Please tell me strategies to implement openmindedness to put in daily practice as an early childhood educator?

Question

Please tell me strategies to implement openmindedness to put in daily practice as an early childhood educator?

Answer 1

Try not to control everything but asserting your "power" on the children.  Allow discovery, by the children, that is unique to how THEY want to experience it.  When you say "open mindedness" I think of tuning into autonomy and intrinsic motivation instead of what you as a teacher deem to be "THE WAY."

Answer 2

If you're looking to encourage openmindedness in young children, there are many ways to do this.

The first thing that comes to mind is to have a "Try It" activity every day. Every day, have something new and unusual for the kids to try, whether it's a food, a game, a dance, a toy, a kind of music, or anything that you can think of.  Maybe have a "Try It" theme every weekso the kids can see a variety of different things to try that all fall into the same category... Like make one week new foods, another week could be new games, another week could be new music to listen to or instruments to play. Make it a circle activity or a small group activity and let the kids see what they're going to try (look at the food, the toy, a picture of kids playing the game, or the cover of the music CD, etc) and then ask them each to tell you what they think of it. Then everyone gets to Try It and then talk about it again afterwards and see how trying it may or may not have changed their opinion of it. Maybe on monday they thought celery with peanut butter would be "yucky" but decided after trying it that they like it, then on friday they decided that dried apricots might be yucky, but they want to try them first before they decide. Maybe at first they thought new games like hop scotch or moncala would be boring but by the end of the week they were readyt o be open to just about any new game idea.

Another idea would be to have a "Share Day" or "Favorites Day" where every kid brings in a favorite something to share with the other kids. This will be a good activity for helping the kids learn about sharing and telling about a favorite thing, and it will encourage the other children to be open to the interests and ideas of their peers, even if they are new to the children. Maybe one child likes collecting feathers. Maybe another kid thought feathers were just boring black and white things you find on the ground, but never saw a peacock feather or a canary feather or a robin feather before. Maybe one little boy takes dance lessons and wants to share a dance he knows with the class. Maybe the other boys in the class thought dancing was just for girls, but think differently after seeing how much fun it looks. Maybe the same will go for a little girl who takes martial arts.

Give it a try