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As a reflective practitioners we had the opportunity to hear and discuss deeply during the second learning community session on our gifts & regrets, which actually made us understand that some of our path were painful but it leads to greater self-awareness and to strongly believe that everyone should be respected regardless of their age.

Because some adults do not see children as people to be treated with respect and dignity. This can be seen in the way adults sometimes interrupt, talk over, or dismiss something a child has to say. Or perhaps by physically grabbing a child for a hug without asking, or by commenting on the way a child looks or behaves in a public space. Even overlooking a child (for instance, only saying hello to the adults present and not greeting the child) can send the message that you do not see or respect him.

There are plenty of ways we can show children respect on a daily basis.

1.      Allow children to make his/her choices.
Just as we would not invade an adults physical space, nor should we do so with a child. Allow the child to decide whether or not. The message you send a child when you allow him/her to make choices can have a huge impact on how he/she feels about his/her rights and ability to say yes or no in the future.

2.      Use good manners when interacting with children.
When we model grace and courtesy, we are not only teaching them the proper way to treat all people (great and small), we are also instilling in them a sense of self-respect.

3.      Refrain from forcing a child.
Instead of forcing a child to share, try to encourage a mindset of giving. Allow the child to choose when to share his or her personal items.

4.      Respond to mistakes with grace.
It can be humiliating to be laughed at when a he or she makes a mistake.

5.      Give Time & Listen.
Allow child to speak for herself, even if it feels like it’s taking quite a bit of time to get it all out. Use patience and eye contact, and refrain from interrupting or finishing her sentences. When you show a child that what she has to say matters, you show her to use her voice in all kinds of situations.

6.      Show your trust in the child by allowing him to do for himself.
Instead of serving a child and jumping in constantly to help, first try to assume that the child can do it by herself. Allowing the child to do things himself will empower, boost his confidence, and increase his ability to do that particular task; after all, learning is doing.

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In the second Learning Community session, we reflected on the "gifts and regrets" in our growing up years, and discussed how it may have had an impact on who we are.

As I was reflecting on the session, I had the opportunity to converse with a new early years teacher. She had been facing a lot of anxiety about teaching. The conversation had somehow led to me asking her about her childhood and her growing up years -- just to break the ice and to get to know her better.

The teacher opened up about her past and it allowed me to have a better understanding of why she behaves in a certain way. It also enabled me to change the approach I took when mentoring her.

I took the chance to share with her what we talked about during our Learning Community session. It was an eye opener for her to see how her personal early years experiences have impacted who she is as an early years educator.

It was such a powerful and meaningful session.

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Language a important part of children growth

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Good Pedagogical Practices by Amatthunnoor

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Good Pedagogical Practices by Amatthunnoor

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A language rich environment is one in which children are surrounded by talking, singing, and reading and have many opportunities throughout their day, across all activities, to communicate with others and engage in back-and-forth conversations. A rich language environment is important to children’s early learning, and can have strong effects on early language, vocabulary, reading, and math skills, as well as on children’s social-emotional development.

Practices I apply in my centre:
- Engaging children in language conversation such as  communicating in nonverbal ways, such as through gestures, looks, smiles, babbles, and word approximations.
- Talk about what the child is doing, what the child is looking at, or what the child is interested in.
-  Get down on the child’s level. Tune into what they are doing or pointing to and use these moments to talk with them.

Expand children's words to scaffold language
• Expand phrases so they are complete.
• Make phrases more complex.
• Add novel and interesting words.
• Summarize their thoughts.
• Relate to their lives and prior knowledge or experiences.
• Explain your thinking.
• Connect new and familiar concepts.

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I felt very inspired in working with young children again after the second learning community session.
Young children’s minds are as white as a piece of paper. We as educators are given the honour to add designs and colours to the piece of paper. Simple designs and colours can have great impact in the development of children.
When sharing about the presents we have received in our life let me ponder and reflect. When reflecting, it reminded me to be grateful of what I have received. Likewise for the children, the presents that we can give to them as educator may not have any effect now, but it may impact them greatly in the future.
Therefore, when working with children, I feel that we should focus on the ‘presents’ that we can give to them. Presents need not come in tangible form. The intangible presents are the ones that will impact and struck children to appreciate as they grow. The goodness that we can give as professionals are time, opportunities and care.

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Indepence in children  gives a child a sense of importance and belonging which is essential for building social relationships and for contributing to the world. It develops their levels of self-awareness and sensitivity towards others which teaches them to help those around them.
The process contributes to teachers' learning and professional development and strengthens teachers' relationship with parents and children.

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Realising respect for young children in their everyday environments - Reena Ong

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Realising respect for young children in their everyday environments - Reena Ong

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After the second learning community session where a part of our discussion became sharing about respect and the sharing of power between the teacher and child, I reflected deeper and came across this article, "Too young for respect? Realising respect for young children in their everyday environments".

We all know that we should always respect a child, but how many of us truly practiced it as practitioners? It was interesting to see the author sharing, "Power relationships at various levels mirrored those between the teacher and children. Often teachers fear the child's behaviours as noted by a project staff. The teacher's response to this fear is to 'show the child who's the boss', to demonstrate to the child how strong the teacher is and how small the child is."

Hence in the project, they aimed to help equip teachers to develop facilitative skills to help develop children's ability to understand that they have to think twice, to control themselves. If they wanted to be respected, they also have to know how to respect others" (Person to Person 2008:9, as cited in George, 2009). Various studies were conducted across different schools and cultures including the older (4 and above) and younger age groups (below 3 years).

I aim to share this article with my fellow educators and hear their thoughts on respecting, as well as how they can begin respecting children in the area of routine care. Beginning with younger children, respect can be cultivated, helping children see that living democracy where their opinions and thoughts matter in little actions like, "I may not want to empty the contents in my diaper now". To practitioners, we may want to get on with our lessons or activities, or the struggles of having 24 other children to change. But to a child, even if it may be a matter of minutes,  it is enough to "grant the child his autonomy where it also lets the child feel included in the diaper-changing situation" (George, 2009). This is something we, as adults, would also appreciate.

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED522534.pdf

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Being a reflective practitioner - Sherry

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Being a reflective practitioner - Sherry

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From the second learning community session, I was reminded that in order to be a good and reflective practitioner, I first have to understand myself and know my beliefs. If I don't, it will be hard for me to go deep in my reflection and be fruitful in innovating my Early Childhood Education practices.

I was inspired by the sharing from other practitioners as they continue to strive to bring quality education to the children, despite the challenging landscape we are currently facing. I am grateful for a community as such, to being vulnerable and share openly not only our struggles, but also our small successes.

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Educators belong to a community of learners.  The practice of reflection is integral to ensuring the continuity of learning.  It helps to broaden perspective and deepen understanding.

In the mind of an educator, reflection presents itself in various forms. One of which, is reflecting on our interactions with young children. This starts with an internal dialogue that helps to rehash the events of the day or hour. Then, we explore the fine details of that event.  Thereafter, analyse each child’s verbal and non-verbal response.

As we begin to understand the ‘why’ behind the child’s response, we start to contemplate on the ‘how’ and design the ‘what’ in our response to the child.

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You may view your past padlet entries on your 1st Learning Community here.

Please use this padlet space to share your innovative practices on EYC, any new ideas that you have recently been inspired to try or reflections about EYC from your 2nd LC session!