Child Development Reflections

There are many key factors that play into a child’s development, the most important of these: the early childhood educator. The early childhood educator plays the role of primary influence in the child’s life, encouraging relationships between parent and child and establishing relationships between parent and teacher, helping the child’s skill set expand and they’re mental, emotional, and spiritual capacities to grow. The feelings I get when I become a influential force in a child’s life along with there thirst for knowledge and life around them is what excites me about working with young children, t touching them spiritually and help them become all that they can be.

The early childhood educator is an individual who accepts the role of caregiver to young children and also elects to educate and teach the children spiritually as well as exploring the rest of the world. An educator is always open to questions and maintains the willingness to be flexible at all times. Teaching in early childhood is different from a school setting because the children have so much more to learn. They want to try to know everything at once and not be left out by the grown ups. The role of an educator expands past just teaching in that a child must be comfortable in their surrounding in order to feel safe to explore. A classroom that a teacher has areas set up to be fully accessible at all times allows young children to explore and learn on their own. An educator must feel comfortable in their classroom as well. It is important to establish good relationships with the children and educator is responsible for. This way the children feel loved and valued and will come to the educator with questions, concerns, or to share exciting news in their own lives. An educator that establishes good relationships with the parents of the children, she has gone a step further in caring for her children. A parent watches over their child and may see things that a teacher has over looked or never