Carlie Peal
Personal Philosophy of Early Childhood Care and Education
The way people, adults and children, learn is almost unbelievable. The fact that we are able to learn new things throughout our lives is an amazing feat. Sadly, the older adults get, the less they learn. Children on the other hand learn like no other. I believe that children learn the best from their peers, especially when they are younger. They learn at a young age to copy what they see other people do. You have to be careful when you have a young child in the home that you’re not doing or saying anything that you wouldn’t want them to do or say because they will pick up the most from the people they’re around the most.
I believe children learn the most through play, particularly at a young age. They will want to do what their peers are doing. I mean, think about it, when kids play, who do they usually play with when they are in pre-k and throughout their school careers, their peers, not usually their teachers. If a child in their class has accomplished something new, the other child will instinctively want to see if they can do it also.
Obviously children can’t learn all they will need to know through other children alone. Teachers play a huge role in promoting a child’s learning. The job of a teacher is never ending. Teachers constantly have to learn new things and ways to teach their classrooms and students. Each class that you get every year is going to be different from the last class that you had. They are going to learn differently, act differently, and be on different academic levels. The teacher should start out the year observing their students, paying close attention how each child in your class learns best. You will have some students that learn visually, some that learn audibly, hands on, or on their own.
Teachers need to be extremely open with their teaching styles. Every child will not learn with the way that you “always” teach a certain subject. You cannot get stuck in a certain teaching mode and stick with it and think, “oh, they’ll catch on sooner or later”. You have to let go of that mentality and pay special attention to the specific students needs in your class.
The one person who taught me the most about teaching and how to treat children is my Mother. She has the biggest heart for children out of anyone that I know. She has taught me compassion and patience. I think that because of her, I will be a better teacher.
Teaching is a different career, that’s for sure. Teachers really need to have a love for children and really want what’s best for the children in the end. I know that I really love children and want to impact their lives and that’s why I have chosen this profession. I know that I need to be prepared to not make a lot of money, but it’s really not about that. It’s an extremely rewarding profession and I’m excited to get to see “little light bulbs” go off in children for the rest of my life.