PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT 

I believe that all children should be respected as our future assets and the next generation.  We should guide them in pursuing their needs and wants with great appreciation for their distinct backgrounds. They should be trained to achieve their best and greatest potentials. I believe that every child should be heard and have the opportunity to voice their unique personality, so I will make my best effort to listen and understand their unique personality to find their strengths and help them with their needs. As a teacher, I will try to tailor and customize my teaching method to each child's different learning styles and personalities to my best ability.

My philosophy is that all our life experiences should be an opportunity to learn something new and practice what we learned in a happy and joyful manner.  I believe raising a child requires parents' participation and engagement.  Children should be inspired to imagine and develop their creative minds. I believe that a teacher must be kind and big-hearted and not make a big deal out of every small mistake, however, try to make a big impact by being passionate and caring about a child's need. 

My philosophy includes creating a safe and loving environment for all children to build self-confidence and encourage learning. A child's day starts with the parent's involvement and high energy that motivates a child to start a beautiful day.  So, my effort will be to create a pleasant experience for parents when they drop the child at school.  A smile and open arms will make a positive impact on both parents and children.   By sending photos of their loved ones during the day, parents feel more involved and connected with their children, so picking them up from school will be another joyful event. I will appreciate and encourage parents' constructive criticism and value their opinion to improve my teaching philosophy.

Using my problem-solving skills, I will try to come up with creative solutions to situations and potential conflicts before they are arisen by correct observation and preventive approach.   My decisions will be based on the best interest of the child and according to my professional conduct. 

As an early childhood professional, I will become a member of organizations that will keep me up to date with training and conferences that improve my experience and education.   

Safe Environment 

Safety is important in daily activities. As a teacher:

• I always make sure that all children in my care are visible to me at all times and if I’m not available another competent help is watching them.

• I check cords on electronics and window coverings are out of children’s reach.

• I check Wall and furniture do not have sharp edges and all furniture must be appropriate for children's development and size. 

• I check Toys and equipment are unbreakable, too large to swallow, or used in a dangerous way. 

• I will put harmful substances, cleaning products, medicine into the closet, and out of reach of children and label each medicine specific to each child.

• I must make sure the first kit is evident in the classroom and carry it with me when I take children to the playground.

• I keep an updated list of parent’s phone numbers for emergency cases.

Healthy Environment 

As a teacher, I will promote good health and provide a healthy environment and prevent the spread of illness. In addition: 

• I will check my class materials and toys to be clean on a continuous basis. 

• I must know if any child has allergies and I write a note and tag it on my class board. 

• I will make sure that all children in my class wash their hands before and after their meals. 

• I teach them to sneeze into their elbows if no paper towel or napkin is available at the time. 

• I teach them proper hand washing sequence and have pictures available in class. 

• I ensure that children do not share personal items like towels, hair brushes, snacks, or meals. 

• I must perform daily health checks on each child to monitor for symptoms of illness. 

• I enact procedures for care of sick children and isolate a child with contagious illness from well children.

Learning Environment 

The Learning Environment is an important aspect for the development of all children. As a teacher: 

• I must arrange and organize our learning environment 

• I must design my class to be comfortable, secure, enjoyable, and interesting for play and learning 

• I have to separate diapering, toileting and eating areas 

• I arrange my classroom to be ready for the participation and interaction of all children including those with special needs 

• I have to consider messy activities such as sandbox playing, paint coloring, and messy art projects near a source of water 

• I must provide a variety of materials to help children learn and experience 

• I must provide extra materials and toys to be rotated into play as children needs and interest change 

• I organize materials and place those at children’s height levels 

• I must label their personal shelves with children’s names or their picture 

• I provide a daily schedule and weekly plans 

• I must do consistent routines for all indoor and outdoor activities 

Physical

Physical development of fine motor and gross motor of all children will help promote growth in all domains.  As a teacher,

• I will observe the child’s need to find activities that a child is able to do physically. 

• I will empower them by having physical activities to do, no matter how small, even if it’s turning the head from side to side or opening and closing fists. 

• I will start with what they can do and work toward more complex tasks over time. 

• I will offer them opportunities to notice colors, smell scents, distinguish sounds, feel and touch a variety of textures, taste foods, and listen to music.

• I will incorporate physical activities in all other activities such as Singing and movement, storytime, and hand gestures. 

• I will support and encourage children but do not force them if they are fearful.

• In planned and unplanned activities I will work on gross and fine motor development.

• I will ask for platforms, low furniture, and ramps are provided to infants and toddlers so they can explore and do physical activities.

Cognitive 

Cognitive development means how children think, explore, and figure things out.  It is the development of knowledge and ability for problem-solving.  As a teacher, 

• I will provide a variety of activities in different fields like mathematics, science, social studies, technology, and other content goals.  These activities must motivate and spark children's curiosity.

• I will provide materials that encourage children’s inventive thinking.  I will keep my class action because they retain more by active learning rather than emphasizing that children listen passively to adults.

• I will encourage them to talk more and think more about what they see, hear, smell, taste, or touch.

• I will read selective books to them that help extends their knowledge and improves their vocabulary.

• I will bring to their attention the "cause and effect" relation by asking a question "if this happens then what will happen next?"

• By asking the "4w+h" questions, I  will give each of them an opportunity to talk and participate in the class activity.

• However, as mentioned by the MASLOW THEORY, I have to know that my students' primary needs, such as hunger and thirst are satisfied, then worry about their cognitive development and problem-solving skills.

Communication

As a teacher, I will promote children's language and early literacy learning, and

• I will organize books attractively on open shelves with the cover facing front and make them accessible to children 

• I will sort books with different subjects including fiction information book, book related to children’s interest, family structure of the children, rhyming books, books with predictable text 

• I will help children to create handmade books with pictures of their families, pets, friends, etc.

•  I will provide different materials such as puppets and dolls for teaching verbal expressions

• I have to provide activities that allow children to touch and manipulate letters numbers or words; for example, magnetic letters on the board

• I will give children the opportunity to suggest books for reading or tell stories to the group

• I will encourage children to develop listening and comprehension skills such as telling stories about events that occurred in their children's lives for example tell them a story about the day that we spent together

• I will give them enough time to select their own books to explore on their own or with friends and communicate with each other

• During the storytime, I will keep children's attention by holding eye contact and I will ask them open-ended questions like “what do you think will happen next?”

• I will encourage children to take turns in talking and teach them to not interrupt each other and I assure that each child has a chance to talk

• I will help children who have a dual language background to be confident in class

• I will be a role model and use standard grammatic speech

• I should not correct children's grammatic speech errors and instead, I will reinstate them correctly 

Creativity

Creativity to me is the most important skill for a child at this stage of life.  As a teacher,

• I will encourage creativity in all ways and never diminish their self-confidence in elaborating on their thoughts.

• I will give children many opportunities to be creative and think in their own unique ways.

• It is important for children to have space for creativity because it makes them independent thinkers and find different solutions when they grow up.

• I will refrain from telling a child how an object is used unless the child becomes too overwhelmed if they are not getting the result they want. 

• I will ask open-ended questions that do not have a predetermined answer and allows the child to think for themselves. 

• I will provide open-ended coloring materials rather than coloring books.

• I will offer art activities, materials, and techniques that reflect their cultural groups.

• I will encourage wearing different clothes of their liking with a variety of colors and textures rather than uniform.

• I will help build their imagination by asking them what other uses objects have other than their intended use.  For example, a spoon could be used as a drum stick.

Self

One Goal is to build confidence with each child by giving them the opportunity to do things on their own.  As a teacher, 

• I will develop a warm positive and supportive relationship with each child,

• I will respect each child’s physical and emotional boundaries,

• I will provide learning material to challenge each child appropriately,

• I will assign everyday routine to give individual attention to each child,

• I will support the individual independence of each child with special needs,

• I will build children up, by using positive guidance and reinforcements, 

• I will help children build their self-esteem by allowing them to make mistakes,

• I will make sure the child knows they are loved, safe, and secure, 

• To help them become independent and self-assured. 

• I will respond quickly to Children’s feelings such as Joy, loneliness, anger, or disappointment with sympathetic or empathic attention, and

• I will respond immediately and sympathetically to a child’s injury or fear of injury.

Social

Children must feel accepted in the group and have feelings of empathy and mutual respect. As a teacher,

• I will create activities that a child could participate in a small group, 

• I will create a non-bias environment to promote cooperation among children,

• I will encourage children to share but don’t blame them if they don’t,

• I will acknowledge children’s caring and helpful behaviors toward each other,

• I will help children develop socially by always talking to them,

• I will describe things in great detail so their vocabulary expands,

• I will allow and encourage them to say how they feel about different things,

• I will be a good example of how to be social and caring,

• I will talk to children about each other’s feeling to create a sense of empathy, 

• I will teach children to properly express their feelings and discuss them with each other,

• I will allow opportunities for social interaction with other children in my classroom.

Guidance

Children must be guided to develop appropriate and acceptable behaviors as individuals and within a group.  As a teacher, 

• I will provide a supportive environment and behind the scene guidance,

• I will provide tasks that are developmentally appropriate for that child,

• I will verbally guide them to succeed in their assigned tasks if they fails,

• I will acknowledge positive behaviors by ignoring minor distractions,

• I will comment positively and sincerely to children about their ideas and activities,

• I will set an example for appropriate behaviors by sharing, taking turns, and waiting,

• I will set my expectation ahead of time in a firm, kind, and consistent manner,

• I will assure them they are capable of doing the assigned tasks,

• I will assist only when necessary and encourage positive thinking ab out themselves,

• I will provide guidance to parents in a helpful way, not a condescending way,

• I will offer expert referrals or resources to any questions they may have.

Program Management 

Management is planning to achieve an objective by the entire team.  As a teacher,

• I will manage the classroom by being prompt when arriving at work

• I will do proper planning and time management to avoid delays or problems 

• I will work as a team with other teachers in combining ideas when planning lessons

• I will follow the direction of my management on processes and procedures

• I will help find highly qualified individuals to join our team

• I will improve my competency to become an essential part of our team’s success

• I will help develop a program based on best practices and actively participate

• I will perform to set a standard for the employees and lead by setting a good example

• I will continue my training and seek continuing education for my team

• I will show leadership skills by admitting to mistakes and showing my appreciations

• I will adhere to a strict code of ethics and set an example for my entire team

• I will participate in meetings to go over any policy changes and improvement discussions

Professionalism

To maintain a commitment to professionalism 

• It is my responsibility to inform parents of the confidentiality policy.

• As a professional, I protect the confidentiality of information about children, their families, and the childcare program.

• I demonstrate a clear understanding of my job expectations.

• As a professional, I must arrive to work on time every day.

• I must dress appropriately for the responsibilities of the position.

• I must display good judgment when making decisions that affect the children in my care.

• I understand that I must promote high-quality services for children and families.

• As a new professional in early childhood, I will continue to gain knowledge about child development in early childhood best practices.

• I will maintain an active membership in an early childhood association(s). 

• I will always accept feedback from a trusted mentor or coach to help me be more effective with my job.