Thank You!

I would like to take a moment and thank all of the wonderful colleagues I have met during my first online course through Walden University. They have all been generous in sharing their ideas, knowledge, and experiences relating both to their personal and professional lives. They have enriched and widened my view of the field of early childhood education through our online discussions and blogs. I will forever grateful for the valuable resource they have become. I would never have learned so much if I had been learning alone.

I would like to extend a special thank you to the members of my most recent discussion group, Amanda, Nicole, Vanda, Kelly, and Artrianna. I looked forward to reading your posts each week and enjoyed our discussions. 

I would also like to thank my colleagues whose blogs I found to be informational and inspiring, and who provided positive feedback and encouragement on my blog, especially, Amanda, Nicole, Artrianna, Candice, Amanda, Stacey, and Arielle. 

I enjoyed this journey with all of you and learned a lot!

Here are a few more quotes that I would like to share with my colleagues.

"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you."
B.B. King

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."

John Quincy Adams

"The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change."

Carl Rogers

Ethical Ideals

The following ideals are contained in the NAEYC and DEC codes of ethics. They are meaningful to me because they are directly related to children and families. At this point in my career, children and families are the groups that I have direct contact with on a daily basis. They are the reason I go to work every day. They are the fuel for the passion I have for my profession. I take these ideals very seriously and try to put them into practice each day. Teaching children is what I was born to do. Helping parents to support their children is interrelated to my life’s work and is just as important as teaching is to me.

·         To create and maintain safe and healthy settings that foster children’s social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development and that respect their dignity and their contributions. (NAEYC, 2005).

·         To use assessment instruments and strategies that are appropriate for the children to be assessed, that are used only for the purposes for which they were designed, and that have the potential to benefit children. (NAEYC, 2005).

·         To use assessment information to understand and support children’s development and learning, to support instruction, and to identify children who may need additional services. (NAEYC, 2005).

·         To develop relationships of mutual trust and create partnerships with the families we serve. (NAEYC, 2005).

·         To welcome all family members and encourage them to participate in the program. (NAEYC, 2005).

·         We shall use individually appropriate assessment strategies including multiple sources of information such as observations, interviews with significant caregivers, formal and informal assessments to determine children’s learning styles, strengths, and challenges. (DEC, 2000).

·         We shall build relationships with individual children and families while individualizing the curricula and learning environments to facilitate young children’s development and learning. (DEC, 2000).

Resources

NAEYC. (2005). Code of ethical conduct and statement of commitment. Retrieved  from

http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSETH05.pdf

The Division for Early Childhood. (2000). Code of ethics. Retrieved from

http://www.dec-sped.org/

Words of Inspiration and Motivation

“The most important thing is to enjoy children, to love them, be fair and just with them. If you do that, they’re pretty likely to come out all right.”

                                                                                                                                 Abigail Eliot, 1984

“One test of the correctness of educational procedure is the happiness of the child.”

                                                                                                                                  Maria Montessori

“We teachers can only help the work going on, as servants wait upon a master.”

                                                                                                                                   Maria Montessori

“Every day I go to work I look forward to it because I know the services that I am providing to children is to their benefit.”

                                                                                                                   Raymond Hernandez MS Ed

                                                                                                   Executive Director

                                                                                                     School of Early Childhood Education

University of Southern California

“I absolutely fell in love with three and four-year-olds. It was like the most joyful experience where I felt everything in me was being called upon to teach.”
                                                                                                                             Louise Dermin-Sparks
                                                                                                                                  Professor Emeritus
                                                                                                                         Pacific Oaks College, CA

Surrounded by Love

My Childhood Family Web

The photos above are of people with whom I shared very special relationships as a child and who continue to influence my life to this day.

My mom-My mother was an older mom. I was born when she was 43. This never affected her ability to be an involved and active mom. In the photo above, she was actually riding a skateboard as I rode my bike. She always participated in activities that I enjoyed and was involved as a volunteer at my school. She always let me know how proud she was of my accomplishments and supported me in anything I tried. As an adult, I feel that I reflect her caring nature and positive attitude. She was fearless, faithful and family oriented. I hope to share these qualities with my sons as they grow.

My dad-My dad was one of the hardest working and most generous people I have ever known. He traveled for his business and was often only home on the weekends. I am sure that he was often exhausted, but he never showed it. He always had time for me and accepted me for who I was. I could talk to him about anything, never fearing judgment. I try to carry on his legacy by helping others whenever I can.

My oldest sister, Anne-Anne was a teenager when I was growing up. She had her own friends, interests, and activities, yet she always included me. I even remember tagging along on a few of her dates. I wanted so much to be all grown up like her, and she never made me feel too young to be around. She made me feel included and loved. As adults, we still have a very close bond. Her grandson is the same age as my twin sons. We enjoy sharing stories about them and watching them grow up together.

My godmother, Margaret-Margaret, or as I called her, Margie, passed away when I was young. It was the first time I had ever lost someone I loved. Whenever I was with her, I was the center of her world and felt enveloped in her love.She sparked and fueled creativity in me. We were always doing some kind of project or production. In the photo above, she is painting my face before a show that we were going to put on for my family. I credit her with my artistic ability and creativity. I hope to instill these qualities in the children I have relationships with.

Here is a note that she wrote to my mom about me. I will cherish it always!

"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn."
                                                                                                                 -Benjamin Franklin

A Work of Art From the Heart

One of the students in my kindergarten class drew this for me when I was pregnant with my boys. I love the simplicity and detail that are both depicted in this drawing. I also love the sentiment. Even though my boys are two years old, this picture still hangs, prominently displayed, in my kitchen and always will!

This is one of my favorite children's books. I read it to my students at the beginning of each school year. It is a great story to use to open a discussion about feelings, especially about missing home during those first transitional weeks of school. We always do a follow-up activity and make hand prints to send home to each child's family. It is the beginning of a year long home-school connection which is an integral part of an effective and successful early childhood program. Parents are truly my partners in their children's education.

There is always something new to learn!

This is a photo of me with my son, James. You can see a bit of Peter's arm on the left. We were visiting a aviary in North Carolina this summer. It was the first time my boys had been so close to a bird, and they seem to have inherited their Mama's love of animals. It is magical to watch them discover the world around them. Everything is so new. They are learning new things everyday, and as I watch them learn, I learn more too! When they were about five months old, I posted the following thought on Facebook, and it is still true today. "As a teacher and now a mother, I always thought I would do the teaching. My boys have taught me so much in the first five months of their lives than I could ever have imagined and for that, I am forever grateful!"

Welcome

Welcome to my little corner of the world, my classroom. Yes, my classroom is actually on the corner of my school building. Magical things happen here while children play, interact and explore the world around them!