As an Early Years teacher, I believe that two of the big tasks in pre-school are to help children make friends and become a part of the classroom community Children who feel part of the classroom community are more likely to build healthy relationships and have happy experiences. Furthermore, children who feel a sense of belonging will feel more relaxed, secure, and motivated, leading them to a succesful learning experience.

For this reason, on daily basis, I put all my effort into making my classroom a place where children feel invited, accepted, loved and a part of the group. To make this possible, I create enviroments and experiences that allow children to develop social skills and pride in who they are. By bringing their families, cultural backgrounds and interests into the core of the many activities we do, I try to highlight every child's uniqueness while playing, learning and feeling a part of the group.

The process of helping a child develop a connectiveness to the group and personal identity, is important and every little thing matters; a personalized 'good morning', a positive word before circle time, a display of their unique work and much more can be used to ensure this. Based on my experience, children are the best at appreciating the little things in life!

As Early Years teacher at ISC, I enjoy designing learning experiences that promote both personal identity and a sense of belonging. In  our classroom, for instance, we became superheroes and found out what makes each of us special. Later in the year, we visited all the countries that are meaningful to us and learned about their native animals, languages and flags. After that, we created a photo exposition with our favourite family holiday photos. Recently, we worked together to make a dinosaur habitat, a farm and a pirate ship.