Responding to a Child

"The most important thing about being a teacher of young children is a willingness to learn about a child by being with a child and responding to a child," writes Carol Hillman in her Exchange book, Teaching Four-Year-Olds.  Hillman poses these questions for a teacher to ask:

• How do you show children that you value listening to them?
   
• As you listen to children's conversations, are you discovering ideas that can be incorporated into the curriculum?
   
• Can you engage in the repetitive activities that young children love without becoming bored?
   
• Can you still get excited with the children about the first snowfall, the magic of a single flake on a child's nose?
   
• Is it beneath your dignity to wear a flowered hat if a child places it on your head?
   
• Do you do what has to be done knowing full well that there are times you may make a child angry?
   
• How will you make your classroom a stimulating learning environment?
   

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