Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/building-relationships-early-childhood-teachers-and-the-community/5015912/
Early childhood education is first and foremost about establishing a base on which to build life-long learning. Early childhood educators dream about well-rounded adults in the distant future who will be productive citizens as well as happy, healthy family members.It is no surprise that these well-rounded adults are successful because:
• They have a strong sense of who they are. They utilize their strengths, yet are keenly aware of their opportunities for growth.
• They strive to live a healthy life to maintain the stamina to continue.
• They have a strong spiritual base and see themselves as part of a larger whole.
• They thirst for new opportunities to learn.
• They develop relationships with diverse groups.
• They actively participate to improve life in their community.
Our society hopes young children will grow into well-rounded adults. Yet, we struggle to make the connection between what we want them to be and how we expect they will become what we want them to be.
We know that children watch and model the behavior of the adults in their lives. Because we are becoming increasingly enlightened about the breadth of learning that occurs in the first five years of a child’s life, it stands to reason that early childhood ...