The Role of Teachers

At Day Early Learning, we believe the foundation to a lifelong love of learning for a child begins with nurturing relationships with their teachers. Our teachers work to build a strong, trusting relationship with each child and develop partnerships with families.

Create caring classroom communities for learning

  • Establish warm and responsive relationships that allow each child to feel recognized, acknowledged and secure
  • Share decision making with children about classroom rules, planning activities and group celebrations
  • Stay attuned and responsive to the needs of all children
  • Plan and implement hands-on activities that develop positive self-esteem and social skills
  • Support children’s friendships by helping them learn to take turns, listen to one another and provide comfort when needed

Have deep understanding of child development and use observational knowledge to interpret, adjust, refine and redirect their practice

  • Actively seek out and apply ongoing evidence-based professional learning that increases understanding of child development and maintains a fresh perspective on learning in the early years
  • Conduct and document regular objective observations to track growth and development and individualize learning
  • Focus practice on identified learning outcomes, the ELI Six Essentials and the Indiana Early Learning Foundations
  • Participate in teaching and learning feedback loops

Implement instructional practices that are responsive to the evolving learning needs of children

  • Understand and utilize curricula, consistently extending learning to support growth and development and expand on curiosities
  • Consistently use daily observations, anecdotes and student work product to design differentiated instruction that supports, challenges and introduces the next developmental steps
  • Plan and implement a variety of experiences that promote learning across all developmental domains
  • Encourage children to think, reason, question and experiment; build skills for children to explain their thinking
  • Provide a balance between child-initiated and adult-initiated, active and quiet, fine-motor and large-motor, and indoor and outdoor activities
  • Promote sound health, safety and nutritional practices
  • Use a variety of media and technology to enrich the curriculum and extend learning

Design stimulating environments that enhance development and learning, responding to the needs, tendencies and interests of each child

  • Thoughtfully and purposefully select materials, spaces and processes to support children’s needs, interests and questions
  • Provide the space, time and support for children to make multiple attempts at success
  • Ensure active supervision of children at all times, interacting with children in all learning spaces (indoors and outdoors)
  • Create and utilize displays to recognize and enhance the children’s learning experience

Understand the effects of stress and adversity, implement tools and techniques to buffer the impact

  • Establish safe, nurturing and predictable classroom rhythms and routines
  • Model and incorporate components of well-being into daily routines
  • Facilitate children’s ability to identify feelings, describe problems, negotiate differences and generate solutions

Empower children to develop curiosities, initiative, risk-taking and a sense of accomplishment

  • Encourage conversation by asking open-ended questions
  • Use observations and assessments to scaffold classroom activities
  • Build leadership in children through individual decision making

Everyone in our Day Early Learning centers empowers children with essential skills.