The idea of being an adult is quite scary; out on your own in the great, wild world. Additionally, imagine needing to support children on top of this. Though this may seem way out on the horizon, or maybe not even something interesting at all, childcare is a skill that is very important to learn and master. Fortunately, Briar Woods offers an early childhood class to help build these vital skills. 

At Briar Woods, Early Childhood Development is taught by Ms. Breinig and she has been preparing the Briar Woods students  for the arrival of the preschool students since the beginning of the school year.   

Ms. Breinig suggested this class for any student, saying: “I would highly recommend this class just to learn life skills. It gives you [the] basics about being around kids and their cognitive abilities and how they are socially emotional.”

This class is particularly important for those interested in becoming a teacher, especially for those who may want to work with young children. “It helps [the high school students] with teaching, and being able to instruct somebody on how to do something. It gives them the perspective of a teacher,” explained Ms. Breinig.

On October 11, the preschool opened its doors to kids ages three and up.  Children are dropped off in the morning and picked up at the end of the day. Preschool students learn skills necessary for kindergarten. “We can teach them how to write, how to read, different motor skills, like using their hands and their feet and dancing,” said an anonymous high school student enrolled in the class. “We also help them learn to make friends, share and socialize.” 

Once students have been Early Childhood development for two years, they able to teach their own lesson plans to the preschool students. “[They] have to plan the lesson and make sure the kids are participating and are [engaged], and then they evaluate [their success] at the end,” explained Ms. Breinig 

Moreover, a high school student in the Early Childhood Development class suggested anyone to join it,  “I would [recommend] this program, I think it’s really fun and I love it! It’s really fun to get to help all the kids and Ms. B is great. I [also] enjoy getting to work with the kids and getting to do an actual lesson plan, especially if you want to do something like that in the future.”