Hayley Adair

Attentive Student with background caring for multiple children simultaneously. Positive role model focused on supporting development and teaching new skills. Certified in first aid and CPR with dedication to creating safe, inclusive and engaging learning environments for all children. Growing up being the big sister, cousin or neighbor left me being the go to babysitter for everyone and I grew up taking charge and stepping in to help others when needed I knew this profession was for me since I was 8.

• Harrietville Women's Institute Award
• Platinum Honor Society Award
• Subject Award for Families in Canada Class

• First Aid & CPR/AED level C - Red Cross Training - Achieved December 18, 2022

Being an Early Childhood Educator is important because I was always the babysitter, the big sister, or the big cousin when growing up. I grew up helping take care of the children around me since I could remember and always brought me such joy to do it and everyone also said I am a “baby whisperer”. I didn’t find out this was a profession until grade 8 I was going to be a photographer I thought because I could at least do cute newborn or family photos with that and still have that joy of seeing the young ones until someone told me about being an ECE and how you can work with children younger than school age which I knew I was interested in and knew that was my goal in life and I put myself to achieve this in life. This background experience will help me be a better ECE in the work field knowing and understanding the signs and emotions of children already and having so many years of experience working with families and children.

My top two qualities I think every ECE should have to have the best intentions and care for the children/families and staff are being loyal this will help build trust with my colleagues and the guardians of the children and make the environment feel stable and safe for the children. Secondly having a strong amount of patience to work with children and families is very important because I will have your limits tested and poked. I need to be able to stay calm always collected and professional. Those are my top two qualities I bring to the table that make me a great ECE.

To help all children feel included and value of belonging I support different learning styles for children in my care. I want to support hands-on, visual, tactile, multisensory learners and any other types we come along with. To make this goal I would have lots of pictures, posters, flashcards, sensory toys, fidget toys, math objects, letters and number cutouts, playdough, and art supplies. Having these different types of tools/materials will help children explore learning and what they like vs don’t like. Everyone learns differently and I want to make sure every child feels supported in how they want to learn and play.

When conflict arises with children, I encourage strong communication skills and talk it out using words, not violence or verbal putdowns. I also believe that a support area in the room for the children to go to when they are overstimulated or worked up and need a minute to let go of their negative emotions to stay in the green zone. Children usually only understand their own emotions, not others yet. Some only want a toy for themselves and haven’t learned the proper coping skills to figure out tough situations. They act out on violence, not the right way so I want to make sure we work on it all together about sharing, manners, and asking a teacher when they need help or stepping away when emotions get too high.

Working efficiently with others (strong teamwork skills) is the best leadership trait I bring to the table for being an ECE. Being an ECE means working alongside other people in your professional line and needing to work out strong plans for the center and the children. The partnership also comes with the job needing to work well with others and be a team to keep together the best classroom for the children to thrive in. Another great aspect of working well with people is working as a team with the children's parents to create the perfect plan to further develop their brains.

The Niagara YMCA program statement stood out to me with their goal C. They want to encourage children to interact and communicate positively to support their ability to self-regulate (YMCA, 2017) just like how I want to work on strong communication and helping children be able to talk their emotions out to self-regulate instead of using anger.

The only part that stood out to me in this statement was their play, exploration, and inquiry goal for the children. I wonder about one of their points in the goal being that they let the children decide when, where, what, and how they play (YMCA, 2017). Timing is a big thing in routines and if a child wants to play during feeding or nap time that’s a scheduling issue and could interfere with the other children attending. Also, however, they want meaning they would let the children just play, however, no boundaries. I would say in an interview “I read in your program statement… What might this look like at nap time?”

Resources:

YMCA. (2017, August). Child care program statement - ymcaofniagara.org. Program Statement YMCA of Niagara. http://www.ymcaofniagara.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/ProgramStatement-YMCA-of-Niagara.pdf