Child Care Philosophy
Child Care Philosophy
I provide a safe, loving, respectful environment, children have the greatest opportunity to grow and develop. Such an environment should be the foundation of all childcare programs, however, I believe it is an educator's duty to go above and beyond safety, love and respect. We, as educators, should strive to create an environment that is fulfilling, enriching and supporting of all possible learning and growing opportunities.
How Children Learn
To seek out these opportunities an educator must first understand the way children learn. Although all children learn differently, most have a general need in each stage of their childhood that can be met by their caregiver.
The first step of development for an infant is trust. With comfortable and predictable care, infants feel at ease with the opportunities to explore themselves and the world around them.
Toddlers are more mobile and have a need to explore to a greater extent. They also have a great need to gain independence. Caregivers should support these needs by providing lots of opportunities for exploration and self-sufficiency including a safe environment, which allows plenty of independent and explorative opportunities, and toys and materials that support his or her new abilities and encourage those that are yet to come.
At preschool age, children are learning many cognitive skills to prepare them for kindergarten. For some educators, it is natural to dismiss the importance of play at this age and spend more time on structured, teacher directed lessons. There are other educators who feel that preschoolers are too young and immature to handle such rigorous work as reading, writing and arithmetic, so they provided an environment that is all play with very little cognitive learning. I believe that the best environment for preschoolers is one that consists of some cognitive lessons and much developmentally appropriate play. At this age, I believe that play should be the majority of a child's day
I provide a safe, loving, respectful environment, children have the greatest opportunity to grow and develop. Such an environment should be the foundation of all childcare programs, however, I believe it is an educator's duty to go above and beyond safety, love and respect. We, as educators, should strive to create an environment that is fulfilling, enriching and supporting of all possible learning and growing opportunities.
How Children Learn
To seek out these opportunities an educator must first understand the way children learn. Although all children learn differently, most have a general need in each stage of their childhood that can be met by their caregiver.
The first step of development for an infant is trust. With comfortable and predictable care, infants feel at ease with the opportunities to explore themselves and the world around them.
Toddlers are more mobile and have a need to explore to a greater extent. They also have a great need to gain independence. Caregivers should support these needs by providing lots of opportunities for exploration and self-sufficiency including a safe environment, which allows plenty of independent and explorative opportunities, and toys and materials that support his or her new abilities and encourage those that are yet to come.
At preschool age, children are learning many cognitive skills to prepare them for kindergarten. For some educators, it is natural to dismiss the importance of play at this age and spend more time on structured, teacher directed lessons. There are other educators who feel that preschoolers are too young and immature to handle such rigorous work as reading, writing and arithmetic, so they provided an environment that is all play with very little cognitive learning. I believe that the best environment for preschoolers is one that consists of some cognitive lessons and much developmentally appropriate play. At this age, I believe that play should be the majority of a child's day