An Eyeopener

Hello my name is Latwana Rivers, I am from Saint Helena Island, SC. I am pursuing a career in early childhood. After doing an internship at a center for woman and children who were victims of domestic violence, I knew I wanted to work with children. I love everything about them, they are very curious and willing to learn. Children are the future and reaching them now while they are young is the best.

 I am a Site Director at a childcare facility and I love every minute of it. I always tell the other teachers to always come to work with a smile on their face no matter what they maybe going through. We as educators have to remember we have to treat all our children the way we would want them to treat us. We do not know what those children go through before they come into our classrooms, they could be victims of abuse, may not have eaten a hot meal, may have never met their parents, etc. Just treat them as your own, that's how I interact with all children that I meet. I understand that all children are different, but once you take the time out to get to know that child you will know what tactics work from the ones that do not, when interacting.

Working in this field has been an eyeopener for me, it makes me look at life differently, and I never take life for granted. Sometimes we do not realize how blessed we are, some children have never left the place where they were born. Some do not realize there is so much in the world to see. I remember talking to one of the children at the summer camp and he never been anywhere out of our county. The reason why is he lives with his grandmother, she does not drive, which limits him being able to travel.

After talking with him I told him this summer he will have the chance to travel outside of our county, we ended up taking the children to a theme park in another state. All I can remember is him thanking us. He had a wonderful experience not only was he able to visit another state he also got a chance to ride a roller coaster for the first time. This open my eyes and realize we take things for granted some people do not have the opportunities that many may have.

Lastly, I chose the picture below because it represents a family. Family is very important to me, and I feel it plays an important role in children's lives. In order to understand or relate to a child you should have a relationship with their family and keep them involve in their child's education. Everyone has their own idea of what a family is and that is fine. I think having some type of relationship with their family is the glue that connects the teacher to the child, it helps to have a better understanding of that child.