Roles of an Early Childhood Educator

Early childhood educators have more responsibility now than ever before.  Early childhood educators have to fill the shoes of multiple people in their students’ lives and not just their teacher.  An early childhood professional must embrace and understand their always changing role including being a strong communicator, a coach, a keeper of the watch, a storyteller, and a researcher (Miels, 2007), a disciplinary, a friend, a teacher, an emotional supporter, a role model, and an advocate all while meeting the ever changing needs of their students.  Early childhood educators can find the need for their services in multiple kinds of settings such as daycares, laboratory preschools, and even elementary schools.  Early childhood spans a larger age range than many think, including children from zero through eight years old.  Early childhood educators need to be well rounded and have a greater understanding of young children than any other education professionals.  The enjoyment of playing and interacting with young children is not enough to truly fill the role of an early childhood educator.  Understanding the biological workings of a child and any theories about the development of children between the ages of zero and eight is just as important as the enjoyment of working with young children. 

The early years of a child are arguably the most important years of a person’s life.  The amount of learning that is obtained and learned during the first 5 years of life is what helps to shape the adult they will become.  Nature can only account for so much of a child’s success, and nurture needs to be present to solidify the skills needed to be successful in any aspect of life.  With the increase of single parent homes and the need to have both parents working outside of the home, daycare has become a second home for children, making it imperative that they receive educational support within the daycare to help them thrive as adults; daycare is no longer just babysitting.  It’s estimated that 12 million infants, toddlers, and preschoolers in the United States attend daycare and most of those children spend 40 hours a week in daycare with many starting when just weeks old (Lang, 2005).  With the large amount of time young children are spending outside of the home with strangers, it becomes even more imperative for daycare workers to become trained and educated on the ins and outs of early childhood development.  The old saying that it takes a village to raise a child is truer today than ever before.  If we do not all take a vested interest in the young children of the country the United States will not be able to stay competitive with the rest of the world.  The growing need for quality early childhood education has become an important topic to all countries and not just the United States, desiring the goal of achieving more positive outcomes for young children (Pearson & Degotardi, 2009).

Early childhood educators within a daycare setting must understand their role and how to interact with children, parents, and other workers.  While a basic daycare worker without a degree or background in early childhood education can certainly offer any child the basic needs of life to sustain life and hopefully have fun doing it, there is more to the care of our young children than just meeting basic needs and having fun.  Learning needs to occur and the understanding that children are constantly learning and taking in their world is as important as their basic needs.  When an educator has the background knowledge of how children learn, the correct activities can be available and the right support for each child can happen to help ensure the best learning environment.  Children begin learning at birth and even then it is important to know what those infants should and should not be exposed to.  An educator working with young children needs to have the correct training to help them create the best learning environment that includes skillful combinations of explicit instruction, sensitive and warm interactions, responsive feedback, and verbal engagement and stimulation intentionally directed to ensure children’s learning while not being overly structured and regimented (Zigler, Gilliam, & Barnett, 2011). 

            Daycare workers are not required to have any kind of further education or college degree to take care of children; however daycares that pride themselves on the well-rounded education they can provide their children should have accredited, educated adults with an expertise in early childhood.  The understanding of human development and the knowledge of theories and current research are essential in properly helping raise and mold children.  Behaviors can be understand and handled when the understanding of where it comes from is more apparent to the adult working with them.  Children are not always equipped with the words or ways to express their needs creating a need for the adults working with them to be an interpreter of sorts to help that child or children to sort through their problems and find resolutions to best resolve the issue.  The knowledge of being an interpreter for young children comes with education and training, and without that a child may end up frustrated, more confused, or given the wrong information on how to handle things, meaning they are taught with bad information. 

Adults charged with the task of helping to care for young children must understand that the opportunities for learning are everywhere.  Knowing what a child is exposed to and what they are not is a key in understanding how to help increase that child’s knowledge base.  If a child rides the bus with mom or dad to get places on a regular basis, that child may need to learn more about trains and not much about buses, or the knowledge on buses could be expanded to learn about where buses go, how many can you count, and questions that lead the child to think outside of their normal everyday life.  According to recent studies, 12 percent of workers in a daycare center hold a higher degree such as a bachelor’s degree or higher and only 19 percent have any kind of college credits beyond their high school diploma, while 38 percent hold no education at all in the field of early childhood (Driscoll & Nagel, 2008).  30 states in the United States do not require any sort of early childhood education or background to become a day care worker, while 4 states require three to 12 credit hours in early childhood education, only one state requires a bachelor’s degree, and four require a Child Development Associate degree (Driscoll & Nagel, 2008).  

Laboratory schools in another place that early childhood educators can flourish.  Laboratory schools are typically funded by a University or college which would use workers who have advanced degrees working with the children and planning their activities.  The richness of exposure for those children involved in a laboratory school would be backed up by years of experience and education from the teachers.  The education of the teachers is not the only bonus of a laboratory school, the number of educated adults working together to collaborate and share information is a positive for parents and children alike.  Being a team player as an adult is an important role model characteristic.  Young children are always looking to the adults in their lives to learn how to act or react to a situation or personal feeling, which makes it even more important that the adults working together get along and work together.  Learning to work on a team is invaluable to a child who will have to work with others their entire life.  Laboratory schools usually have the reputation of offering a quality education to young children (Driscoll & Nagel, 2008), however laboratory schools do not service as large number of children and local daycare centers do.  Educators working in laboratory schools are fresh on their ideas and their knowledge of current research.  They are well versed in past theorists and how to apply those theories to the children they come in contact with. 

Public school is another facet of early childhood education that creates an atmosphere of what the child’s future will look like in education.  If a preschool is housed within an elementary school, children learn the rules of school very quickly and are exposed to older groups of children just by being in the same building and sharing the same hallways.  The educators providing the instruction, are teacher certified, meaning they must hold a valid teaching certificate.  In most public schools a specialty in early childhood education is preferred and even required, to teach in a preschool classroom.  When a teacher works in a public school they must understand all that comes with that, including older siblings, older children and their behaviors, larger number of children to influence behavior, and many times less qualified adults for larger number of children.  Being able to keep the exposure to appropriate stimulus for pre-school children is a difficult job for any teacher within the public schools.  The schools are public for a reason and that allows parents to be involved along with other community members, and the early childhood educator does not always have control over the involvement of other family members in the building.

Whether the educator is teaching in a formal setting or informal setting, flexibility is necessary to succeed for the benefit of the child.  One day the job may be more emotional and supportive when the next day it may be more exploratory and encouraging.  Knowledge is power for all involved and the more learning on the educator’s part will in turn increase learning power on the child’s side.  An early childhood educator needs to be everything to every child no matter the placement, situation, and time, children will only thrive if they learn from the adults they are surrounded by, and it makes no difference how they come in contact with those adults as long as everyone is focused on the success of the child.

References

Driscoll, A., & Nagel, N. G. (2008). Early childhood education, birth-8. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Lang, H. (2005, May 1). The trouble with day care; Are researchers telling parents the whole truth about day care? The verdict isn't good and parents won't like it. Retrieved April 22, 2012, from Psychology Today: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200505/the-trouble-day-care?page=2

Miels, J. (2007). The seven faces of the early childhood educator. Retrieved November 9, 2011, from Earlychildhood NEWS: http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_print.aspx?ArticleId=171

Pearson, E., & Degotardi, S. (2009). Education for sustainable development in early childhood education: A global solution to local concerns. International Journal of Early Childhood, 97-111.

Zigler, E., Gilliam, W. S., & Barnett, W. S. (2011). The pre-k debates; current controversies & issues. Baltimore: Paul H. Brooks Publishing Co.

Kindergarten now.... or later?

Kindergarten readiness is a difficult thing for one person to know everything about.  Every child is so different and many educators have differing views of what it means to be ready for kindergarten.  Some educators believe that the more time a child is given to mature the more ready they will be to enter school and succeed, while other believe that all children are ready to learn and need to be taught at their own level (Diamond, Reagan, & Bandyk, 2000).  While educators discuss readiness of a child there is a distinction made between the kind of readiness; such as readiness to learn and readiness for school (Diamond, Reagan, & Bandyk, 2000).  All children are naturally ready to learn, however not every child is ready for school.  As children grow and develop they are hungry for knowledge and experiences, and there comes a point in a child’s development when formal education will help them to achieve even more than they are engaged in at home.  There are three skills that pertain to the readiness of school and can be singled out for each child; listening, feeling confident, and following directions (Diamond, Reagan, & Bandyk, 2000).  Every child will rank differently in each of those skills.  If your child is not a good listener, then school could cause challenges however listening skills is something children can learn in school.  If your child has a difficult time trying new things and allowing themselves the chance to succeed at something unknown, again school can be a struggle.  School is full of new experiences, new people, and new information and if a child is not comfortable enough with themselves, those new experiences, people, and information will cause more stress than learning.         

If early childhood theorists were asked about whether a child is ready to start kindergarten most would have a defined set of goals to meet before thinking a child is ready.  Most instruments used to assess school readiness look for an array of academic, social and motor behaviors (Frey, 2005).  Even though the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Association for the Education of Young Children do not recommend the use of screening tools to decide if a child is ready to enter school, many schools and districts still use such assessments (Frey, 2005).  While expectations for kindergarten have certainly changed from exploration and play to a much more academically rigorous curriculum (Frey, 2005) the need for an answer to the questions about school readiness have evolved.

When I think about your son and starting kindergarten in the fall there are many things to consider and address.  First is looking at his birthday and comparing the average age of an entering student.  Your son’s birthday is in October so he will be starting school as a four year old, while other students will be five and have been for a possible 10 months to a year.  Maturity it something that is very different for every child and especially at the ages we are talking about there may be a two year difference than his peers.  Some students may start the school year five almost six years old and with those extra years of experience can come a higher maturity with a greater understanding of the rules associated with school.  One thing to ask yourself is if your son is socially ready?  Does he trust other people? Can he play in a group with others (Fishaut & Olson, 2009)?  Your son will come in contact with multiple adults who have differing roles in his education.  If he does not do well with new people or does not like playing and sharing with other students, he could have problems in school with his behavior.

Another area of development to ask yourself about has to do with if your son is emotionally ready.   Can your son have a sense of being independent (Fishaut & Olson, 2009)?  Can he wait his turn and does he have self-control (Fishaut & Olson, 2009)?  Is your son willing to try new things (Fishaut & Olson, 2009)?  Your son’s language development would be another area of development that might help you figure out if he is showing enough signs of being ready.  Can your son follow directions when they are given or be able to express his needs to an adult or other child in the classroom (Fishaut & Olson, 2009)?  Can your son share ideas, thoughts, and feelings in complete sentences (Fishaut & Olson, 2009)?

Is your child physically ready is also something to think about (Fishaut & Olson, 2009). Can he take care of his basic needs on his own (dress, eat, use the bathroom) (Fishaut & Olson, 2009)?  Can he run and jump (Fishaut & Olson, 2009)?  Does he have a sense of personal space?  Can he manipulate small objects in his hands (Fishaut & Olson, 2009)?  Can he hold a pencil properly (Fishaut & Olson, 2009)?  All of these things are things he should be able to do with no trouble before starting school.  The only thing that could be lacking is holding a pencil properly, but he should be able to hold a pencil and put it to paper without any trouble even if it’s not properly. 

The last area to look at would be if your son is intellectually ready.  The following questions can help you to determine if your son has a good base of knowledge for success in school.  The more questions that can be answered with a yes the better the chance your child is ready for kindergarten.

1.      Does your son have an idea of the difference between letters and numbers? 

2.      Does your son know some of his letters? 

3.      Does your son know how to count to ten or higher?  

4.      Can your son spend time working on something he enjoys without disruption?

5.      Can he listen to stories without interruption?

6.      Can your son recognize rhyming sounds?

7.      Can he pay attention for short periods of time to adult-directed tasks?

8.      Does he understand that his own actions have consequences, whether good or bad?

9.      Does he have an understanding of general times of day like night time, lunch time, dinner time, school time, or play time?

10.  Can he cut with scissors? Trace simple shapes?

11.  Can he feed himself with no help? Use the bathroom with little to no help?

12.   Can he separate from you without a meltdown?

13.   Can he speak understandably and complete sentences using five or six words?

14.   Does he know any common words such as stop, go, I, the?

15.   Can he sort objects by color, size, or shape?

Your son is four years old and will be five in October.  He cannot write his name and does not know any letters or numbers.  He can count to 10 but no further.  According to you your son has trouble conforming to socially acceptable behaviors and norms, meaning he has no trouble acting out in front of others or throwing temper tantrums regardless of who is around or where they are.  This kind of behavior would be considered more pre-conventional in Kohlberg’s stages of moral development.  Most children entering kindergarten with a readiness to learn and succeed, are in the conventional stage of moral development with the understanding there is a time and a place for certain behaviors while seeking out the approval of those around them when it comes to their actions (Crain, 1985).  For the reasons above I would say your child is not ready to enter kindergarten, but would probably benefit from a preschool program like a Young 5’s, or Head Start.  If I were to look at Jean Piaget’s stages of development your son would fit within the third stage of development which many beginning students in kindergarten are.  The third stage is the beginning of what Piaget called operations; meaning an understanding of an action in all its parts going forward and backward (Gauvin & Cole, 1997).  Because your son has reached the third stage of development in Piaget’s stages, I would say he would be a perfect candidate for a preschool or pre-kindergarten program of some kind.  You have also shared with me that he loves to read books and is always tell you stories out of the books.  Whether is story he tells is exactly as it is in the book or not, he is reading.  He has reached a great stage in his reading development.   However he does enjoy playing more than sitting and focusing on the task put in front of him.  I would again recommend that he waits one more year for kindergarten and enters into a pre-K program of some kind.

Your son might be labeled as a typical young boy displaying “boy” behaviors and with that some may tell you he will grow out of it and be fine which may lead you to believe that he should start kindergarten and not wait.  The opposite may be true though.  As children are given more time to mature, their rate of success will likely go up, at the same time you do not want to just let him be to learn and grow on his own.  Society accepts different behaviors from boys than from girls, but that does not mean you have to accept them.  On the flip side of that, just because someone tells you he needs another year to mature and grow, does not mean anything is going to change.  You come from a family full of girls and many times, but not always girls are ready to enter school earlier than boys.  Make sure you are making your decision based only on your child and not comparing him to his sisters or cousins.       

            School readiness is a very hard thing to decide for anyone.  Every child is different and every child reaches developmental milestones at a different time.  My best advice for a parent of a child whose birthday is in the fall is to do what you think is best for your child.  You know if they are ready or not, and if there is a doubt talk to your child’s doctor and see what they think, talk to your child’s prospective teacher, talk to family members who are in contact with your child, and maybe the decision will become easier to make with more input from others.  If you decide not to start your child in kindergarten there are other options instead.  Make sure you enroll your child in a young 5’s class or maybe a preschool group at the local YMCA, or even a Head Start program in the area.  Do not shy away from school because you do not think your child is ready, but help them gain the skills they will need to succeed.  There are always options and even enrolling your child in a gymnastics or dance class, maybe a karate class or some kind of physical activity group will help your child learn some of the social skills they may be lacking.  Try not to make school a chore or something that has to be done, but something more fun and game like.  Children need to be excited to be involved in school because it will be a very large part of their young lives. 

References

Crain, W. (1985). Kohlberg's stages of moral development. In W. Crain, Theories of Development (pp. 118-136). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Diamond, K. E., Reagan, A. J., & Bandyk, J. E. (2000). Parents' conceptions of kindergarten readiness: Relationships with race, ethnicity, and development. The Journal of Educational Research, 93-100.

Fishaut, E., & Olson, K. (2009, July). University of Minnesota Extension . Retrieved May 24, 2012, from University of Minnesota Extension School and Learning Resources for Parents: http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/familydevelopment/00132.html

Frey, N. (2005). Retention, social promotion, and academic redshirting: What do we know and need to know? Remedial and Special Education, 332-346.

Gauvin, M., & Cole, M. (1997). Readings on the development of children. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company.