Philosophy....
I believe that children should be welcomed into a very warm, clean, loving environment that encourages growth through their many interests. I believe in the importance of getting on the floor and playing with the children and giving lots of hugs and smiles. I believe that children learn and discover their world through play and that the activities of their day should be based on play. Children should not be forced to experience something new. We can expose them to it, model our acceptance, and encourage participation, but the decision has to be theirs, because in the end no matter how involved they get they will learn something from the lesson. The classroom should be simple yet interesting with centers large enough to accommodate at least 4 children each. The curriculum should accommodate the whole child in relation to physical, social, emotional, and cognitive growth. The goals set for each month’s curriculum need to be attainable in accordance to the group and not set too low or too high. Sometimes the best lessons are taught right off the cuff by what the children feed you. The program needs to be evaluated on an ongoing basis for its effectiveness and what did not work should not be viewed as failure but as a learning experience for teachers. We should never forget that children need to know they are valued and they make a difference in their classroom. Their little voices need to be heard and acknowledged because sometimes no matter how much planning we do, how many educational classes we attend, or how many books we read on early childhood education, we can learn more in a minute by just playing and listening to a child.
-Charlene
-Charlene