ECLC = Kindness. Compassion. Engagement. Encouragement.

When families come for a tour of our ECLC, parents often remark that the children look so happy. I am always glad to hear this and can confirm that most of the time this is true. I can also share that this doesn’t happen by accident. Carefully planning an environment where children are happy is important. To be successful, we need to look at why the children are happy.   

In our ECLC, our children are happy because they feel safe and loved. They have formed positive relationships with their Educators and with their classmates. Children know that there are people around them who care for them, will protect them and will watch out for their best interest. And, Educators demonstrating care and love to children is contagious. Watching one young friend comfort another young friend with a hug, a pat on the back or a simple ‘are you ok?” is beautiful –and it means we are doing something right! Kindness and compassion are traits we all need to always keep in our pockets.

From these relationships, kids then feel safe to explore the world around them: try a new toy or learn and practice a new skill (have you ever watched a small person figure out how Legos® or bristle blocks fit together? It’s fascinating!). They also feel safe to experiment. What happens if I drop the acorn from the top of the slide? What happens if I mix red and blue paint? What happens if I spin around holding the tulle fabric? Educators are there to help engage and encourage the experiments. Our best learning is done through trial-and-error experiments. 

Of course, we all know that children are not happy all the time (neither are adults for that matter). There are certainly some (ok …many) moments where not everyone is happy.   Children have feelings, emotions, and experiences like the rest of us. Sometimes they are tired, sometimes mad, sometimes feelings get hurt. These are all normal, AND, with the caring and loving environment around them, we get through these feelings together. We can help children figure out what to do with their strong feelings and how to resolve them so that happiness returns.    

It is not as simple as it sounds; it happens over time. It happens as relationships strengthen and it happens as kids grow, day after day surrounded by people who love them!  The world around us can be big and filled with uncertainty. I’m glad that for a while, our kids can be embraced by our ECLC family and feel the love and warmth that we are have to offer.

L’Shalom,

Dina