Early Childhood Educator in Scarborough, Ontario

Before entering University, I spent a lot of time volunteering with children between the ages of 3 and 13. At the time, it was just a volunteer position that I was required to do for my high school qualifications. Even though this was the case, I learned one major aspect about myself. I discovered that I work really well with children, and not only do I work well with them, I found myself connecting with them with ease. Even though I was not a classroom teacher, those weekly experiences made me understand children better. It taught me how to engage children's natural curiosity and drive to learn in a fun and interactive manner. It was highly enjoyable and it was definitely rewarding. When I had finally entered university, I spent my four years studying Early Childhood Education at Ryerson. During these four years, I took part in four different placements/internships. I also had the opportunity to work at the Ryerson Early Learning Centre/RELC during my undergraduate years. I have had experience with working with children in a child care setting/RELC. It was primarily with Toddlers, however through RELC, I also gained experience with pre-school and school age children. I also worked with children with special needs (Autism, Cognitive Disabilities - communication, social and emotional skills functioning, and behaviour). During one of my placements, I was able to work with children living in high risk communities at the community location I was at. I also got to work with children in a summer camp setting, which included many indoor and outdoor learning experiences. Currently, I work as a supply staff, and I work between the different classrooms (Toddlers, Pre-School, and Kindergarten children). I have worked with children with special needs in past for one of my placements at a TDSB school . The children that I worked with had cognitive disabilities such as communication delay, as well as social and emotional and behaviour functioning. I often was asked to work closely with these children during my time there. I also planned and created unique activities that were based off of my daily observations of them. These observations included their actions, what they were doing, their interests and who they were playing with. This helped me engage them more effectively as it reflected something that they were interested in (example: cars, or things the were floating). During this entire experience, I also worked alongside the resource teacher, the ECE and the classroom teacher to ensure that my activities were appropriate for them and that they were also inclusive for all the children in the classroom. In addition to placement experiences, I had the chance to gain experience through my workplace. Many of my interactions with children with special needs were often one-on-one time because I was directed by the classroom teacher to help the child with a specific activity. These one-on-one experiences allowed me to utilize skills that I had learned in class, as well as from past experiences. I learned to connect with the child, and to adjust and adapt the activity situationally to encourage the child. When I was not working one-on-one with a particular child, I would find myself providing input to the classroom teachers about classroom arrangement, or activity ideas for the child with special needs and typically developing children. I learned that although some children benefit from one-on-one time, it is also very important to allow a child to experience learning with and amongst their peers, and not just from their teacher, or an adult.