Learning

So I have really been missing being in school so I decided to keep learning on my own in any way that I can. Mark and I got library cards to the public library and I have been going crazy on checking out books and learning as much as I can. I found an awesome book to help me put together new preschool plans and I have a good start for when I can actually get a preschool up and running. I also have tried to find more information about child development and it is hard to find. I have found a lot of good books on preschoolers and toddlers though and so I have been studying about them. I learned some pretty valuable things and here are just a few:

1. Every time a learning opportunity is taken away from a child (or what is called "rescuing") it takes away from a child's self-concept. Be patient and always let a child take as long as the need in order to figure out how to do something on their own.

2. When consequences are delivered with anger, children's brains go into "survival"mode rather than "learning" mode. If we are angry the children will not learn anything!

3. The best way to raise a chronically unhappy and poorly behaved child is to make a habit of giving them a lot of attention or pizazz when they are misbehaving.

4. If you parent really well during the first 3 years of life, chances are that your child will become a responsible teenager who is fun to be around.

5. Roughhousing is so good for children!! The result of roughhousing is that kids develop an image of their parents as people who are powerful and kind at the same time.

It is exciting to be able to learn new things now that I can use when I have my own children one day! I think I can be more confident going into having my own business (either daycare or preschool) by knowing what I know. Children are incredibly fascinating!