Statement of Educational Philosophy
Children are beautiful and unique individuals that need to be nurtured. I believe that through nurturance of a child (touch, affirmation, gift giving, quality time and service to these children), children will learn to feel loved and know that they are loved unconditionally. Trust is very important when working with children. I believe that what I do or say should be empowering to children, give children the ability to see that their needs are going to be met and that they can trust. Teachers should have empathy, non-judgment, respect for individuality, and respect for emotions with children. I believe that the individual child has the right to feel safe in their body, safe in their mind and safe in their heart. This was taught to me by Jeanine Fitzgerald (2005).
The teacher’s role is to guide, be an active listener, create essential learning experiences, understand learning types and create learning experiences from those learning types, and most importantly see that the child’s needs are just as, if not more important than the teacher’s needs. I am motivated to create strong relationships with children that help to prevent undesired behaviors through identifying who the children are, being caring, creating emotionally safe environments through enrichment, and responding to the needs of the children through hands-on and multi-learning activities.
For myself, being a teacher has provided me with many opportunities where I can give positive support to children who do not necessarily have one. I share my own passion for life with the children I work with, whether it is a trip to a small stream to look for frogs, playing Hey Mr. Fox, coloring, finger plays, reading stories, forecasting the weather, to teaching them about musical instruments in Peter and the Wolf. I feel that children are their own best learning tools. They have such curiosity about the world and I feel that allowing children to develop their own ideas and build projects around the thought processes of children help to show their development, as well as helps parents see the abilities that their child has and connect parents with learning. Child-center curriculums are important in teaching the child individuality, problem solving skills, language skills, development of their physical and cognitive self, as well as building confidence in learning.
As a teacher, I have created activities for preschool that are specific to developmental stages, the needs and abilities of the children in the group, and to expand upon knowledge that is already there and to help other children teach their peers knowledge that is needed. I feel that the most important piece in early childhood is play, many of the activities that I enjoying working with encourage, dramatic play, free play and creative play. Play is a means by which children can develop their physical body, cognitive and language processes, problem solving and social interaction. I feel that through play, children expand and express upon the scientific, mathematical, social models, physical development and various other skills that are being taught during learning during learning times.
When I was a child, I told my first grade teacher that I wanted to be a teacher like her because Tam Grams are fun to play with because she let me discover the potential on my own. She told me, that the best quote she ever learned was this: “You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” (Plato). For myself, I hope to reach every child that I teach with love and compassion, create a safe learning environment where they are free to explore and be the center of their learning. It is my goal that I be empathetic to children, be non-judgmental to all information, respect the child and their emotions, as well as respect the individual that is the child. That is called trust. As a teacher, I want to empower children to be the front wheel of the bicycle that steers the way.
~ Ms. Blaise
Children are beautiful and unique individuals that need to be nurtured. I believe that through nurturance of a child (touch, affirmation, gift giving, quality time and service to these children), children will learn to feel loved and know that they are loved unconditionally. Trust is very important when working with children. I believe that what I do or say should be empowering to children, give children the ability to see that their needs are going to be met and that they can trust. Teachers should have empathy, non-judgment, respect for individuality, and respect for emotions with children. I believe that the individual child has the right to feel safe in their body, safe in their mind and safe in their heart. This was taught to me by Jeanine Fitzgerald (2005).
The teacher’s role is to guide, be an active listener, create essential learning experiences, understand learning types and create learning experiences from those learning types, and most importantly see that the child’s needs are just as, if not more important than the teacher’s needs. I am motivated to create strong relationships with children that help to prevent undesired behaviors through identifying who the children are, being caring, creating emotionally safe environments through enrichment, and responding to the needs of the children through hands-on and multi-learning activities.
For myself, being a teacher has provided me with many opportunities where I can give positive support to children who do not necessarily have one. I share my own passion for life with the children I work with, whether it is a trip to a small stream to look for frogs, playing Hey Mr. Fox, coloring, finger plays, reading stories, forecasting the weather, to teaching them about musical instruments in Peter and the Wolf. I feel that children are their own best learning tools. They have such curiosity about the world and I feel that allowing children to develop their own ideas and build projects around the thought processes of children help to show their development, as well as helps parents see the abilities that their child has and connect parents with learning. Child-center curriculums are important in teaching the child individuality, problem solving skills, language skills, development of their physical and cognitive self, as well as building confidence in learning.
As a teacher, I have created activities for preschool that are specific to developmental stages, the needs and abilities of the children in the group, and to expand upon knowledge that is already there and to help other children teach their peers knowledge that is needed. I feel that the most important piece in early childhood is play, many of the activities that I enjoying working with encourage, dramatic play, free play and creative play. Play is a means by which children can develop their physical body, cognitive and language processes, problem solving and social interaction. I feel that through play, children expand and express upon the scientific, mathematical, social models, physical development and various other skills that are being taught during learning during learning times.
When I was a child, I told my first grade teacher that I wanted to be a teacher like her because Tam Grams are fun to play with because she let me discover the potential on my own. She told me, that the best quote she ever learned was this: “You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” (Plato). For myself, I hope to reach every child that I teach with love and compassion, create a safe learning environment where they are free to explore and be the center of their learning. It is my goal that I be empathetic to children, be non-judgmental to all information, respect the child and their emotions, as well as respect the individual that is the child. That is called trust. As a teacher, I want to empower children to be the front wheel of the bicycle that steers the way.
~ Ms. Blaise