Glen Education Brady Road 

Joy in Achievements

Lynne McCracken, Early Childhood Educator 

Many people experience moments of joy at their place of work each day. For some it might be hitting that deadline ahead of schedule, cleaning up the communal kitchen, for others it might be that satisfied feeling at the end of a rewarding week.

For me, I experience big and little moments of joy every day in the work that I do. Sometimes it’s personal joy and other times, I share it with my colleagues.

I feel joy when children have that ‘lightbulb’ moment. When they do something, I’ve been quietly encouraging them to do or try, like climbing a tree or swinging themselves on the swing, Maybe even completing that puzzle or even searching for that missing puzzle piece and then finding it! Now that’s a very joyous moment for us all.

It’s very rewarding to see a child go up to someone and ask: “do you want to play with me?” helping children build that sense of security and establish a relationship with peers. 

When I see children tidying up and picking up a piece of rubbish blowing around the garden and telling me ‘we don’t want this to blow into ocean and hurt the animals, do we Lynne”, that is always a very joyful comment to hear and action to see. It shows that young children are capable of becoming socially responsible and are also capable of respecting their environment.

I also have a very full heart when I have those children in the palm of my hand as they eagerly await me to turn the page so we can all find out what happens to the child who crashed his spaceship and befriended an alien on the moon. Those little faces with such wonder in their eyes... priceless!

It’s also a joyful moment when our colleagues and our families that we work with so closely every day, acknowledge the hard work we do every day.