Working with undertrained Early Childhood Educators.
By The Horse
@TheHorse (218828)
Walnut Creek, California
February 23, 2023 11:18am CST
I have worked with littlies, either as a researcher or as a teacher/psychologist, for most of my life.
When I'm playing with my young charges, it might look to the casual observer that we're all just a having a good 'ol time.
But I always have specific developmental goals when I work with kids, and those goals are informed by (too) many years of education.
One of the things that sometimes bothers me is working with ECE teachers who are not well-trained. Some make kids cry unnecessarily, seem to have no goals, and give kids inappropriate toys to play with, included those blasted flashy battery-powered music things that fail to teach cause-and-effect, or anything else.
What led to this post is a pretty nuanced example of being aware of kids' needs, and of possible frustrations.
I like to make "stacky towers" out of "giant Legos" with my 1- and 2-year-olds right now. But the giant Legos at my friend's daycare have two different "brands" of giant Legos in the same generic plastic container. They do not fit into each other.
Rather than "get rid of " the less common ones with the "flat tops," I decided to help the kids learn to distinguish between them. If a kid tries to put one into the other, and it doesn't work, we all go "oh no!" put our hands to our temples, and laugh.
These blocks teach fine motor skills, teamwork, sharing, planning, color discrimination and labeling, etc. I find it interesting that the kids are able to discriminate between the flat top and "beveled"-top blacks at 1 1/2-years-old.
I wonder if the other teachers have even noticed that there are two different kinds of blocks in the container.
In any case, here is a photo of two "different" brands of blocks that I took yesterday. I'm sure we'll be playing with them again today.
23 people like this
17 responses
@marguicha (223001)
• Chile
23 Feb 23
I have noticed that several brands of toys don´t exactly fit. And many toys are not made for children at all! The last time I was driven crazy by a child was when I babysat Vicente, my grandson, while his mom was at work. I was about to smother him until I noticed that he did not play with his toys but rather studied them. He looked at them, he smelled and tasted them, he made them roll. After a while he was not interested in them any longer and while I tried to cook something for lunch, he crawled to the dining room table, probably to kill himself. So I washed all the fruit that I had around and gave them to him. He was happy. He had new toys. And I was happy. We would have lunch!
7 people like this
@marguicha (223001)
• Chile
23 Feb 23
@TheHorse Sometimes apples ans oranges are better than the expensive toys that end up in their ears and noses
7 people like this
@TheHorse (218828)
• Walnut Creek, California
23 Feb 23
@marguicha Yes, we try to have toys for littlies that are too big for random insertion and dining.
6 people like this
@jstory07 (139697)
• Roseburg, Oregon
23 Feb 23
My kids know the difference at an early age. I had two big bags of each. Over the years they all broke. My kids like the wooden blocks that my Dad made for them from different sizes he cut up left from when he build a garage. We sanded them and painted them in two different colors. They could match the sizes and colors together.
6 people like this
@much2say (55604)
• Los Angeles, California
23 Feb 23
We need more educators like you - seriously. You "craft" your teaching methods with a greater purpose to help the kids. It's not just "baby sitting" or finding a way to keep a kid simply occupied - these children will learn and develop with your guidance. Fortunate are the kids whose teachers don't see them just as a "job".
Yep - we had the similar but different blocks too. My kids sorted them out as the good quality ones and the cheap ones 
.
.3 people like this
@kaylachan (69681)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
23 Feb 23
I am sure they would much rather complain they don't get paid enough. Not all teachers are like that, but some teachers do feel that way.
4 people like this
@coolimrose (539)
• New Zealand
24 Feb 23
I think most, not all educators just don't care. It is more like a stable source of income. Most aren't passionate about the job. I feel they disregard the fact that teaching kids at that level are the biggest responsibility one can take. There is absolutely nothing that they aren't aware of like mismatched toys. I feel they just don't care.
I read your post twice and the love and passion you have clearly show.
Also, there is so much demand for early childhood educators that undertrained or unworthy ones also are getting employed. It is a sad situation but what to do?
1 person likes this
@xander6464 (44245)
• Wapello, Iowa
23 Feb 23
When Diaper Don gets back into office, all your troubles will be over. He's going to get rid of the child labor laws and put those kids to work in coal mines where they belong.
2 people like this
@xander6464 (44245)
• Wapello, Iowa
25 Feb 23
@TheHorse Yes. The poor ones. I guess you'll still be able to work with the rich ones because they won't be forced to work.
@RasmaSandra (79858)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
23 Feb 23
I think you would make an excellent trainer for these kinds of teachers if needed. I know at one time I took early childhood education at university but since I had no one who could help train me I gave up on that career,
2 people like this
@JamesHxstatic (29413)
• Eugene, Oregon
24 Feb 23
It's great that you are able to work with little kids that way. Early development is so important.
2 people like this
@LindaOHio (178568)
• United States
24 Feb 23
I doubt very much if the other teachers are as "on point" as you seem to be.
1 person likes this
@Kouponkaren (5503)
• United States
24 Feb 23
Wow, those are very close. I bet the little ones notice the difference better than the teachers do!
2 people like this
