Traditions

I was recently reading some news from around the world when I came across something very interesting on BBC News.

A Nordic tradition where children take their nap outside in the snow. You read right outside in the snow!

Here is the full article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21537988


I do feel that children need to get lots of fresh air and time outside but napping in the snow seems a bit crazy to me. While they are in a warm area called a pram it still seems a bit dangerous to me. There is plenty of time for children to be outside when they are not napping.

Everyone around knows that the children are sleeping outside. Have any of these children been kidnapped? This is something I would worry about. You have all these children throughout neighborhoods sleeping outside. There are some pretty sick people out there who would go in there and steal these children to work in factories and other places. I would not want to risk it.

The article states that the children are less likely to catch coughs and colds by sleeping outside than being inside with the rest of the class. I work in a daycare now and we do go outside frequently. I feel the more you are around colds and germs the stronger your immune system becomes. I know if I am outside in the cold for a long period of time I start to get stuffy.

This tradition has been going on for a very long time and they all swear it works and is better for the children but I still have some doubts.

I know personally I would never have my children sleep outside in freezing cold temperatures.

Education or Experience??

Let’s take some time and talk about education and experience. When you begin to apply for jobs some will say Associates or Bachelors degree preferred or 2-5 years experience. Which is better education or experience?

While education is important I feel that experience sometimes triumphs over education. As you know I am currently in school to become an early childhood educator. While in school I have been working in a daycare for around three and a half years. I feel that I have learned so much more while working here than in school.

A lot of professors in college teach to a test rather than teaching what they feel is the most important and what the children will actually use. I feel that the tests should be made off of what the teacher teaches and the class itself.

I have found one teacher who does not just teach to the test and who does not need to read word for word in the book but instead has a passion for what she is teaching. She teaches future teachers and has taught at different schools with these early childhood children.  So when she taught about family involvement she has seen firsthand just what happens in these schools. She is also able to give suggestions that she has seen work at different times. A teacher who has not been inside an early childhood school would not have the same understanding of what happens. Experience shows you that parents can react differently to the same situation. The more experience you have, the better you become at handling these situations. A book cannot teach this.

While working in different day cares I feel that I have gained an enormous amount of experience that will help me throughout my teaching career. I have seen different types of families and children. It is one thing to read a book about families and children but experiencing it firsthand really changes how you think and how you react to different situations with families and their children. Also while working in the day cares I have gotten many ideas that I will use once I have my own classroom. It also allows me to think of various lessons that the children will love!

I believe that experience should go along side education because you really need to make sure that you like what you do before you make it your career.  As a future teacher I have had to do many observation hours with different grades and document what I have seen and done with the children. I will also have to student teach for half of the school year to get more experience in the field. Through experience you learn new ways to do different things and new ways to use materials. 

Ideal Classrooms

As the school year comes to an end and you begin to pack up your room think do you think about things you wish you had? I know every teacher out there has their ideal classroom but with budgets getting cut constantly most of these rooms are completely out of the question. 

However, if you won a contest and had no limit on your classroom what would you have in your ideal classroom?

The grade I am thinking about is preschool!

     In my classroom I would have some of the following things:

•         An interactive word wall – if the students went up to the wall and touched a word it would say the word for them

•        Huge classroom library – make sure there is enough cozy space for the students to sit down and look and read books. Reading is KEY!

•        Technology center – some teachers are still unsure about technology but I love it! It is something that the children are going to use throughout their life so as educators I feel that we need to make sure they understand it!

•       Science/discovery center – I want a variety of textures and scents in this center to make it fun and exciting. I have also recently seen boxes where you put stuff inside and the children use gloves to feel what is on the inside. This can be very exciting especially if you have it where the students can’t see inside.

• ·         Storage – having a big area to store things would be great. I could go back and get new and exciting things anytime it seemed like my kids were getting bored.

•       Dramatic play – I want real world items that would interact with the children like stoves and cash registers. I think it is important for these items to be as real as possible because it is something almost every student will be around their entire life. 

•        Social studies- fun interactive way to help children with their social studies skills. 

•     Math - fun ways to teach all the different types of math. Like all the different geometric shapes, adding, subtracting, sizes, and colors (to name a few).

Of course there are many many more I could list but I didn't want to go crazy. =)  

How about you?

What are some things that you would have in your ideal classroom?

Parents what are some things you wish your child’s class had?