Role of Early Childhood Teacher in Promoting Children's Wellness

This article discusses the important role of early childhood teachers in promoting and enhancing children's wellness. It explores their responsibilities in creating a safe, healthy, and inclusive environment for children's growth and development. The article also highlights various teaching strategies and curriculum provisions that can contribute to children's overall well-being.

Early Childhood Education and Care

Early childhood education and care
The role of early childhood teacher in promoting and enhancing children
wellness
It can be said that one of the essential duties of early childhood teacher is to make and
manage the environment for learning. In relation to early childhood education, motive of the
teacher is to satisfy the physical, emotional, intellectual and social requirement of the children.
The early childhood teacher emphasizes on the basic needs of the children such as proper
nutrition, behavioral issues and also on the cleaning duties. The early childhood teacher has an
essential role in enhancing the experience of the children in their first year of the school (Black
et al., 2017). In this paper, the discussion will be made on the concept of early childhood teacher
role in boosting the children awareness.
It is the important role of the childhood teacher in effectively maintaining a nutritious,
healthy and safe environment for the children. The early childhood teacher is the one who has
the specialty in managing the young children from toddlers to the children of up to six years of
age. Their main role of the childhood teacher is to offer nursing and instruction in relation to
formal education. Also, they focus on creating a positive environment so that it could be easy to
enhance the children well being (Lewallen, Hunt, Potts‐Datema, Zaza & Giles, 2015).
The early childhood educators work in the kindergartens and in the daycare centers. In
this, the special facilities are offered to the young children that help to enhance their physical,
mental and emotional development. The early childhood teacher emphasizes on offering care,
safe, inclusive and clean environment for the infants and toddlers. They ensure the safety of the
children by examining and preventing the potential risks and health hazards (Oberle,
Domitrovich, Meyers & Weissberg, 2016).
Prevention is one of the effective forms of safety that helps to plan a hazard-free
classroom environment that assists in reducing the injuries. The early childhood teacher can
maintain the safety of the children by checking their classroom to ensure the different factors. In
the classroom they have the role to ensure that the electronic shocks are covered properly,
furniture has rounded edges, ceiling tiles are secure and the floors do not have any splinters or
cracks. One of the primary responsibilities of the early childhood teacher is to maintain a clean
environment by maintaining the good personal hygiene of the children. They teach the children
2

Early childhood education and care
to wash their hands before eating and also they assist them in the housekeeping duties. It can be
said that to keep the children healthy and safe is considered as the essential tasks of the early
childhood teacher. Health and safety are considered as the major concerns for childhood teachers
at the time of taking care of the children. It has been examined that to keep the children healthy
and safe, the childhood teacher emphasizes on the different factors such as car safety, dental
health, medication and also food safety. The teacher ensures that the toys, furniture and
equipment used by the children are cleaned and sanitized. It will help to create a safe
environment for the children (Shapiro et al., 2015).
Constant supervision is known as one of the essential parts that help to maintain the
safety of the classroom. In the childhood, the teacher is the one who guides and give direction to
children and they learn the basic habits from them. Food safety guidelines are also one of the
factors that are considered by the teachers to keep the kids healthy. The students acquire the food
regulations and safety standards in their early childhood education. They have in-depth
knowledge related to preparing the food which will help the young children to stay healthy. They
also focus on communicating with their so that they can be aware of the issues or the allergies
faced by the children (Taylor, Oberle, Durlak & Weissberg, 2017).
One of the roles of the early childhood teacher is to create the diet charts and plans as it is
necessary to maintain the nutritious of the children. The teachers focus on the diet plans in which
proper specification is given that is important for the children to take as it helps them to be
healthy and also it maintains their nutrition level. The early childhood teacher offers nutrition
education to the children so that it could be easy to maintain their nutrition. They emphasize on
maintaining growth and development also develop their eating habits by offering them sufficient
diet in the childcare centers (Shapiro et al., 2015).
It has been analyzed that the children listen to their teachers more in comparison to the
parents. The early childhood teacher teaches them to consume fresh fruits, cereals and vegetables
so that the daily nutrition requirements can be fulfilled. These roles are played by the early
childhood teacher and it has significance in the life of the children as it helps to maintain the well
being of the children (Hills, Dengel & Lubans, 2015).
3

Early childhood education and care
To promote and enhance the children wellness, it is essential for the early childhood
teacher to consider the skills and teaching strategies which will help in implementing a
nutritious, healthy and safe environment for the children. One of the latest teaching strategies
that can be considered is related to logo or symbol. It is the best strategy that should be used by
the teacher as it can help the children to visualize different things. By showing the different
pictures of fruits, vegetables, and the items can help the teachers to give information to the
student. It has been examined that students visualize things immediately which will help to boost
their skills and knowledge in relation to the different aspects such as nutrition and safe
environment (Dunst & Espe-Sherwindt, 2016).
Cooperative learning can also be the strategy that can help the teacher to give instruction
to the students in a proper manner. It has been noted that cooperative learning boosts the
interaction among the students and also they start engaging themselves in the activities given by
the teachers. It helps to create a positive relation with the students and also create a learning
community that values diversity. It is one of the methods that offer experiences in boosting good
learning skills and social skills. The early childhood teachers should make small groups of the
children as it will help in generating the interest of the students that led to boost the wellness of
the children (Domitrovich, Durlak, Staley & Weissberg, 2017).
In relation to maintaining a safe environment, the teachers should focus on showing them
animated movies that will boost their interest. The animated movies should be related to basic
security methods that should be present in the children so that they can secure themselves in
difficult situations. The movies can relate to healthy food habits and also the diet plan that should
be followed by the children to keep themselves healthy. By showing the children the animated
videos can assist in boosting the skills and knowledge of the students. This will also assist in
boosting their analytical thinking skills which are required by the children to grow (Bierman &
Motamedi, 2015).
It is the role of the early childhood teacher to teach younger children about their dental
hygiene as it is important to promote their healthy habits. It could be a normal process for the
children to brush their teeth and also there are many children who ignore to brush their teeth on a
regular basis. So, to promote this healthy habit, it is necessary for the early childhood teacher to
make it a fun activity for the children and it can be done by offering electric or musical
4

Early childhood education and care
toothbrushes at school. The teachers should emphasize on planning the exciting lessons,
activities, and songs that will boost the healthy dental hygiene routines of the children. This can
be considered as one of the effective skill or the teaching strategy that can boost the healthy habit
of the children (Faupel, Herrick & Sharp, 2017).
The early childhood teachers should also take the children on the field trip as it will help
them to gain knowledge of the fruits and vegetables. By showing them the teachers can explain
the importance of eating the healthy diet that will enhance the wellness among the children. The
trip visit can create interest of the children towards different fruits and vegetable and by seeing
they can boost the knowledge in the education sector as well. Therefore, it can be stated that
these are the skills and teaching strategies that are required to implement a nutritious, healthy and
safe environment for the children. These teaching skills can also help in bringing improvisation
in the behavior of the children by elaborating and demonstrating the best practices for them
(Britto et al., 2017).
Learning environment and curriculum provision play an essential role in promoting and
enhancing children wellness. The school has an essential role in the lives of the student. The
learning environment of the children should be friendly so that it could be easy to ensure
physical and emotional safety. The major role is played by the early childhood teacher in
creating a positive learning environment for the children (Morgan, Young, Smith & Lubans,
2016).
The early childhood teachers help to boost the learning by offering activities and
materials that the child finds interesting. It is important for the teachers to take create a fun
loving learning environment for the children as it will help in enhancing the wellness of the
children. The learning environment should be designed by the early childhood teacher by
listening to the voice of the student and by allowing them to explore the different things. The
students can learn and acquire new skills and techniques when they are set free or when their
stories are heard by their teachers (Jennings, 2015).
It has been observed that the children are inclined towards exploring their curiosities and
passions. The natural desire of the student is to learn and explore and that can be done by
emphasizing on the school setting. The teachers should focus on implementing the "moving"
5

Early childhood education and care
classrooms that will help to improve the skills of learning. The moving furniture should be
designed to boost the physical movement of the children which will assist in creating the active
environment for the children. By moving the furniture from place to place it could be easy for the
teacher to focus on exploring different aspects and also they create the learning process
interesting for the students. It is analyzed that when the children are only limited to a specified
area then they feel bored and less interested in learning new things. So, moving furniture can be
one of the best options that should be considered by the early childhood teacher as it will help in
creating a positive learning environment for the children (Pecora, Whittaker, Barth, Borja &
Vesneski, 2018).
Curriculum provision is also related to promoting and enhancing the children overall
wellness. It can be said that early childhood teacher should emphasize on adding physical
education in the curriculum as it is important for the development of the children. The
curriculum should be designed to encourage learning. It can be considered as the best way that
can help the children in developing the ideas and concepts in their young age which will help to
boost their skills. Learning is considered as the process that is built on the basis of the
foundational understandings. Therefore, it can be said that the Curriculum should consist of the
skills and factual understandings that can help in boosting the interest of the children towards the
activities and studies. The early childhood teacher should design the curriculum by considering
the interest area of the children which will enhance the wellness of the children (Flook,
Goldberg, Pinger & Davidson, 2015).
It is concluded that early childhood teacher plays essential role in boosting the children
wellness. The teachers focus on creating a nutritious, healthy and safe environment for the
children. There are different teaching strategies that should be considered by them such as
Cooperative learning and also the animated movies are showed to generate interest of the
students. The early childhood teacher also has an important role in creating a positive learning
environment for the children and also emphasize on curriculum provision that helps to promote
and enhance the children's overall wellness.
6

Early childhood education and care
References
Bierman, K. L., & Motamedi, M. (2015). Social and emotional learning programs for preschool
children. Handbook of social and emotional learning: Research and practice, 135-151.
Black, M. M., Walker, S. P., Fernald, L. C., Andersen, C. T., DiGirolamo, A. M., Lu, C., ... &
Devercelli, A. E. (2017). Early childhood development coming of age: science through the
life course. The Lancet, 389(10064), 77-90.
Britto, P. R., Lye, S. J., Proulx, K., Yousafzai, A. K., Matthews, S. G., Vaivada, T., ... &
MacMillan, H. (2017). Nurturing care: promoting early childhood development. The
Lancet, 389(10), 91-102.
Domitrovich, C. E., Durlak, J. A., Staley, K. C., & Weissberg, R. P. (2017). Social‐emotional
competence: An essential factor for promoting positive adjustment and reducing risk in
school children. Child development, 88(2), 408-416.
Dunst, C. J., & Espe-Sherwindt, M. (2016). Family-centered practices in early childhood
intervention. In Handbook of early childhood special education (pp. 37-55). Springer,
Cham.
Faupel, A., Herrick, E., & Sharp, P. M. (2017). Anger Management: A Practical Guide for
Teachers. Routledge.
Flook, L., Goldberg, S. B., Pinger, L., & Davidson, R. J. (2015). Promoting prosocial behavior
and self-regulatory skills in preschool children through a mindfulness-based kindness
curriculum. Developmental psychology, 51(1), 44.
Hills, A. P., Dengel, D. R., & Lubans, D. R. (2015). Supporting public health priorities:
recommendations for physical education and physical activity promotion in
schools. Progress in cardiovascular diseases, 57(4), 368-374.
7

Early childhood education and care
Jennings, P. A. (2015). Early childhood teachers’ well-being, mindfulness, and self-compassion
in relation to classroom quality and attitudes towards challenging
students. Mindfulness, 6(4), 732-743.
Lewallen, T. C., Hunt, H., Potts‐Datema, W., Zaza, S., & Giles, W. (2015). The Whole School,
Whole Community, Whole Child model: a new approach for improving educational
attainment and healthy development for students. Journal of School Health, 85(11), 729-
739.
Morgan, P. J., Young, M. D., Smith, J. J., & Lubans, D. R. (2016). Targeted health behavior
interventions promoting physical activity: a conceptual model. Exercise and sport sciences
reviews, 44(2), 71-80.
Oberle, E., Domitrovich, C. E., Meyers, D. C., & Weissberg, R. P. (2016). Establishing systemic
social and emotional learning approaches in schools: A framework for schoolwide
implementation. Cambridge Journal of Education, 46(3), 277-297.
Pecora, P. J., Whittaker, J. K., Barth, R. P., Borja, S., & Vesneski, W. (2018). The child welfare
challenge: Policy, practice, and research. Routledge.
Shapiro, S. L., Lyons, K. E., Miller, R. C., Butler, B., Vieten, C., & Zelazo, P. D. (2015).
Contemplation in the classroom: A new direction for improving childhood
education. Educational Psychology Review, 27(1), 1-30.
Taylor, R. D., Oberle, E., Durlak, J. A., & Weissberg, R. P. (2017). Promoting positive youth
development through school‐based social and emotional learning interventions: A meta‐
analysis of follow‐up effects. Child development, 88(4), 1156-1171.
8