Brittany Hardeman, Toddler Co-Teacher at the Child Development Center, believes teaching self-confidence and kindness should be a part of the lesson plan.
On choosing childcare as her career
I had always felt drawn toward working with kids because I have a lot of patience and a very extroverted, exuberant personality and kids always react to it positively. So, I thought I would give it a try.
On what she loves about her job
When I can make them feel happy about themselves it warms my heart, because when I was younger, I was picked on a lot and I didn’t have a lot of teachers who helped affirm me and be that person who would say: ‘you are smart, you are intelligent, you are beautiful.’ I never had a teacher who was able to do that, so I didn’t have a lot of self-love when I was younger. One of the things I love to be able to instill in a child is self-love, because the world will kick them enough. They need to learn how to kick back.
On seeing children learn
At the center where I worked previously, we had some blocks that had colors in the middle and they were transparent so when you put them together, they make new colors. I had a red and blue block and asked one of the students to identify each color and he did. Then I put both colors together and asked what color I had, and he enthusiastically said, ‘Purple! Red and blue makes purple Miss Brittany!’ He was so happy.
On chatting with a 2-year-old
I was working with 2-year-olds and one of the kids in this class knew so many words for a 2-year-old. She and I had conversations like adults. I’ll ask her what her favorite food is and she’ll say asparagus. What child knows how to say the word asparagus and not mince their words? And she was so sure and so confident in herself. We have such good conversations.
On teaching kids compassion
There was one girl in my last class whose friends didn’t like playing with her because she was hyper, and the kids weren’t vibing with her. She told me nobody wanted to play with her, and she started crying. I said listen to me: You are beautiful, and you are super kind.’
I told the senior teachers, and we talked about how the kids were picking on her. During circle time, we sat down, and we told the kids that we heard they weren’t being nice to her. We talked to them about being kind to each other and playing with our friends and talking out our issues. At the end of the conversation, we asked, ‘Is there anything you want to say to her?’
All the friends [kids] said, ‘We’re sorry. I can share this with you, or I’ll play with you.’ And then they all gave her a big hug. My heart melted and I cried. When kids learn that’s great but when kids learn to love themselves and each other that is the thing that makes my emotions come out. I was able to walk her through that and help us come with a solution.
On what keeps her at St. Joe’s
I genuinely enjoy the company of the people I work with. Everybody adds something. At one of our training sessions, we were talking about how each one of us is a puzzle piece and if one of the puzzle pieces is an outlier, your whole puzzle will still be messed up. We all blend together to make St. Joe’s.
P.S. Interested in joining the St. Joe’s family? Apply to become a classroom teacher at our Child Development Center. https://bit.ly/3HJ2D5s
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