How I Work with Children in my Career

I am very pro-child and enjoy the company and teaching of children. I have worked with children since I was a teenager and have found a few trade secrets of my own. I find it helpful to keep children in a happy state of mind, encourage them to do well, see things from other people's points of view and discipline only when needed.

The first secret I would like to share is what I have done to keep a child happy. I try to never talk down to any child. When possible I get down to their height and speak face to face with them. I have found that this allows us to communicate on an even playing field. As we all know children are not happy all of the time and sometimes we need to cheer them up a bit. While working at a local Girl Scout camp I would see a home sick little girl and visit with her one on one at a picnic table to cheer her up.

I would listened to her concerns about why she was feeling sad and talk to her like a friend using excitement to tell her all about all the fun there was to come for the week. Getting them excited helped to change the sadness they were feeling. I would let their camp counselors know about the girl's worries or concerns so they could keep an eye on them and help them stay excited. Some times I would get a Peppermint Pattie out of the freezer for them. For some reason it always made them feel better. I would keep in touch all week with them and make sure they were still excited and they always were.

The positive effects of encouragement are important with everyone, but I feel this is especially important when working with children. Some children are not given enough encouragement and feel as if they can't do very well at many things. I have seen many times where a small amount of encouragement can help a child learn new things like crafting, singing or even working as a team with others.