Engaging the Child in Meaningful Activities to Create a Complete Individual

The purpose of education is for students to learn more in engaging ways that benefit them
not only by increasing their base of knowledge, but in other ways as well, such as improving
their confidence, social skills, and relationships with peers and teachers. In the end, the goal of
education is to turn children into complete human beings, who are not just intelligent, but also
confident, social, well-rounded, creative, and motivated to succeed in the real world. It is
important for educators to write a philosophy of education because it makes it easier for them to
plan activities in their classroom based on what they believe will benefit their students.
Children learn best when they are engaged in hands-on activities because these activities
help children experience the material that they are learning first-hand. This relates to John
Deweys concept of learning by doing, which states that children learn best when they have
something to do, not just something to learn (Casper, 2010, p. 145). Children also learn
effectively when they are doing activities that involve some form of cooperation with other
students (Mooney, 2013, p. 16). These activities greatly improve students social skills and often
teach them to work with others to achieve a common goal. Lev Vygotsky stated the importance
of social development and he believed that social and cognitive development worked together
and built on one another (Mooney, 2013, p. 108).
An early childhood educator must take on the role as a teacher, but also as a guide for
children to the world around them. Friedrich Froebel stated that the teachers role is to help the
childs inner self engage with the outer world (Casper, 2010, p. 139). This is essential because
the teacher should provide experiences for the children that enrich their knowledge of the world
around them as they grow. I also think that early childhood educators should be observers, who

learn about each child individually and use these individual characteristics to help shape their
curriculum. This is another one of Deweys beliefs (Mooney, 2013, p. 19).
A positive learning environment should have lots of different hands-on activities that
provide the children the opportunity to play, learn, and explore the world around them. I also
think that the environment should change every day (for example, putting out different activities
every day), so that children are constantly learning something new and never get bored of what
they are doing. A positive learning environment should also include games for children to play.
Games are important because they help children learn to play by the rules and interact with
others while having fun at the same time. Games can also improve math, reading, writing,
decision making, and problem solving skills.
Meaningful parent involvement means that parents should be thoroughly involved in their
childs learning. If a parent is interested in what their child is learning, it will motivate the child
to want to learn more in order to please their parents. Parents should constantly give their
children praise when they have worked hard and give advice to the child when they need help.
Parents should also frequently check in with teachers to see how their child is doing
(academically and socially) in the class. These are all important aspects of parent involvement.
Overall, I think that teachers in early childhood education should actively engage
children in learning about the world around them because this will help children develop into
successful intelligent adults, who are ready to make a contribution to society. When I become a
teacher in the future, I will keep these goals in mind so that I can use them to shape my
curriculum. This way, I can make sure that the students are learning about the world and having
fun at the same time. If students have fun while learning, it makes them more eager to learn in
the future.

References
Casper, V., &Theilheimer, R. (2010).Early Childhood Education.New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Mooney, C. (n.d.). Maria Montessori. In Theories of Childhood (2nd ed., pp. 37-41). St. Paul,
MN.: Redleaf Press.
Mooney, C. G. (2013).An introduction to Dewey, Montesorri, Erikson, Piaget, & Vygotsky (2nd
ed.). St. Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.