Friday, March 17, 2017

Day 3..meaning of my business name/what I do at work

Well, I don't have a business name but I do work for a preschool/Mommy's day out program. It is called Mission Preschool. It is a church run business. We provide care for children from the age of 8 weeks until they go to kindergarten.  We have a group of kids that come on Monday and Wednesday and a group of kids that come on Tuesday and Thursday.  I work with the youngest group and am about to be the lead teacher for the 8 -week to the walking group. We had to change it around because we have in our one room 8 weeks to almost 2-year-olds. We have a huge waiting list for the little babies. I am super excited about this fact. I love little babies.  We have two teachers to a maximum of six babies.  That will remain in all classes.

I love my job. I have had people imply that all I do is watch kids, that I don't "teach". I disagree. We talk, cuddle, read and dance with our babies. We play with them and get on the floor with them and teach them how to share. These are important, vitally important developmental skills. Learning to share, take turns, wait for a couple of minutes when you need something and your teacher is busy is important. We love them and cuddle them and talk to them all day long.  Teaching in an infant room is not "book" learning or memorization of letters,, shapes or numbers. Teaching in an infant room is helping them as they learn to grasp objects, sit up, crawl, and walk. It is helping them as they are in the side by side play development stage. It is helping them learn to not just grab a block from a friend. It is helping them learn to say words and pronouncing the words. It is saying, this is a blue ball, can you throw me the blue ball...over and over and over again because in play...they learn.
Babies and toddlers and young children learn best through play.  We explore textures when we do finger paint as we try to keep said finger paint on the paper. We have water play at a water table and see their delight at what happens when you slap the water or pour it from cup to cup.

Teaching infants is holding an 8-week old baby on your lap and singing the itsy bitsy spider or rubbing his colicky tummy and swaying and rocking to classical music.
So, being a child care provider for an infant room IS teaching. It just isn't measured the same way it is measured in a school system. When you look into those little eyes and they light up because they love you as their teacher, you know you are doing it right.

2 comments:

Jennifer said...

You are all helping to form a learning foundation for those littles. The roots. So very, very important. Learning happens best through play <3

Unknown said...

Yes, play is so important. I think today, schools push the other stuff way too much and too quickly. It is all good in its time and place, but children need to play to develop so may skills that people don't even realize are important.