Friday, July 20, 2012

Quotes from Edward Zigler (Head Start)

So I have a built-in empathy for poor children, as well as a deep belief, based on my own life, that just because you're poor that doesn't mean you're inadequate.
~Edward Zigler~

They are our partners in this learning enterprise, and we have a special responsibility to use this knowledge — not to fill up journals, but to make the lives of these children better.
~Edward Zigler~

In the good years, work very hard to win everything that's possibly winnable. In the bad years, work just as hard to keep your losses to a minimum. There are good times, and there are bad times. But you have to stay in the game.
~Edward Zigler~

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Saturday, July 7, 2012

My passion.....


These are the things I am passionate about and the things that motivate me to be the best me I can be.

A Child's Artwork

This piece of artwork was done by my oldest son when he was three. I chose this because I remember the day he asked me for a piece of paper so he could practice writing his "e". He was so proud of what he had done, and I decided to keep it so as he gets older I can show him how far he has come.

Handprint on My Heart

"There are always so many of my fingerprints to see,
On the furniture and walls from sticky, grubby me,
But if you stop and think a while,
You'll see I'm growing fast,
Those little handprints will disappear,
You can't bring back the past.
So here's a small reminder,
To keep not throw away,
Of how those tiny hands once looked,
To make you smile one day."

~ Author Unknown~

As an educator I have had the pleasure of teaching all ages of children and seeing children from infancy to middle school age. Every child I have had the opportunity to work with has touched my heart in some way. There are so many stories, but at the end of the day in general being able to see a former student who is now a teenager but was three or four when I taught them still remember me touches my heart more than anything. 

I actually had the pleasure of having a student in my fifth grade class this past year that was in my pre-k class years ago. He was so excited that I was his teacher and bragged to the other students every chance he could get about the things that we did in my class when he was small. Those are the moments that make this all worth while.

Meaningful Quotes

I have a favorite quote and it speaks volumes about who I am I live to make a difference, and children are a part of my destiny:

“A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove...but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.”

Of course I can't stop at just one, so here are a few more that I think are great:
 

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children...to leave the world a better place...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”


“We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.”


It is so..... important to value children as people. If we can do that we can see their true worth.

Some of my favorite children's books.

I love, love, love this book. This is a great book to start the school year. It takes into consideration how most children feel when they have to leave home and go to school for the first time. My oldest starts Kindergarten this fall and we will definitely read this the night before school starts.

I could never talk about my favorite children's book and not mention Love, You Forever. We used to have a Mother's Day tea party at the preschool where I worked, and I read this book every year. By the end of the story I was crying, the mom's were crying, and other teachers walking by were crying. This is definitely an all time favorite. I actually have several copies of this book. Before I had my first child I bought this book for my personal book collection to have for my child. The author of this book (Robert Munsch) has so many great reads, and a lot of them he writes from personal experiences.