Early Childhood Reflection

“Recognizing that there were children who “puzzled” us meant that we also accepted that the children were making sense, even if we didn’t understand immediately” (Ballenger, 2009, p.5). The book emphasizes how is important for us as educators to listen to what children’s ideas and talk even when it doesn’t make sense to us at first. But the more we are asking questions, we will explore the other meaning and better understanding their thoughts. I feel that in early childhood services, many families and children are from different cultures and have different values. Their perspective may not be the same with ours. When we take time to listen to children, it shows we respect and interest in their thoughts. Children would feel value and be …show more content…
English is my second language so it takes longer for me to process the information. Sometimes, adults felt impatient when waiting for an answer. As the results I felt discourage to talk or share my feelings because I afraid that my question or answer were not valued. Children should be given opportunities to share their thoughts in different ways. I like how Ballenger suggests that children can be partner up with another person, especially a shy one. With one-to-one attention, children feel more comfortable to share their ideas in smaller group. Then they would be encouraged to share in bigger group. Just like in the classroom, teachers can support a shy child to have a buddy first to build on the child’s confident so that they feel comfortable asking questions at school. When working with families and children who speak another language at home, educators should be more sensitive to the needs of these children. Children talk and ask questions all the time. They might ask a silly questions and no sense at all to adults. And Ballenger (2009) concludes, “I might think they are making jokes or wasting time, or that they are confused or need help…. But it usually turns out that they are thinking in constructive ways” (p.