When I was younger, I would play teacher in my basement, with my stuffed animals as my students. Teaching has always been present in my life, whether through a family member, or pretending to be one. Every day, I affirm to myself that I am in the right major. Ever since my junior year of high school, I knew what my major would be in college. I never really had to struggle choosing a major. If you’re a fellow Early Childhood Ed major, or even an education major, I hope you can relate to this article in some way.
When I tell people that I’m an education major, there seems to be two different responses: One typically is, “Ugh, I hate kids.” Or, “Oh, that’s typically an easy major." For me, I’ve never understood how a person can “hate” kids, especially since we were all kids at some point. I try to ignore their comment, because my major is based around working with children. I have found that it has been a common misconception that being an education major is easy. Like all majors, we work hard to achieve our end goal. Personally, my end goal is to become a teacher either in a preschool setting or a kindergarten class. Right now, I am in a classroom with ages one to two, and I absolutely love working there.
Being in my major, I find myself gravitate to the school supply section in any store. The best is when I give in to buying something. I love new coloring supplies; especially markers. I am the type of person who will buy a huge pack of markers just for myself. I like to categorize myself as a kid at heart; that is the reason why my major fits me so well. Working with a younger age group can be difficult at times, but also very rewarding. At a young age, kids are very impressionable and look for a role model.
One of my favorite education classes so far is my Introduction to Early Childhood Education class. The class focuses on the importance of play-based learning; in the class we get to play with various materials, such as Play-Doh or LEGOs. For Early Childhood Education, play-based learning is important for children, as play allows them to fully grow and develop. In my field experience, I get to see this type of learning in action. As mentioned above, since the little ones are impressionable, I often see them follow my example. One day in the class, I was at a water table full of bubbles with some students. I would pop the big bubbles and say “Pop!” after. Later on, I noticed one student do the same, and afterward, he had a huge smile on his face. This story is why I know I am in my major for a reason. Early Childhood Education is like a rollercoaster, but instead of ever going down, it keeps going up. I know there will be challenging times, but the rewarding times outweigh the challenge.
