There are ways an early childhood educator can make a difference in children’s lives in a daycare setting. From a childhood educator, facial expressions, hand gestures, and tone are important when responding to a baby, infant, or young child. In a child care setting there are moments for a teacher to slow down when engaging children. Making time for communication, art therapy, and noticing the good things a child is doing. Listed below are seven ways to develop a child's self-esteem:
- Accepting them for who they are as individuals: One way to increase self-esteem in a child is to show them unconditional positive regard. Let children know that you care about them, accept them, and approve of them, no matter what.
- Positive praise/ regard for things that children are trying to do well. Be descriptive when you show them what you like about what they have done. For example, saying things like “You did a great job on your painting. I like the house with the window and the sun in the corner. Is that your tree beside the house?”
- Not being disrespectful to them in front of others. The daycare is an inclusive environment such that anything you say to one child is heard by all children. Being disrespect to one child can change the mood of the entire daycare and also how the child choose to respond to the teacher and the rest of the children in retaliation.
- Explaining the reasons behind the rules. Under certain circumstances and with some children, you can win a child’s trust if they understand why you are telling them not to do something. Rules can’t always be properly or thoroughly explained but giving the child a simple explanation that they can understand is better than no explanation.
- Respecting their feelings and decisions. Daycare rules should be universal and not include or exclude any one child. You can offer them choices when appropriate, then respect and support their choices. As long as the choices they make are reasonable and not harmful to anyone, their feelings and decisions should be respected.
- Providing them with opportunities to achieve competence. By adding math skills, like counting numbers, and writing skills, like learning how to write letters of the alphabet, children will become more aware and confident about the world around them. The daycare is also set up for them to provide them with as many experiences and activities to experience success i.e. field trips, day trips to the park, outdoor play, participation in daycare activities, etc.
- Include opportunities for children to learn about culturally specific skills. It is important to recognize that each child come from different background and culture. A child’s self-esteem increases when they are engaged in specific activities and events in their life. For example, for Indigenous children and children that come from different cultures, it is important to include Elders and community members into the daycare to help the daycare staff understand how and what to incorporate into the curriculum.
References
https://www.pbs.org/wholechild/parents/glad.html