“The preschool …

“The preschool years are critical, they are the first and most fundamental period when children are noticing who they are… and I noticed the teachers had a hard time understanding what to do with these children to help them understand and find their identities…”

This is a quote by Louise-Derman Sparks, a professor at Pacific Oaks College in California as she is talking about how and why she became so passionate about the field of early childhood education and how she became passionate about teaching teachers and wanting to help them. This quote goes along with why I also have decided to want to teach teachers and help them to become better at what they do.

“Curriculum, sh…

“Curriculum, should help children make deeper and fuller understanding of their own experience.”

Dr. Lilian Kratz

“The challenge …

“The challenge for early childhood educators at all levels is to ensure that our practices reflect this current knowledge while also staying true to our principles and core values-a challenge but also an opportunity. Meeting this challenge will require greater agreement in the field about what constitutes effective curriculum and teaching strategies”

Sue Bredekamp, Ph.D.
Author of “Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood programs”

I like what Sue has to say about making sure we stay true to our principles and core values.  It is very tough to be a teacher and no matter what we have thrown at us, it is so imperative to stay true to ourselves, principles and core values as educators. There have been so many changes with curriculum over the years, as well so much controversy on state and federal levels.  I am certain there are still many more challenges ahead of us.  

My Childhood Web

 

My dad has always been an inspiration in my life! This is a picture of him and my step mom, with my 3 children. My mom and dad were separated by the time I was 3 or 4 and then divorced with in a few years after that. I have 2 older brothers and we did live with my dad the majority of the time as we were growing up, yet certainly had a relationship with my mom. Her picture is coming up next. My dad did everything and anything in his power to make sure that we had what we needed to grow up in an environment that was loving, supportive and educational. He worked many jobs and many hours to put 3 of us through a catholic school education Kindergarten – 12th grade. He had to make a lot of sacrifices for us in which he never thought twice about. I could go on for pages! The way in which my dad raised me continues to effect my life today because my husband and I have learned to make the same sacrifices for our children. We also have our 3 children in a catholic school, which is not cheap. We do not live in the best house or have the best cars because we choose to spend our money on something that is important to us. I learned that from my dad and will continue to make many sacrifices for my children as my dad did for me and my two brothers. My step-mom Carol, who is also pictured, also had a great influence on my life. She met my dad when i was just 6 years old. My dad and her were married when I was 11. Carol only had one child, a daughter and so you can imagine what it was like for her to move into a house with 3 children. She certainly sacrificed a lot to be with my dad. It was not always easy as we were growing up and trying to blend our families but she also worked very hard and made sacrifices alongside my dad so that, together, they could provide everything we all needed.

This is a picture of my mom and my daughter, Leia! She is a mom and everything that mom’s are.  Again, her and my dad separated and divorced when I was very young but she was still and instrumental part of my life.  I was not an easy child to deal with! Although I did not live with my mom on a full time basis while I was growing up, I still spent ample amount of time with my mom. She did all the mom things like take me to dance class and competitions, supporting me at all my cheerleader gigs and competitions and quickly became the team mom! I was the team captain and I am certain that I earned that leadership characteristic from my mom.  She is a natural leader.   As a grown up my mom has influenced my life by always supporting the decisions that I make, she has helped me when I have struggled with being a mom, and she has been there for me emotionally with out ever thinking twice.  Even now has a made “the crazy” decision to leave my very stable, well paid job, so that I could better take care of my children and finally finish my schooling- she never batted an eye at thinking I made the wrong decision.  She is my cheerleader and always will be!

 This is me and my two older brothers, clearly when we were just little ones 🙂  My brothers had a huge impact on my life as I was growing up.  They cared for me, nurtured me, taught me and supported me in ways that any sister would be so lucky to have growing up!  We went through a lot at young ages with having our parents divorced.  It was even more difficult when our dad re-married and we had to learn to welcome a new “mom” and a new sister into our lives.  My brothers have always been my best friends!  They always looked out for me and made sure I was safe and taken care of.  I would do anything for them and vice versa.  As a a grown up, I continue to be blessed to have amazing relationships with my brothers.  We don’t always see each other as much as I would like to but I know that if I ever needed anything, they are just a phone call away.  I am a better person today for having had these two amazing gentlemen in my life.

Is it Passion or Just Another Day at the Office?

I read an article tonight by Curt Rosengren.  He poses the question about whether or not passion for your job really matters.  At one point in my life I thought I was passionate about my job.  Well, I was passionate for most of it still when I left.  However, I knew that I had to be 100% invested to keep going and I was not.  

Rosengren states that for far too many people, work is just about getting up in the morning, going to work and then proceeding to pretend to be someone that you are not.  That is exactly what I was doing when I threw in the towel.  Day after day I was waking up and pretending that I was this big, corporate, business woman that was going to save the world.  I am a teacher, an educator a wife and a mom.  I do want to save the world, I just was at the wrong world.  The world I want to save involves teachers.  I want to help early childhood educators become passionate about what they are doing.  Far too many of them are also waking up in the morning and pretending to be someone who they are not (Rosengren 2010).  For many of them it is just a lack of training and coaching.  There are so many new curriculums and programs that are tossed around.  Sometimes teachers just need to find themselves again.  I want to help them do that.  That is my passion.

So, is Rosengren correct about what he says? Absolutely.  I agree with him 110% and I feel like he wrote his article with me in mind 🙂  

 

Does Having Passion For your Work Even Matter? Curt Rosenberg. 2010. Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2010/02/04/does-passion-for-… 4/27/2010

NAEYC

NAEYC is something that fuels my passion for Early Childhood Education.  I have been fortunate enough to go through the entire NAEYC accreditation process for two of my childcare centers that I was director of.  NAEYC stands for National Association and Education of Young Children.  It is an amazing organization that allows an ECE program to become the best possible program for children by meeting the absolute highest standards of learning for the early childhood field.  NAEYC affords a center/program that ability to better assess their children, program, families, teachers and curriculum.  Once accredited, a program continues to assess their program on a yearly basis to make sure that they are meeting all of standards set forth by NAEYC.

My Favorite Childhood Book…

Love You Forever by Robert Munsch is my absolute favorite children’s book, This book just says it all about life- being a child and then growing up to be a parent! This is a book that can be enjoyed by children of all ages and by parents of all ages!

Me and My Girl

I have 3 children- as seen in my blog photo but this is me and my princess! Leia is 6 years old and she is my mini me!

What was the one experience that completely changed your life? What happened? How did it change your life?

My career over the past 10 years recently changed my life.  For 10 years I was bogged down by 2 different corporate run childcare programs.  One was only for 2 years and the other for almost 8 years.  I was absolutely passionate about what I did- at one time.

Then I woke up and realized that I was part of something that was contradictory to what I truly believe in.  It is true that parents are going to pay money to send their child to an early learning program- they have to work, they don’t have much of a choice.  I was that person they brought their children to everyday.  I was the one who sold them the best program in the industry and told them all about the great perks we had to offer! Almost like selling a house but we are talking about children here people!  I am a teacher at heart, an educator, a passionate person! I am not a business person, nor a sales person, I do not have a finance background and frankly I really suck at plunging toilets.  That doesn’t even begin to sum up what I did everyday! Trust me- that is a blog for another day!

Are daycare/early childhood centers good places- ABSOLUTELY! If you find the right one, they absolutely are amazing places. The company I worked for was great! We truly wanted what was best for children.  The problem was that the state wants the director to be an educator and the company (all of the corporate companies) want the directors to have a business sense; rightfully so, they are running a business.  There needs to be a happy medium and no one has quite figured that out yet.  I figured it out- I couldn’t do it anymore.  

I never had enough time to spend with my teachers, ya know those people that are under appreciated, under paid and that work 50 plus hours a week- including at home! Yup, those ones!  I wanted so badly to be able to spend more time with them, teaching them, coaching them, training them and inspiring them to be the best teachers that they could be. I couldn’t do that though! I didn’t have the time and time is everything in that “world”!

So here I go again.  They do say the 3rd time is a charm, don’t they? For the third time I will attempt- but this time COMPLETE my Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education! I have become inspired to complete the program by focusing on Teaching Adults in the ECE field.  My career for the past 10 years changed my life.  It is allowing me to spend more time with my 3 precious children, finally kick myself in the bum and finish my Masters program and it has given me the courage to do what I truly want to do and that is to train teachers and make the childcare world a better place.  Thank you career- I owe you one!

First of Many…

Trying something new is always scary and challenging.  I am taking an ECE class and my first assignment was to create a blog.  I am excited as well because I have read so many blogs and have always wanted to start one.  Sometimes you just have to be forced in life to do the things you are passionate about…

This blog will have a primary focus on the fascinating world of Early childhood Education.  It will contain texts, links, videos, quotes and many other resources that I am learning about and wanting to share.  

Enjoy!!!