I believe the purposes of education are to help the child get ready for their future education. Preschool teachers are a very important factor in a child’s life. We mold this child early in life to help them get ready for elementary school. Another purpose of education is to help them become responsible, and for them to be able to contribute to their community by working and being a friend.

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I believe that children learn best when they are taught under certain conditions and in certain ways. Some of these are, I believe children learn best when they are learning in a positive environment. Being negative and discouraging a student when they do not do something right, or not up to your expectations is very demeaning. This can really hurt a child and be something they never forget. Positive reinforcement and helping the child learn to do something the right way is definitely something I believe in. Another condition I believe children learn best in is when the setting is fit to their size. The chairs, sitting area, and bathrooms should all be their size. Another condition I feel children learn best in is routines. I feel routines are very important in a child’s life. Keeping the same routine every class day will help the child adapt to the surroundings better. 

The curriculum, all of the activities and experiences of my classroom should include certain “basics” that contribute to children’s social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development. These basics include, I really believe that play is one of the most important developments in a child. Play is very big in all of these areas of development. Play helps increase social development by playing with other children and learning how to share and get along. Play helps with the development intellectually by helping build fine motor skills. 

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Children learn best in an environment that promotes learning. Features of a good learning environment are, less screen time and more real-world time. I am a firm believer in less screen 

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time. So many kids nowadays are stuck behind screens for most of their day. Whether it be television, tablets, phone, or computer screens. I feel like long amounts of screen time is not good for a child’s learning. Spending more time doing hands on activities, playing outside, and with real toys is very good for a child’s learning development.

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            All children have certain needs that must be met if they are to grow and learn at their best. Some of these basic needs are providing a safe environment. Another basic need would be to provide a healthy environment and give them basic knowledge of how to be healthy. Another basic need would be to help them develop strong self-esteem.

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            I would meet these needs by, making sure they feel completely safe in their classroom. I would make sure that no bullying goes on anywhere. I would make sure these kids felt comfortable talking to me about anything by building a strong, healthy relationship with them. I would provide them with a healthy environment by teaching them about healthy eating such as “My Plate”, and daily exercise. To help them develop a strong self-esteem, I would praise them every time they did something the good and right way. When they are not doing the right thing, I would not degrade them and make them feel awful. I would lead them into a different direction to help them go down the right path to do better things.

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             A teacher should have certain qualities and believe in certain ways. Qualities I think are important for teaching are, to be patient. Patience is a big thing I try to work on every day. Being patient when a child is doing something wrong will help you and the child out in the long run. 

Also, dedication is a quality important in teachers. Teaching is a big and long job. Even when the school day is over you are still working on school stuff. Being dedicated to your job and children in your class is very important.

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Theorists I believe influence children and education today would be, Jean Piaget. His cognitive theory helps teachers understand how children understand and interact with the world. Also, Lev Vygotsky believed children learned actively and through hands on experiences, his social cultural theory suggested parents, caregivers, and peers were responsible for developing higher order functions.