Wear Your Superhero Capes With Pride
By: Shannon Wood / Early Childhood Education Program Chair, Ivy Tech Valparaiso Campus
My two children are college-age now, but I still vividly remember the first time dropping each of them off at an early learning program. I put on a brave face, telling them how much fun they’d have, and that their teachers were going to take good care of them, as I waved and walked away. But I was so nervous that I spent the day reminding myself to breathe!
Parents entrust early childhood educators with our most precious treasures. Early childhood educators are truly superheroes to the children and families they serve. They develop relationships, wipe tears (ok, maybe those tears were mine), make learning fun, and guide families with essential information about child development. My husband and I quickly felt as if we were co-raising our children with these amazing teachers. And we were so thankful! They always had the best advice, and never made us doubt our novice skills in parenting.
A skilled and knowledgeable teacher is one of the most important elements of high-quality early learning. How can we ensure that all families have the supportive, high-quality early learning experience that my family did? As a community, we need to ensure that we are providing opportunities for those who are interested in teaching our youngest children to obtain the best education. That’s where Ivy Tech comes in!
Ivy Tech in Valparaiso recently launched a new Early Childhood Education program with support from the Lilly Endowment, to provide education and training opportunities for early childhood educators, and aspiring early childhood educators, in the region. The goal is to ensure that our communities have well-prepared, knowledgeable, and skilled early childhood professionals to foster children’s optimal growth and development, support families, and in turn, support the economic health of our communities. Those who enter the field of early childhood education do so with their hearts wide open, eager to learn best practices and latest research in the field. Ivy Tech’s program blends theory with hands-on practice, emphasizing how children grow physically, emotionally, socially, and cognitively – and how educators can nurture that development through intentional, responsive care. We offer credit-bearing certificates and degrees, and non-credit bearing skills training as well. Professionals at any stage of their educational journey can jump in and deepen their knowledge.
As a new program, we’ve been grateful to be met with partnerships and support at every turn. First Things First has provided guidance and introductions to programs serving young children and families, which has helped the Ivy Tech program to develop field experience opportunities so students can put what they are learning into practice. Early learning programs across our service area, and beyond, have mentored our students and provided them opportunities to observe in their classrooms, facilitate read-alouds, and engage with the families they serve. They are providing invaluable examples of high-quality early learning. As one student said, “The program where I’m doing my field experience is on point!” We are so thankful for these opportunities for our students to see joyful, intentional early learning in practice.
So to those early childhood educators out there, wear your super hero capes with pride! You make it possible for the children in your care to reach their highest potential, and for their families to feel supported as they are learning too. For those looking to enter the field of early childhood education, come and see us at Ivy Tech! We look forward to learning and growing together, and are proud to be a part of a community that puts such a focus on “making Porter County the best place to be a baby.”