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Growth

A while back, a friend asked if I wrote all of the content on here. I responded, "yes, and any inconsistencies should be attributed to professional growth and not confusion".
This post is a testament to that, as I review what I wrote here, in the post "The Kid You Have".
While I maintain that the core theme is critical; loving children means honoring all of their gooey-nosed glory; I must make a public correction regarding the content.
I've recently been reading Threads of Thinking: Schemas and Young Children's Learning by Cathy Nutbrown, and it has made me realize that I missed something HUGE in the "undesirable" behavior detailed in that old entry. The child throwing balls (and shovels and everything else) outside the fence was exploring the "enclosure" schema, and I missed it because all I could see was the toys leaving the yard for the street!
Of course I'm not suggesting that childcare providers or parents should consider all of their materials disposable, but all of the learning taking place in scenarios such as these can not be discounted under the umbrella of "learning social skills" or "learning how to care for materials". While of course these are related and important concepts, missing the dimension of learning related to the concept of inside and outside, belonging and not belonging, was an oversight.
Brains don't develop piece by piece. Social-emotional skills and cognition and literacy and physical skills (the domains of Developmentally Appropriate Practice, for the uninitiated) are not individually potted plants, to be watered one at a time and grow accordingly. While variable, they are inextricably linked and the growth of one does not preclude growth of the rest. When professionals miss cues regarding one or more domains, they will address the wrong content. Incorporating all four domains of DAP into our interactions is critical, as life rarely separates them.
So how do I bounce back from that mistake? Unfortunately, that now-three year old is unlikely to read this. I am a huge believer in acting authentically with children, which includes semi-frequent apologies when I have made a mistake. However, even if I still had contact with this child, he has long forgotten the interaction. For now, I will call this a lesson for myself and bring it to future encounters.

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