Glen Education Bentleigh

Finding Joy Everyday

Karen Chisholm, Early Childhood Educator

Amelie Llorca, Early Childhood Teache 

Joy is the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; a keen pleasure; elation.

Joy is the expression of glad feelings; gaiety; a state of happiness in the moment.

As educators we aim to help children feel happy, but it’s the moments when children exhibit joy that for me are the most rewarding. Joy is infectious. When I see joy, I feel joy.

How do we see joy in children at kindergarten? 

We see it on their faces, in the sounds they make and in their body language.

This is what joy looks like at our kinder.

• Laughter when the block tower they were building falls down, with an unexpected but exhilarating effect.
• Free dancing to music children love.
• Walking in the rain under an umbrella.
• The squeal of thrill when taking a leap off a high plank to land on the crash mat.
• The wonder of seeing a rainbow in the sky.
• Accidently (on purpose) getting wet from splashing in a water tray.
• Watching colours change when they’re mixed.
• Laughing at a funny part in a book, and particularly when the reader has to say a funny word.
• Running wild around the yard, chasing friends.
• Digging big holes in the sandpit and sitting in them.
• The anticipation of being found playing hide and seek.
• Mastering coordination to swing by themselves. And going really high.
• Making potions in the mud kitchen, that are at the same time yucky but wonderful. 
• Finding bugs in the garden.
• Getting a bit dirty making mud puddles in the dirt patch.
• The realisation of having mastered a new skill.
• Getting lost in an idea, a creation or construction, and seeing it through.
• The thrill of riding the wooden trolley down the hill.
• Bouncing really high on the trampoline.

These are just some examples of joy we see every day. Providing opportunities for children to experience joy, or facilitating children’s joyous emotions is a pleasure and a JOY. 

I will start with a definition of Joy that resonates with me: Joy is a source or cause of delight (Merriam-Webster, 2023) mostly unexpected. It is a feeling that starts from within (touch your heart and soul) and becomes a smile on your face.

Joy Is what makes this job worthwhile and balance the pressure of administrative and compliance tasks.

I realised that moments of joy arise when they are the least expected, or when you truly let the children lead their learning. That is during free play.  Last Thursday brought me many moments of joy. I was observing children play in our pretend hospital corner when I noticed them trying to use a stethoscope, I came over to assist and became a patient. Piper listened to my heartbeat. When she finally heard it, her face became illuminated with a smile, I can hear it, she exclaimed. Her friends were automatically intrigued and wanted to listen too.

We had to share our discovery with our peers. Children have been sharing their knowledge of the human body, and what they wanted to find out. A few children wanted to know why the heart beats fast. In small groups we experimented; Children listen to their friend’s heartbeats at rest and after moving vigorously! Seeing their faces when they found a heartbeat was pure Joy. 

I encouraged the children to reflect on things they were lucky to have and be grateful to have in their life. Tom picked his drawing book and spent time alone deeply engaged in his drawing. His work demonstrated he grasped the concept of gratitude and deeply reflected on it. Encouraging and witnessing the emergence of those abilities and skills in children is a great source of Joy for me personally.

These stories are a great example of how joy is needed for us to be great educators, it drives the learning journey! It makes us better at what we do.