Missunderstood

I am so annoyed with people not understanding childcare. People think we like to wrap children up in cotton wool, and all we do is baby sit. This is so not true! The parents are the ones who like to wrap their children up in cotton wool... Luckily there are some sane parents who just want to let their child have fun... but it is because of the parents that we have so many regulations. A lot of the regulations are needed because we care about the children's safety, but some are over the top. A big one is, that most childcare centers have fake grass, and they don't have plants or trees. I have never had work experience at a childcare centre that had real grass... Two of the centres that I had prac at, had trees and lovely gardens. I was thrilled to see this, but they didn't have grass! Those were both C&K centres.... I visited a C&K kindy for a few hours one day, and they had real grass. I was amazed. It was the 3rd oldest kindy in QLD.... The reason why there isn't real grass in the majority of childcare centres, is obviously because there are bugs and insects, prickles, and bindies in the grass..... but I don't understand this. School ovals have grass, so why can't Childcare and Kindies have grass? Sure, the child might get the occasional ant bite, or bindy in their foot, but is it really the end of the world? Children need to experience these things in order to live. Children need to get dirty, fall over every now and again, get ant bites. This is the way they learn! There are few centres with hills as well. I don't know how I could live without Roley poley hills as a child. As a child, I made mud slides, I played in the flooded oval where we lived in PNG, I helped to plant gardens, I got dirty. Children from age 0-4or 5 like textures, and learn through them... but a lot of parents don't want their child hurt in any way, so they are taking that away from them.
Childcare is meant to be a learning environment... I'm not just a "group leader", my full job name is "Early Childhood Educator". We teach children, and most of us believe that children should learn through play. We also develop relationships with them, and they begin to trust us. We fix what damage has been done in them  e.g. If children are attention seekers, we know that it is because they have not received enough attention at home... we we give them the amount of attention they need.
We form partnerships with families. We constantly discuss how we can improve things.
We also prepare children for school. We really care about them, and we will do all that we can to help them learn, and become who they are meant to be.

This is the Philosophy I wrote up for an assignment.

My Philosophy

Play:

Play is an important way that children learn, not through strict education.

 Through play, the child learns about roles in society, the environment and interaction with others. They also learn important developmental skills during play.

Play is an important part of a child’s day and should be regarded seriously.

Curriculum framework:

The Early Years Learning Framework is an important guide for educators to follow.

Children should have a strong sense of identity. This means feeling safe, secure and supported.

Children should have a strong sense of well being.

Children should be confident and involved learners, through curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity.

Children should resource their own learning e.g. by connecting with people, technologies, natural and processed materials.

Children should feel a sense of belonging, being and becoming.

The whole child:

Children have the right to be included, regardless of their gender, culture, additional needs, religion, values and beliefs; children are individuals and should be treated as such. This means complete inclusivity, no child is to be left out, and we must provide an environment that suits the needs of every child.

Every child is unique

Children need to be cared for in an environment that is comfortable for them. This means that the environment is welcome, friendly and safe.

 Children have a right to express themselves in ways that are easiest for them. Children may choose to express themselves whatever way they feel comfortable with e.g. painting/ artistically, verbally, sign and body language.

 Children have the right to life, and should be treated with complete respect. Children should be kept safe at all times, and their needs are to be put first.

Discipline:

Children should only be disciplined in a non- harmful way. A child should never be harmed physically or emotionally. 

A child should never be put down or ridiculed in any way.

Physical harm is never acceptable.

Discipline is important because it helps children understand and learn what is right and wrong.

Discipline isn’t just punishment, when someone is disciplined; they have an understanding of what is acceptable in society and how to control themselves.

Socialising:

Socialising is an important way for children to develop friendships. Without relationships, it is difficult to survive in any environment.

Children have the right to have friendships.

Socialising helps children to learn what is acceptable.

Socialising helps create different aspects of personality.

Socialising helps develop confidence.

Development of community and cultural Identity:

Children need to be connected to their community, and be involved.

Cultures are important and shouldn’t be discriminated against in any way.

Cultures should be practiced and celebrated.

As an early childhood professional:

Childcare guides children through developmental growth. This means that I, as an early childhood professional will ensure that the activities that I provide at childcare will support this developmental growth.

Early childhood professionals should have both knowledge and experience with children.

I believe that as an early childhood professional, I should provide a nurturing environment for children. It is important to be caring, loving and understanding no matter what the circumstance. 

Did you notice how personal it is? Well It really frustrates me when I see children being disciplined wrongly, or when I see people say things to children that aren't appropriate like "don't be silly". It also frustrates me that not everyone is as passionate about children as I am... I am incredibly passionate. A lot of my teachers commented about how insightful I am. I'm not saying that I'm the only passionate one, because I'm not... My teachers,  a lot of the girls in my class were too, a lot of childcare workers are, and I have also seen it in parents. Every time something goes wrong in childcare, we are heartbroken. We want childcare to be known for what it really is... and we want children being taught with respect! I understand what it is like to be called silly, it damaged me emotionally!

God bless
Love -E-