Philosophy of Education

Udari M.K

Do not tell them how to do it. Show them how to do it and do not say a word. If you tell them,

they will watch your lips move. If you show them, they will want to do it themselves. "

- Maria Montessori

After parents, early childhood educators are the most important people in every childs life.

There are many qualities that early childhood educators should maintain to provide a better care

for the children in the classroom. I believe people with creativity, understanding and patience

have the true desire to work with children. Being a great role model is also important as it shows

children what to do and how to learn. Every young child has a fresh brain and I believe the

influence we provide as teachers makes them shine with knowledge and power during the first 6

years of their lives.

Children learn best when they have a safe, friendly environment to learn and explore in. As

teachers, it is very important to maintain a welcoming environment for children to explore their

desires. As an early child hood educator, my role is to provide hands on experiences to children,

and I believe teaching through play is very important in the early stage of a childs life.

Respecting childrens thoughts and building their strengths make them feel confident to be a

great child in the classroom. I believe every child has a hidden talent and a great teacher can
always make a different in childs life by identifying their skills and giving them challenging

experiences.

As an early child hood teacher, I like to make my own teaching materials using natural resources

rather than spending too much money buying toys and materials. Labeling and keeping them

organized in the classroom makes it easy for children to explore while they play, and it makes

the classroom look better all the time. Having child size furniture and real world materials for

some activities in the classroom provides children better learning skills and relates every activity

as a play idea allowing children to learn with their interests.

As a child, who grew up in a preschool where the Montessori method was used as the main

education system, I believe Maria Montessori introduced great concepts which we still can use in

early childhood education today. She believed that every child learns through self-directed

experiences while playing where there is independence, observation and the prepared

environment. In her theory, she mainly says that teachers do not need to pressure a child learn

because each child learns at his/her own pace. In her theory, the main three components in an

active classroom are the teacher, the children and the environment.

As an early childhood educator, I believe that observation, direct guidance and better

organization makes me feel confident in the classroom. Using developmentally appropriate

methods in teaching makes it easy to identify teaching goals when making activities and lessons

for children. Observing the desire of how children learn and what they like to do is important. It

helps children learn a new concept while they are doing their favorite activity. For example,

when I was doing my lead days in practicum 3 at the Waukesha Head Start, I observed that there

were some children who preferred to work in the block area. It was hard for me to get them out

from that area to teach them more about new concepts. During my lead week, I taught them
about hibernation, and I couldnt get them out from the block area to other centers to learn about

the hibernation of animals. Rather than taking them away from the block area, I decided to come

up with an idea which can provided them the same learning goals while playing at the block area.

I printed out some hibernation animals and cut them into two pieces. Then I pasted the pictures

on the mega blocks. The next day, I kept the blocks in the block area and waited to see what the

children might do. Some children could understand what to do with the blocks and found out that

it was fun to find the right blocks to match the animals and make the blocks. Some children

learned the activity by seeing how others did it. I thought it was an interesting way to teach

children the same lesson while they play in their favorite learning center rather than taking them

out from the center to teach them the same lesson.

When I wrote Learning Center Designs for my practicum 4, I designed a literacy center for the

children in the preschool and I think that was the best example of using my Direct Guidance with

the children. Most of the children did not want to keep the material in the center and some

children wanted to take their writing center materials to another center. After this incident, I

decided to talk to them during the morning circle time. I explained the new center to the children

and how to use the materials with great care. I also set up a few ground rules that children need

to follow if they want to play at the literacy center. I observed that when we guide them in the

right way, they know how to follow the teachers instructions better. In addition to this, being a

great role model in the classroom gives them experience about taking care of each other and the

materials in the classrooms. I believe the preschool age children need more direct guidance and

sometimes we need to think about each child as an individual to make set rules in the class room.

Every child learns in different way and knowing the child and what works best for the child helps

to create a friendly environment in the classroom.

Handling challenging behavior is one of the main expectation from an early childhood educator.

I have experienced many challenging behavior situations both at work as well as in my

practicum placement. During my last practicum, there was a child in the classroom who always

hit other children whenever he gets mad while playing. During that situation the cooperating

teacher followed the tucker turtle method and explain him what he needs to do. I personally

agree with the teachers method and using my knowledge in the guiding child behavior I start to

talk with the child and follow few methods with him. Apart from that, I started doing yoga with

children during outside time to teach them to calm their body and mind.

As an early childhood educator, I believe continuing education is very important to learn new

concepts and ideas about the field. After graduating at WCTC, I am planning to complete a

bachelors degree while getting my administrative credentials. In that way, I will be able to use

my experience and knowledge both in the classroom and help the management of the place I

work.

My ultimate desire is to use my knowledge, not only for the children in USA, but also with the

children In Sri Lanka. As an immigrant who came to USA from Sri Lanka with the experience in

teaching, I never thought I would get this new knowledge, and learn new concepts that I would

be able to share with people in both countries. I believe that all the children are same whether

they live in USA, or any other country. Watching children learning new concepts and sharing

ideas leads me to build a meaningful cultural relationship between both countries.