The Boy Who Became an Early-Childhood Educator
Reflections, Memories, and Future Thoughts about Our Field
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Have you even seen a sensitive movie about families or children and right behind your eyes, you tear up with joy? Human beings touch my heart, especially in the education field. Still trying to find their way with each encounter, experience, and opportunity to play, children give me an immense feeling of this is life. Right at this moment of their brain growth and body growth, language formation and understanding, and social/emotional learning, children of today are making their way in our world. My true purpose in life is to see that growth and development and, in my little way, provide a conducive environment, offer encouragement verbally and nonverbally, and through my positive interactions give children the individual support that they need at that moment.
Unexpected interactions of life are so beautiful if you take the time to give 100 percent of your real self to the children, parents, and teachers you work with each day. I hope you see the deeper joy I have with my work, through the tiredness, frustration, and growth. When I am tired, I see that I have really worked a day worth living, and I gain satisfaction with each waking moment.
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About the Book
A male educator explores the joys of working with children in this inspirational account.
Manuel Kichi Wong shares his personal journal entries that consider the challenges and obstacles of being a male educator in a field dominated by women. Whether it’s cooking, cleaning, changing diapers, dealing with parents, or interacting with children, he does whatever it takes to get the job done.
Find out what it really means to pursue a career as an early-childhood educator. Wong discusses ways to
•apply different methods to help children learn;
• work with children in various settings, including at school and at home;
•balance the demands of your job and personal life; and
•communicate better with parents and fellow teachers.
He also provides candid stories about the questions a man fields when he is an early-childhood teacher. Life in this profession isn’t easy, but the joys of giving and of working and being with children make it all worthwhile.
About the Author
MANUEL KICHI WONG was born, raised, and educated in San Francisco, California. He is a college instructor, an early-childhood teacher, and a volunteer for family child-care providers and community groups. This book is an expansion of The Last Nine Months: Putting on My Last Diaper in Family Child Care.