LISTEN UP! WHAT YOUR CHILD’S PRESCHOOL TEACHER WANTS YOU TO KNOW. By Janika Young

ATLANTA – Parents, you drop your children off in preschool classrooms across metro Atlanta each morning, but how well are you communicating with preschool teachers? Working with young children is unique in that preschool teachers have the opportunity to meet face to face with parents each day. But what is it that they really want parents to know? Teachers at a non-profit early education center in Lawrenceville speak up.

Says LaVerne Turner, a Lead Teacher in a GA Pre-K classroom at the school, “We need to work as a team to get the kids from A to B. ‘We’ being everyone involved in the care and education of the kids. Some parents believe everything the teacher says and some believe everything the kids say and we need to come together to reach a medium. We’re all here for the kids.”

Teamwork seems to be an important point for early childhood educators. According to Ethel Lee, Lead Teacher in a toddler classroom for one- and two-year olds, “You have to have an open relationship with your child’s teachers and be honest and discuss what’s going on. Then, things will go smoothly.” Some teachers may have a great rapport with their parents, but aren’t quite sure if parents can see their level of dedication.

“I’m doing the best that I can,” says Markita Sims modestly. Markita is a teacher in a preschool classroom with three-year olds. Kasey Roper, Lead Teacher in the Infant classroom where children start as early as six weeks old, says, “Please be patient with us” as we get to know your child and “develop the best way to teach them.” Parents, the verdict is in. Communication, teamwork, and understanding are what preschool teachers want from you to help make your child’s preschool experience successful.

Jânika Young is a Pre-K teacher in a lottery funded Georgia Pre-K program. She is certified to teach Pre-K through 5th grade and has a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education. Jânika is interested in staff development for early childhood educators and is a state approved trainer. She has been in the classroom for nine years and is passionate about young children and the teachers who teach them! Follow Jânika at MrsYoungsBlog.com or contact her at mrsyoungsblog@gmail.com

EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT: IS PLAYING REALLY LEARNING? By Janika Young

ATLANTA – When you ask your child, “What did you do today?” and the reply is, “I played,” don’t be disappointed.  Play is the work of Pre-K children. When you see your children in their classrooms and they are dancing and dressing up and painting and doing puzzles, they are doing serious work! They are learning rhythm (which is essential for reading), social skills, self-confidence, and building their cognitive and fine motor skills….and that’s just a little of what goes on in a Pre-K classroom.

For young children, learning through play is a developmentally appropriate practice. What does developmentally appropriate mean? It means that teachers are combining their knowledge of child development and each child in their class to create lessons and activities based on the children’s specific needs.

So if your Pre-K student knows all the letters and letter sounds and has a classmate who does not yet recognize all of the letters, the teacher may plan an activity such as pairing the two children and sending them on a letter or sound hunt. Both children benefit from this activity; your child is reinforcing their knowledge and extending it by finding letters or sounds on their own, as well as developing leadership skills as they help the child who does not know all the letters of the alphabet.

The child who does not know all of the letters benefits from having a peer tutor. This game, rather than worksheets or a simple memorization activity, is developmentally appropriate.

The amazing thing about early childhood education is that children get to play and have fun and learn all day. A good early childhood educator plans for play and has a purpose for everything they do throughout the day. Playing with playdough may seem simple, but it is great for building those fine motor skills that are necessary for writing. So when your little one says, “I played today!” rest assured that they are doing exactly what a Pre-K student should.

“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” - Fred Rogers

Jânika Young is a Pre-K teacher in a lottery funded Georgia Pre-K program. She is certified to teach Pre-K through 5th grade and has a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education. Jânika is interested in staff development for early childhood educators and is a state approved trainer. She has been in the classroom for nine years and is passionate about young children and the teachers who teach them! Follow Jânika at MrsYoungsBlog.com or contact her at mrsyoungsblog@gmail.com

REMEMBER, EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS ARE TEACHERS TOO. By Janika Young

ATLANTA – An attitude that early childhood educators run into here in Atlanta is that early childhood education classrooms are not “real” school and so naturally, early childhood educators are not “real” teachers. The time spent each day in our classrooms with our students very pointedly negates that. Early childhood educators encounter this attitude from (sadly) parents and (even more sadly) other teachers. Elementary school teachers to be exact.

Despite the fact that there are plenty of early childhood programs that follow strict guidelines (Early Head Start, Head Start, and GA Pre-K, to name a few), many don’t think of early childhood classrooms as serious education programs. Early care and education is important and early childhood educators are teachers too. Yes, we get to have fun and play with our students each day, but everything we do is as purposeful as what higher elementary grade teachers do with their students.

The term “daycare” often instills a notion of babysitting and purposeless activities, which is not what early education is. A classroom does not have to be housed in a private or expensive child care center or an elementary school to be a wonderful place for young children to learn and thrive. Early childhood education is a growing field. More and more educators are realizing the impact early education has on students in the long run.

Early childhood educators are laying the foundation for future academic and social success. We work on numbers, letters, patterns, listening, creativity, social skills, sharing, conflict resolution, exploration, developing expressive language and more to help create future geniuses. We work very hard to create lesson plans and assessments to monitor our students and meet their needs. We continue to study to improve our skills to better serve our students.

Like all teachers, in the classroom we assume many roles: mother, father, counselor, nurse, referee, playmate, and teacher. We are teachers.

Jânika Young is a Pre-K teacher in a lottery funded Georgia Pre-K program. She is certified to teach Pre-K through 5th grade and has a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education. Jânika is interested in staff development for early childhood educators and is a state approved trainer. She has been in the classroom for nine years and is passionate about young children and the teachers who teach them! Follow Jânika at MrsYoungsBlog.com or contact her at mrsyoungsblog@gmail.com