November 7: Writing Prompt #311-Cheering section

Do you have a mentor? Tell us about him or her. Are you a mentor to someone else? Tell us what that relationship has added to your life.

I’ve had more than one mentor over the years, and they’ve all served very important places in my life, so I can’t give all the credit to just one.  I’ve had mentors in my faith, mentors in education, mentors at work, emotional mentors, and even parenting mentors.  With each stage of my life comes new mentors.  Right now, I would say I have found mentors in the college professor I am taking professional development classes from, the group of experienced managers and program administrators that I work with, and especially the lead caregivers in the classrooms.

These ladies (who are on the front line of our profession, so to speak) teach me new things every day about how to see children through the child’s mind and developmental level.  They model how to interact with them, how to use positive guidance effectively, how to provide for their needs, keep them safe, and teach them life skills at the same time, all while remaining incredibly patient and gentle. They are amazing! Even within my previous job, in which I was a teacher trainer, and my duty was mentoring and modeling for the caregivers, I learned most of what I modeled from observing the most successful teachers and their methods.  I was a lead caregiver when I entered this field, so I have that direct experience, but I worked with one, specific multi-aged group and had little experience with the other younger age groups, so I still had some things to learn, and believe me, you can read, take classes, and know all the facts about child development at the various ages and stages, but until you have had to handle a group of 8 infants, 14 toddlers, or 20 preschools with only one other caregiver in a small classroom for 8+ hours a day, you cannot truly understand how challenging it is. Early childhood providers are some of the most hardworking and nurturing people you will ever meet, and no matter where I go in this field, I always find there’s a very special caregiver (or two or three) who can teach me something new about how to meet the needs of the little ones in our care in an innovative and positive manners.