Professionalism - Growing Together



--> --> and My Journey to becoming an Un-know-it-all
 
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When I was a young mother, I thought I had this thing figured out. I knew the steps to discipline, getting children to eat, to not have a fit in Wal-Mart. Over the years my journey as a know-it-all has evolved greatly. I am becoming a humbler servant of my children, other children and other Moms. When talking to other Moms at their whit’s end I find myself listening way more and giving less advice. People often say to me that I must know it all as a mother of four, surely I must be a pro, but in all truth there has been far more 'unknowing' of what I thought I knew than knowing. There has also been a lot of learning that I have done from my children. Lessons in listening, waiting, patience, sensitivity, stooping down to eye level, believing, trusting and walking with these little ones... even, letting them lead.



Read
I have had 4 beautiful kids, 2 boys and 2 girls as well as many other children in my care as a childcare provider over the years. I have seen a full range of personalities, curiosity, tempers, tantrums, BIG emotions, shyness, inquisitiveness, sassiness, excitement, joy... lots of joy. No two kids are the same. I have seen a lot and yet I have certainly not seen it all. Here are some of the ways I stay on my game. I read parenting books. I'm a Christian and I typically read faith based advice books but lately I have realized in some areas it is truly best to listen thoroughly to an expert. I enjoy reading books pastors have written on parenting, I enjoy their stories but the truth is most of them are not experts on the topic of children or young children. They know their Bible and they know THEIR kids and grandkids and there is only so much that kind of advice can help a parent that is dealing with specifically challenging behaviour from their child. Rather Reading books written by people that are both parents and have dedicated their lives to the study of young children is invaluable.

My top reading Suggestion:

--> The Positive Discipline Books by Dr. Jane Nelson

http://www.positivediscipline.com/ 
Purchase here:
http://www.amazon.com/ 

Visit this archived post to read about how Positive Discipline helped our family:
Peacefully Parenting the Easily Overwhelmed Child 

Take Your Cues From the Pros
I rely heavily on Mother Goose Time for learning and assessment ques. Each section has learning objectives for the day and understanding those objectives and keeping them in mind during the activity is very helpful. MGT provides the tools and the how to have introducing new concepts to kids. Sometimes these concepts are even new to me. It focuses on the journey of learning rather than the rush to get there and produce an end result.
I also rely heavily on what I see working with my older kids in school or what the ECE Educators at our local Strong Start suggest. I take every chance to pick elementary school teachers’ brains for what they see working with kids they teach. Some gems that have come out of these suggestions are:
The Positive Discipline books (mentioned previously)

Ras Kids with ReadingA-Z for increasing literacy
https://www.raz-kids.com/ 


Mother Goose Time – Preschool Curriculum
http://www.mothergoosetime.com/






Hooked on Phonics
hookedonphonics.com 

Suggestions from Homeschool Mama’s
You wanna know who spends hours upon hours pouring of the latest resources for kids that can be easily used in the home or your home based daycare? Home School Mamas! My sister-in-law is a pro and I often ask her about resources she might suggest. During my brief stint as a homeschool Mama I discovered Come Sit By Me and Five in a Row. If you can get your hands on these curriculums they are a great addition to your resource library. Both of these curriculums use unit study format themed around books that can be found in your local library and many books that we have used through the unit Studies have become household favourites and include activities to do along with each activity. Because I love children’s literature, I find myself longing for good books and often use books suggested in these curriculums to add to what we already do with Mother Goose Time. What I especially love about Come Sit By Me is the books are Canadian. And every Canadian kid needs to experience their world exposure to books written through the beautiful lens of authors that live in the true north strong and free including rolling prairie landscape, the northern experience of walking to the post office in sub zero temperatures, and traipsing through west coast puddles in yellow rubber boots 

http://www.amazon.com/Five-Row-1/dp/1888659009/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437274431&sr=8-1&keywords=Five+in+a+row
http://www.mapletreepublications.ca/Pages/Come%20Sit%20By%20Me%20Vol%201.htm
http://hiphomeschoolingblog.com/
http://hiphomeschoolingblog.com/

Even Better MGT often published book suggestions to go along with their monthly themes.
http://www.mothergoosetime.com/user-resource/book-list/





Courses and Classes for Continued Growth
In BC Childcare is regulated by the province through a licensing-body. Because I have 4 children I choose to have only one or two children in my care besides my own so my facility is classified as License Not Required (LNR). I still have taken several courses and classes because they make me a better childcare provider they also just make me a better Mom.

Good Beginnings
In BC YMCA offers courses such as Good Beginnings which is a 30-hour course in how to set up licenses care facility, develop policies, procedures and programs suitable for work with young children and their families.
http://www.bcfcca.ca/ 
http://www.ccrr.bc.ca/

Nobody’s Perfect Parenting Program
Baby’s Best Chance 
http://communitybridge.ca/ 


--> Parenting the Positive Discipline Way – Based on the books mentioned previously this interactive course is put on by our local school District.
--> Get Out There!
Explore toddler and preschool classes, playgroups and interactions in your community. Some examples in our community include:
·      Strong Start
·      Co-op – at CCRR (Child Care Resource and Referral, a subsidiary of YMCA)
·      Local Library – A love of literacy starts at your local library. We attend the Mother Goose pre-school program at the library, which includes, crafts, snacks and circle time.
For those of us that have licensed childcare facilities there is a cap on how many kids can be in our care or even in our facility at a time. This prevents childcare workers and their kids from socializing with each other. I’m happier when I’m in community and I’m sure the kids are too. A change in company can be a great thing. Attending a local program at a group facility such as Strong Start or Co-op at CCRR provides a place for child care providers and the kids in their care to interact with each other.

The key thing is the kids we work with every day are continual growing and we, their care providers should be growing along with them. That is the biggest benchmark for success – are we happy, are we learning, are we growing.




Disclosure: I receive Mother Goose Time Curriculum free of charge for educational purposes in return for posting my honest experiences using the curriculum. Photos of children featured on my blog for review of Mother Goose Time are used with signed consent of the child's parents. I welcome any questions or concerns.





Comments

  1. aw, I missed this! Thanks for sharing my link! LOVE Raz kids, so glad we went with Heritage again this year so we get access to it again! I'd miss it like crazy!

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