Critical Affirmations

1. Everything that happens or could happen in the class-

the creative fortitude and gut instinct to make choices and

room is part of your job. Changing soiled clothes? Defi-

defend them, and the scientific understanding to adequately

nitely. Part of your job. Cooking? Yep. Part of your job. Clean-

reflect on them, and build your defenses, and make informed

ing? For sure. Part of your job. Getting down on your butt

choices in the future. You must see children as equals, and

and playing LEGOS? Of course. Part of your job. Following

recognize that, though they could live o of survival instincts

children around and picking up after them? Uh-huh. Part of

without you, they do require your guidance to come into

your job. Singing songs? Pretty much. Part of your job. Danc-

themselves more eciently by making the most out of their

ing like a fool? Undoubtedly. Part of your job. It doesnt mat-

childhood.

ter who normally does it. It doesnt matter if youre alone

with twenty children or there are four other teachers who

3. A teacher is not required for children to learn. This

could do it instead of you. Youre there. Neglecting to do it

might be hard to accept for some people. We like to think of

for any reason is neglecting your responsibilities as a care-

ourselves as important functions of the classroom. In truth,

giver. You can do it. You must. If youre planning on compar-

the desire and capability to learn exists inherently within chil-

ing and equating workloads, seek a career in a dierent field.

dren in spite of adult input, not because of it. An early childhood classroom could theoretically get by without any adults

2. You must be both artist and scientist. No other field

in it at all. Children also possess a natural desire for commu-

nity, built-in neurological mechanisms for conflict resolution,

quite blends art and science so seamlessly. You must have
www.progressivepreceptors.com

and built-in survival instincts that allow them to know their

Then, love & belonging needs can be met:

limits when they take risks.

4. A positive environment is required for children to

Example

Facilitations

Peers

DO allow children to play (even roughly) without

adult intervention, DONT separate two children for
any reason unless they are doing serious bodily harm
to one another.

Relationships

DO exhibit and engage in healthy relationships, both

in front of and with children, DONT engage in
toxicity, manipulation, gossiping, or bad-mouthing.

learn. Surprisingly, one broad disambiguation can fully define a positive environment, and that is this: a positive early
childhood education environment is one which meets the
needs of children. This sounds incredibly simple, but in reality there are a lot of complexities in meeting the needs of human beings, because they need to be met in the proper order to yield happy, healthy, and positive results. An environment that meets the needs of children is an environment that

Love

will elicit executive functioning, which provides children with

DO remind children they are loved, DONT act like

love is a reward.

the opportunity to soak in more critical information about the

Then, esteem needs can be met:

world around them.

Physiological needs must be met first:

Example

Example

Facilitations

Food

DO Let children eat when their hungry (even if its not

meal time), DONT use food as a reward for good
behavior.

Water

DO give children access to water at all times, DONT

ask children to wait for water.

Comfort

DO empathize with children if theyre uncomfortable

in the environment (weather, volume, etc.), DONT
tell children youre okay or to get over it.

Confidence

Facilitations
DO trust children to make decisions for themselves,
DONT hover around them or tell them their ideas
arent good, even if youre worried they may harm
themselves.

Accomplishment

DO praise children for their accomplishments,

DONT dole out rewards for good behavior (no
participation trophies).

Respect

DO show respect to children because you are equals,

DONT act like children must earn your respect first.

If all of these needs are met, it follows that ideally utilize

those frontal lobes which allow us to learn and conceptual-

Then, security needs can be met:

ize. This is called executive functioning and it comes as a

result of self-actualization. Those needs might look like this:

Example

Autonomy

Safety
Security

Facilitations
DO encourage to express ownership of their own
bodies, DONT touch children without permission
(this includes holding) unless theyre harming
themselves, property, or others.

Example
Morality

DO walk children through moral dilemmas, DONT

make children share or play with others if they dont
want to.

Problem
Solving

DO ask children questions that guide their solving of

complex problems, DONT solve problems for
children or remove conflicts (like putting children in
time-out).

Discernment

DO encourage children to ask questions about your

decisions, let them say no, and ask children about
theirs, DONT dismiss their curiosities or attempts to
gather date with because I said so.

DO comfort children when theyre upset, DONT

treat affection as if its a reward.
DO vocalize the fact that its your job to keep children
safe, DONT send mixed messages to children by
yelling at them or shaming them for any reason.

Facilitations

www.progressivepreceptors.com