help them to see that their role is very important in their child’s school life. It is my hope to make them an equal partner with myself as the teacher and the school so that their child has consistency between school and home and knows that their parents are invested in their academic

This curriculum fits in with my personal philosophy of child directed teaching and learning and offers engaging, defined areas of the classroom for the children. I will rotate materials as needed and provide a balance of teacher directed and child directed activities based on what I see interests the children. I believe that the interactions between the teachers and children are what makes a successful classroom, therefore I will focus my teaching strategies in the following areas:

• I will acknowledge the things that the children say or do (NAEYC, 2015). This will reinforce positive behavior and help to keep them motivated, and let them know I care about what they have to say.

• I will encourage them to keep trying and make my praise specific (NAEYC, 2015) and not generalized so it does not lose its meaning.

• I will demonstrate, if needed, how to use certain items that they do not understand how to use to further their understanding.

• I will model a positive attitude (NAEYC, 2015) towards learning and help them to solve problems rather than just telling them the solution.

• I will ask open ended questions that promote their critical thinking skills, give them time to think and respond, and then follow up with them again thus creating a feedback loop between teacher and child to get them to dig deeper and learn the social rules of