My role as an educator in supporting child development can branch out into different types of developmental areas. One of those areas that I believe is important is building skills that assist children in their social-emotional relationships. Some examples of those skills can be teaching conflict resolution skills, role-modeling empathetic responses, and encouraging self regulation.

Encourage Language and Literacy Skills

Another way that I can support child development within my early years setting is to encourage language and literacy skills. By encouraging language and literacy skills it supports the children in being able to communicate with others. As well as giving them a strong foundation of skills that they can use in their continued learning in the future. In an article on Promoting Early Literacy in the Health Care Settings it states that children engaging in culturally and language-rich environments develop important pre-literacy skills in their first 3 years of life that prepare them for learning to read, write, and succeed in school(Society, 2021, para 5). By equipping children with language and literacy skills at a young age it can set them up for success in their continued educational journey. This can hopefully encourage children to have a positive mindset when it comes to learning and facing the new challenges that school educations brings.

Creating Attentive Relationships

It is important for me As an educator to be intentional and attentive in my relationships with the children in my care. I think that being attentive is crucial in creating positive relationships and providing a safe environment where children feel comfortable learning and growing. A strategy that I can use to encourage an attentive relationship is to facilitate serve and return interactions. Some ways that I can utilize this strategy is by focusing on the child, following the child's lead and practicing everyday(ECE Resource Hub, 2023). Using these skills can allow for serve and return interactions that can develop secure attachments and create positive relationships between myself and the children/families that I work with.

Learning Environment

• In a high scope classroom educators focus on arranging and equiping the classroom with diverse, open-ended materials that reflect children’s home, culture, and language. (HighScope, 2018, para 4).

• As well as organizing the room with the use of labels to promote independence and encourage children to carry out their intentions. (HighScope, 2018, para 4).

Daily Routines

• High scope curriculums encourage children to engage in both individual and social play, participate in small- and large-group activities, assist with cleanup, socialize during meals, develop self-care skills, and exercise their small and large muscles.(HighScope, 2018, para 5).

• High scope curriculum also focuses on the idea: plan, do review sequence. This is where children make decisions about what they will do, carry out their ideas, and reflect upon their activities with adults and other children(HighScope, 2018, para 5).

Adult-Child Interaction

• The focus on adult-child interactions in a high scope curriculum is to act as partners, working alongside children and communicating with them both verbally and nonverbally to encourage learning(HighScope, 2018, para 3).

By being intentional in my practice I can promote active engagement and participation in the children's learning. By focusing on hands on learning, sensory experiences, collaborative learning and open ended play I can best encourage active engagement in my classroom.

Thoughtful

I want to be thoughtful in the programming I facilitate. I can do this by creating meaningful and engaging activities that relate to the children's interests. To be able to do this effectively I want to facilitate discussions with the children in my program to aid in extending the children's learning. Some examples of questions I can use to facilitate those discussions can be:

What did you enjoy most about playing in the role-play center?

Where is your favourite spot in the room?

What's one thing we could add in the room that you would enjoy?

Strength based

Creating a strength based program is reliant on moving away from a deficit approach and focusing on the strengths that the children hold. In an article that focuses on a strength based approach it describes the approach as it assists people (educators, children, families) to build a picture of what a child’s learning and development could look like in the future (State of Victoria, 2012,pp.6). By looking at my children's learning and development from a proactive light I can create an environment that supports their overall needs.

A way that I can support learning and development for the children in my programs is to ensure I implement a reflective practice. In a continuous professional learning document it describes that Early Childhood Educators use reflective practice to plan, evaluate their strengths and challenges, make decisions and create change, if necessary(College of Early Childhood Educators, 2017, pp.2). Creating a time and space for reflection on the program/children in my care can enhance the provocations, invitations and documentation that I provide.

Encourages creative expression

I have always loved using the arts to express my own creativity. I believe that encouraging children's creativity can give them a positive outlet to express themselves. Rudolph Steiner's philosophy coincides with this ideal. In a Steiner influenced environment it offers a secure and creative environment full of natural objects designed to stimulate a child’s imagination and desire to learn. (Cox & Rowlands, 2000, pp.486). Being able to add in loose art supplies for the children to engage with is a form of art that I think encourages the children to express themselves in whichever way they would like. I love seeing children have the same supplies and creating different variations of art.

Facilitates positive, healthy relationships

To facilitate positive, healthy relationships I need to create a safe space for the children/families in my care. In the How Does Learning Happen document it states that the best educators, first and foremost, use a warm, responsive, and inclusive approach, building positive relationships with children, families, colleagues, and communities(Ontario Ministry of Education, 2014b, pp.19). By creating constant communication on the milestones the children are experiencing as well as the challenges we are working on it can build a positive relationship that relies on transparency.

I believe that consistency is crucial in early learning settings.

By being consistent in my messages and expectations the children will understand what their day to day routine will look like. This can work to increase the children's independance in their routines because by being consistent it will be the same routine they do for every transition. An example of this could be in getting ready for their outdoor time. Everyday when we go out to the hallway the children can grab their things from their cubbies and work to put them on. By going out consistently in the morning and afternoons the children can understand the expectations that will coincide with the routine of their day.

To teach healthy coping mechanisms

In my role as an Early Childhood Educator being able to teach coping mechanisms such as breathing techniques, positive self talk and problem solving skills can set the children in my care up for success in their future. Learning how to manage big emotions at a young age can be really challenging. However, by working to create positive coping mechanisms it can take the fear out of the challenges that they may face and encourage resiliency.

To be an advocate for the children/families in my programs

Being an advocate for the children/families in my program is essential because it promotes social justice, creates equitable learning spaces and ensures that children have a voice. In early learning settings it's important to teach social justice values as it lays the foundation for understanding and valuing diversity. By creating equitable learning environments helps to close achievement gaps and fosters a sense of inclusion and belonging. I also want to ensure that children have a voice because a lot of children's choices are made for them by the adults in their lives. By being an advocate for the children in my care I can guarantee that their needs are being met. This is crucial for children who may not be able to advocate for themselves yet. By having their best interests in mind, I can facilitate and environment that feels safe and secure for the children in my classroom.

In the ELECT document it discusses how parents want to understand how their children develop and learn. (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2014a, pp.4). A way that parents can have an understanding of what their child is learning is through the observations, documentation and information that is communicated to them. This can give them a broader sense in how their child is doing.

Creating daily conversation about home routines and cultural norms.

To continue on from the point above parents can gain a sense of how their child is doing by having a say in what is offered in the program and what goes into the curriculum(Ontario Ministry of Education, 2014a, pp.4). A way that I can encourage parent involvement is to create opportunities at drop off/pick up times as a way to connect with families. By have consistent communication about their child I can learn more about their home routines and cultural norms that they are introducing in their daily routines.

Continuing to learn alongside families on what I may not know.

In the How Does Learning Happen document it states that educators are lifelong learners. Educators become lifelong learners when they take responsibility for their own learning and make decisions about ways to integrate knowledge from theory, research, their own experience, and their understanding of the individual children and families they work with (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2014, pp.7). This is what I aspire to be. Even after this schooling journey is over I want to continue to seek knowledge and do research that will benefit my practice and the children/families in my program.

Cox, M. V., & Rowlands, A. (2000). The effect of three different educational approaches on children’s drawing ability: Steiner, Montessori and traditional. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70(4), 485–503. https://doi.org/10.1348/000709900158263

ECE Resource Hub. (2023). Serve and Return Interactions. ECE Resource Hub. https://eceresourcehub.org/ece-resource-hub/strategy-library/serve-and-return-interactions/

HighScope. (2018). Preschool Curriculum - HighScope. HighScope. https://highscope.org/our-practice/preschool-curriculum/

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2014a). Excerpts from “ELECT” Foundational knowledge from the 2007 publication of Early Learning for Every Child Today: A framework for Ontario early childhood settings. https://www.dufferincounty.ca/sites/default/files/rtb/Excerpts-from-Early-Learning-for-Every-Child-Today.pdf

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2014b). How Does Learning Happen? https://files.ontario.ca/edu-how-does-learning-happen-en-2021-03-23.pdf

Society, C. P. (2021). Read, Speak, Sing: Promoting early literacy in the health care setting | Canadian Paediatric Society. Cps.ca. https://cps.ca/en/documents/position/read-speak-sing-promoting-literacy

State of Victoria. (2012). Strength-based approach A guide to writing Transition Learning and Development Statements (pp. 1–30). Communications Division for Early Childhood Strategy Division Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.