Early Childhood Theories and Practices for Everyday Life

Regression is rarely a pleasant experience, and when we do experience it, we may be inclined to shy away from dealing with it and moving through it. That said, regression is a vital part of our growing process as humans. It allows us to gain new understandings of the world around us, and to strengthen those that already exist. Understanding the reality of regression will allow for you to have an attitude of empathy and courage to work through it with the children in your life.

Emotional intelligence and resiliency tend to increase as time goes on. That said, a vital part of this process is the presence of an active and empathetic adult to support the child amidst their emotions. Every day we are given opportunities to support children and their emotions. In this Lecture, you'll explore through one of these daily opportunities to think through how you may support the emotional and overall development of the children in your life.

The ability to care is innate to us as sentient beings. That said, we don’t all care for the same things, we don’t all know the same ways to care, and most of all, we don’t all accept the same forms of care. This is where language plays a vital role in not only communicating our own care but understanding how each child invites us to care for them. Explore how you can use your language to deeply care for the children in your life.

Being able to see things from different perspectives isn’t as easy as we may think. Often we forget how much practice we as individuals need in order to do so. This ability allows us to interact with others in ways that allow for dialogue, sharing of ideas, and conflict resolution. Learn how to use your language to give perspectives to children, so that they can dialogue, share ideas, and resolve conflicts proactively.

When it comes to driving, knowing who has the right of way is very important. If there wasn't this understanding, accidents would be happening left and right. When it comes to our intentions and communicating them, pragmatics is the tool that helps us know the right of way. Pragmatics is the understanding of how language changes from one social setting to another. This involves turn-taking, staying on topic, and the body language we use.

Each individual has different things that they are okay with and not okay with. We can call these things "preferences". When it comes to playing, it's easy to assume that two children playing together may have the same preference of how they want to play, after all, they are playing together. That said, children are all unique, and even the closest of friends may very well have different ideas of how they wish to play. We as adults have the responsibility to create spaces for children to engage, understand, and even embrace these differences amongst them and our world at large. By doing so, they are able to build strong and deep relationships that are rooted in empathy and intention.

Unfortunately, there are many things in life that can become frustrations. Fortunately, though, we have the power to choose how we engage and work through those frustrations. When we are comfortable and competent in ourselves to engage with frustrations, we can then better work through frustrations with young children. Explore how you can utilize your own experience and knowledge of engaging with frustrations to support the children in your life! 

Over the course of one day, there are quite a few decisions that need to be made. At times we don’t always have the space to really think them through, and children often feel this way as well. That being said, when we slow down and step back, we'll notice that there is space to think through them, and extending this to children is one of the most powerful tools we have as adults. Explore how you can invite children to critically think as a way to engage with challenging moments.

In this day and age, there is so much going on that makes it difficult to take the time to explain things, especially to children. Though difficult, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do what we can to explain. One thing we rarely think about is how taking the time to explain something in the here and now, can actually benefit our relationships with young children in the future. Explore how you can take time to explain things to children, and hopefully equip them for the future.

If we’re honest, we don’t particularly like limitations. They often mean that we can’t do a certain thing, and when we’re told we can’t do something, that just makes us want to do it more. That said, limits and limitations are a reality of life, and usually, they are there to protect and help support our process of growth. When children are fluent in the language of limits, they then are able to confidently assess their own comfort level. This then helps them to know when they are ready to be challenged and ready to grow! Learn how to use limits, be more mindful in how to engage with them, and be intentional in communicating them to children.