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As the day begins at the early bird learning centre the children are eating morning tea, and beginning to play. Getting to see children adapt to their environment is something that amazes me each day, saying goodbye to their parents and how they cry then begin to stop and interact with one another. Children all express themselves differently, as I was sitting near two little boys, I got to see how “fun play time” became “out of hand time”, when a child snatched a book off another child. Their face expressions and body language began to shift from being happy and playful to them getting angry and teary. It takes you on this next level when you look at a child’s expressions, it helps define how they are feeling, what do they need, why are they crying? All of these make you wonder how as a future educator why we must understand a child’s needs by observing their behaviour. Children at this age are beginning to look at themselves and show emotions, a great understanding of this is when a child looked at herself in the little mirror and began to laugh, she was looking at how she looked and that made me stop and think, that they are connecting to their identity and expressing the way they feel about themselves. Those mirrors are in the classroom for a reason not just for the design, children learn through play but having significant objects such as a mirrors helps determine their understanding of their self-identity at such a young age. Specific tools don’t necessarily need to have meaning or make any sense, but for a child’s purpose its useful to have the classroom set out in an appropriate way for them to wonder and discover new things. Whilst playing with the children, the educators began to bring one child at a time to the table for them to paint and be creative for their “Father’s Day decoration/gift”. Some children enjoyed using the materials such as paint and sponge to be creative and smile for the camera, whilst others were afraid of the paint and began to cry whilst touching it. To see how children, act when a new activity is being held made me understand that not all children are the same nor do they enjoy doing the same things within the classroom setting. Lastly there was a few days that were ongoing by capturing children’s photos that needed to be taken by professionals. Some children reacted in a good positive way whilst others couldn’t stand still and began to cry and moved around a lot. It may be as simple as it sounds but children at this age aren’t that confident whilst listening to other individuals and what we may ask of them. Getting to see how each Childs face and body expressions were being used was great because it helped me identify which child is confident and independent, compared to other children who were too afraid to have their picture taken. Whilst it got out of hand, the photographers had to go "in and out" of the room to then let some children settle down, if it still didn’t work they brought bubbles so that the child who can’t stand properly are looking at the bubbles and feeling comfortable whilst they mention their name and get the picture they need. The environment of the whole centre is intriguing, let alone the classroom, it’s a great environment to adapt to and explore a Childs emotion and body language.

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What do children's facial expressions and body movement communicate to others?

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What do children's facial expressions and body movement communicate to others?

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Children express themselves in many ways due to the environment that they are in. Expressions comes as a significant understanding, while observing their behaviour through their body language and face expressions. Children may not speak fluent English at this age, but their capabilities or listening and responding is a technique that is seen and understood by educators. Its about viewing how they move within the environment and understanding what they are feeling emotionally.

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"Children’s face and body expressions whilst taking professional pictures"

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"Children’s face and body expressions whilst taking professional pictures"

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Caption- Children acted differently, whilst getting their pictures taken by professionals, some were great in standing and smiling, while others ran around or began to cry.

(IMAGE 1)

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Caption- Some children, enjoyed painting for their Father’s Day present, whilst others couldn’t stand the sight of paint in general.

(IMAGE 2)

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"Looking at their face expressions, when looking at the mirror"

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"Looking at their face expressions, when looking at the mirror"

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Caption- These mirrors are seen as tools to connect a child’s identity to themselves, looking at the mirrors helps them identify who they are and what they look like.

(IMAGE 3)

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Caption - How children are expressing their face expressions, whilst wanting the exact object. Seeing both the children’s face and body language while snatching the book off each other.

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Analysing the situations that occurred from all these specific scenarios are primarily about the connection that each child makes with themselves. The learning that occurred or took place was how each child expressed their needs in certain ways. We may not physically speak with the child back and forth, but by observing their behaviour we have a sense of knowledge on what they want and how they feel about certain situations that may arise. Children are dominant through exploring their values onto their play time and how they can make meaning out of the materials and activities that are being held. Every situation that happened in the above scenarios are relevant to how a child expresses their emotion and personalities. Body language and face expressions are important to look at and make meaning as an educator. By paying attention to each situation that happens is important whilst we identify a Childs behaviour and body gestures. As a future educator I would want to enable myself to be in all sorts of situations with children either positive or negative, so that I can learn and make meaning of the surroundings that we are in and actually bond with all the different children whilst looking after them. What was exciting to me about the children was that they all really do learn and develop differently, and all have a unique sense of learning and how they enjoy their time. What moved me was seeing how children move with play and how they make meaning of specific objects, it furthered my thinking by exploring the key elements of play and their body language. Overall teaching and learning is an ongoing process that occurs within the classroom, for both the children and the educators.

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REFLECT/REVIEW

Children are learning about themselves and their identity. They look in mirrors to connect to how they are in order to picture themselves in different ways. They are young at this stage of their lives, but this is when they build their skills and habits. Their confidence comes with how intrigued they are in a situation and if they enjoy the position/ location that they are in and also with “who” they are with. Children are constantly learning and growing without any books and pencils. They learn and progress through play which means that letting them be hands on and come up with their own imaginations helps them grow in the person that they will become.

I am constantly learning about children by looking at their movement and face expressions. I get to see how they enjoy their stay, along with what makes them uncomfortable in their environment. I can also see how children differ within their face expressions and body language, when they are alone compared to being with other children. In this phase of their early years they are beginning to develop their “needs” and “attitudes” for us as educators to realise what is it that they want. Having a background understanding of looking at each child and understanding the way they think, and feel is a strong tool to have as an educator within the workplace environment. It provides us with all the requirements needed to incorporate a child’s needs every day and how we as educators can be their role models.

The process of learning for both the teacher and a child’s perspective is that the teacher is constantly learning and observing the child, yet all the child is doing is moving around and playing with equipment. Both the teacher and child are in this environment where both parties are key elements to progress and develop within their surroundings. The child is constantly connecting to their nature either by their indoor or outdoor environments, whilst the teacher is connecting their movement to theory and looking at how they manage to do things in a certain manner.

ANALYSE

The learning that is taken place is how children can express themselves in different environments. How they can make meaning of their surroundings and use their face and body language to connect with their feelings/emotions. The learning that is being conducted is the way that children move around the indoor and outdoor environment to the extent of them dealing with challenges for the educators to view and make decision-making from. Learning for a child may not seem much because they are unaware of themselves, but for them to be in all sorts of situations helps them cope with everything e.g.- when they say goodbye to their parents and begin to cry we automatically see that they are sad and tears coming down their face, yet for them to turn that into a positive outcome they eat and play with toys to help distract themselves from their sadness. Children are being put in difficult situations when they part ways from their loved ones to attend day care.

A way to understand a child’s learning is for the educator to “Gather information, including the views and perspectives of each child, and use it to inform, review and enrich decision-making” (Department of Education and Training, 2016). Having to collect all of the artefacts of a child’s progress, as an educator I can then take notes and make meaning out of their behaviour and expressions. Gathering information is an important role for an educator as we can then identity a child’s strengthens and weaknesses without making any raw judgement based on one minor situation. Every child progresses through their early stages differently, some are easy and outgoing, others cry and want their parents. It’s a positive way to ensure that we collect all important information about a child’s expressions and how they deal with specific situations.

It gives the professionals the overall understanding of a child’s perspective in being in that environment and how they can review and conduct specific information. As educators the only way we can see and understand a child’s development and personality is to observe their behaviour and how they feel and move in their environment.

PLAN

Another learning that may be possible to introduce is how children should be involved in activities, to then see how they act and contribute with one another. Making observations can also enhance when seeing how an individual “child” can be in an environment with more than one individual and how they act in front of one another. Children at this stage are vulnerable to having a good, fun enjoyable time/stay. By bringing forth activities that has everyone contribute allows them the opportunity to bond with one another and as educators observe how each child feels, acts and connects within their emotions. It’s a strong element to have in an early childhood setting, so that when they get older they built on their self-esteem and communication skills, compared to being on the floor separately and given toys.

Learning is a process that never ends, its constantly around us. It’s crucial that children experience a sense of belonging and understanding of this world at a young age so that when the get older they have a sense of how the world works and make meaning. Getting children together for activities such as painting, drawing, dancingcan all help with a child’s body language and personality. If we can’t feel what the child feels, yet by looking at their body and face expressions we already feel empathy towards their emotions. As educators we shouldn’t judge, we only perceive what we can see in front of us and how we can make an environment safe and exciting for children to enter and interact with one another.

REFERENCE

Department of Education and Training (2016). Victorian early years learning and development framework. Melbourne: Department of Education and Training.