Here Goes!
Ok so I am not a blogger, but I thought I would share some thoughts! I'm a mom and educator starting a business trying to reach young learners. When my first daughter was born I made the decision to take a year off from my teaching job to stay home with her. After that year was almost up, I realized I really liked my job as a mom and decided not to go back to the classroom. I found out that being an educator had really prepared me for life as a mom. I am my child's first teacher, after all. What teaching didn't prepare me for was keeping up with the laundry, cooking, cleaning, pure exhaustion, the meltdowns and tantrums (of the kids, not me...well occasionally me.) However, all of my time in graduate school, the classroom, and countless hours of professional development in education taught me everything I needed to know to prepare my child to become a lifelong learner. I set the goal that I would teach my child to read before she left preschool, and that her education would start in our home, with me. Fortunately I had a really eager, ideal subject. My oldest daughter was bright and loved "working." When she was 3, I took everything I had learned about teaching reading and ESL and adapted it to make it work for a younger learner. There are so many great resources out there, but since I already had so much knowledge, I was confident I would be able to succeed. I had taught literacy for years, first when teaching a bilingual 1st grade class, and later as a teacher of English as a Second Language. So by the time my child left preschool, she was reading. I'm taking the same journey now with my youngest daughter, who is 4. At first, she was NOT eager to sit and learn with me, so I had to become a lot more creative and incorporate more play into teaching academics to her, but it's working. She knows almost all her letters and sounds now, and it's almost time for her to start putting words together. She is writing letters on her own every chance she gets. A couple months back, I wasn't sure if it would happen for her any time soon. But in adapting to her needs and likes, I was able to reach her. I often hear preschool teachers say kids of this age don't show a desire to learn letters, sounds and numbers, which means they simply "aren't ready." I don't really buy into that. My philosophy is that every child can be ready if you give him or her the tools to succeed. Give children the foundation; make it fun, exciting and individualized, and the skills will emerge before your eyes. I believe that's true because I have seen it time and time again, in the classroom and in my own home. Kids simply need to feel successful to gain confidence, which will in turn make them more eager to learn. It's really that simple. So join me in my journey wherever it may take us.
