Philosophy of Early Childhood Education

My philosophy on early childhood education is to provide children with a safe, clean, loving, caring, nurturing and happy environment. In essence we are providing children with a “home away from home”. In todays society where we have both parents working, many children are spending most of their time in childcare facilities. When these children leave us at the end of the day, their parents must take them home, prepare dinner and bathe them. By this time its the child’s bed time. Consequently, the parents have little time to spend teaching the child the necessary behavioral, social or educational necessities they need to learn.Because most of these young parents came from homes where the mother stayed home to raise their children instead of working, the working parents are apprehensive, stressed out and emotional about leaving their child for someone else to raise. We must make this transition as easy as possible for them and assure them their child is in safe and caring hands.For children, early childhood education is the beginning of their lifelong learning experiences. It is our responsibility as Directors and Caregivers to make this a positive experience.It is very important how a child is received when starting for the first time in pre-school. Whether the child is an infant or older we must ensure the child feels comfortable in their new environment. For some children the separation from parents can be a very difficult and traumatic experience. Some will adjust more easily and quicker than others. Patience and love is our key to help make this adjustment easier.From this point we will teach them their social skills, how to act properly with teachers and other children, and how to share and be kind to others. This is something many children who haven’t been in childcare have difficulties with. We will teach them manners, potty train those who are not yet trained and begin their academic learning thats appropriate. Of course we keep the parents apprised of their child’s progress through “daily grams” and personal contact. Teachers provide age appropriate curriculum for each classroom and display their accomplishments during the week. The class work is then sent home every Friday for the parents to note their progress. To prevent a possible injury to children, a daily inspection is made of outdoor and indoor toys and equipment. If any toys or playground equipment is found to be broken or in need of repair, they are removed from the classroom or roped off until repaired.The children are taught what to do if a fire occurs through the monthly fire drills. They are walked through each drill the alarm sounding. This familiarizes them with existing procedures and prevents panic when they hear the alarm. They are also taught who firemen and policemen are and their role in the community. They are given pictures of each to color, which helps them identify people who want to help them in those circumstances.