Thursday, January 29, 2009
Introduce Yourself!
We're set to start! We had a very good, wide-ranging discussion at the first face-to-face, where we settled on a preliminary set of discussion topics to explore. We who attended the face-to-face got to introduce ourselves to each other, but there are quite a few individuals who will be joining this conversation on line who were not present at that meeting. In your reply to this subject heading, please introduce yourself, briefly describing your background, current position, how long you've been in the field, and anything else you want us to know about yourself.
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28 comments:
Hi: Sorry I missed everyone last night, I'm Debbie McDonald, I'm a home daycare provider in Brockton. I chose this field five years ago after the birth of my third child, I currently have six children in daycare and only one is full-time, so I have a different group of children everyday. I have three daughters, Ashley 15, Bryanna 7, and Zoe 5.
Debbie
Hi everyone, I was in attendance last night and had a great time. My name is Tina Souza, I have my own family day care in my home in Easton and have been doing it since 10/2000. I have three children, ages 18, 10 and 6. My oldest attends college at Norwich University in Vermont, CJ Major. I did have full enrollment in my day care, but with our economic times, layoffs trickled to affect the kids as well. Now it's part time and after school enrollment.
I look forward to many more discussions.
Tina
Greetings!
I guess this email confirms my attendance in this class!!! I just found out about it & am happy to be included. My name is Pat Policastro, I am a home visitor with Cape Cod Child Developments Family Child Care System. Prior to this position I had a family child care program for 12 years. I have 3 daughters, 19, 16, & 12. I have been in the field of human services in many capacities for the past 30 years (just passed my 50th trip around the sun!!), the last 20 or so my focus has been on the early childhood arena. I have a Masters degree in Rehab & am a licensed counselor. I will only be participating on-line due to the distance of the class (I live on the Lower Cape)
so..nice to be here!!
Hi,
I was at the discussion---I'm Andrea Witherell, Project Connect Coordinator (CPC) in Attleboro. I am the mother of 4 children ages 25, 23, 21, 16. I closed my family child care business of 19 1/2 years last August, much of my input will be based upon my experiences with parents and children in my care. I'm looking forward to our discussions.
Andrea
Hi,
I am Abigail Marsters, Administrative Director of the Sharon Cooperative School in Sharon, MA. I have been working at the school for 13 years starting as a teacher. We serve 70 families of children aged 3 to 5. I have a senior at Skidmore College and a freshman at NYU both of whom attended the Sharon Alternative School which continues (after 31+ years) to serve kindergarten through fifth graders and incorporates outdoor education and regular parent volunteers in and out of the classroom. I raised my children here in Sharon because I was raised in Manhattan, and though I love NYC, I wanted them to have all the outdoors I never did and we have succeeded in that goal.
Glad to be a part of the group,
Abigail
Abigail Marsters
Administrative Director
Sharon Cooperative Nursery & Day School, Inc.
29 North Main Street
Sharon, MA 02067
Phone 781-784-2966
Fax 561-258-8253
scnds@me.com
www.sharoncoop.org
Hi, My name is Debbie Marchand, I will be involved in on-line discussion only. I am a family home daycare provider for 6, I currently have infants and toddlers. I have been involved with children for many years, through volunteering in the school system, being a Den mother for my son for 5 years and a Girl scout leader for my daughter for 4 years and also teaching Sunday School. My children are ages 26 and 21, I also have a 5 year old grandson. I love working with children, watching them grow into strong, confident people. I am so glad to be involved in this study, it so very important to enjoy nature and everything it has to offer!
Hello everyone,
My name is Paula Martin. I graduated from URI in 1992 with a degree in HCF (human development and child/family studies.) Upon graduating, I worked in many capacities with the developmentally delayed population. When I felt myself approaching the burn-out point, I made a shift to child care and worked as a Lead Teacher in an infant/toddler program, while also filling in for preschool-age classrooms in a large day-care setting on the North Shore. My husband and I started a family while I worked in that field and I stayed with it through most of my third pregnancy. While pregnant with my third, we moved to Wrentham and I stayed home with my three children (now 11, 10, and 8.) I enrolled my older two children at Bearly Beginning preschool in Wrentham in the Fall of 2000. I appreciated the program and respected the way it was run so much, that after they graduated preschool and my youngest was old enough to be enrolled, I approached the own er and mentioned that I would love to teach in her program. I started teaching there in Sept. 2003 and six years later, I'm still teaching preschool at Bearly Beginning.
I'm looking forward to our on-line "chats!"
Paula Martin
Bearly Beginning
Hi my name is Vera Mykyta. I unfortunately had to miss the discussion last night but hope to attend the next face-to-face meeting. I am the School director for ECDC Nursery School in Walpole. Additionally, I teach online graduate classes for the University of Phoenix and occasionally as adjunct at Dean College. I have three grown sons – the youngest is in college at RIT and the older two are married and working. I’m looking forward to our discussions.
Vera
Hi Everyone,
I enjoyed meeting everyone that participated last night. I am looking forward to talking to others through this discussions about how to increase the interest in nature with both the children and parents that we serve.I have been a Preschool Teacher at the Bridgewater State College Children's Center for the past 20 years. Before that I was a Special Ed. Teacher at the Mayflower Child Care Rehabilitation Center in Plymouth for 7 years. I am also a '80 and '83 alumni of BSC. Bridgewater is my hometown and I currently reside in Abington and I have a 16 year old attending South Shore Reg. Voc. H.S. in Hanover. I am involved in the Old Colony Chapter Steering Committee of BAEYC as a Secretary and am a member of the Pride Coalition on campus as an advocate for GLBT students, falculty and staff. At my daughter's school, I am the Secretary of the Parent Association and on the School Council. In my spare time, I enjoy playing racquetball, horseback riding, walking my dog, going to the beach, antiquing/flea markets and bowling. I also volunteer at my church as a greeter and preschool teacher. Be careful in the snow-
Debbie Drago
Preschool Teacher
Bridgewater State College
Hi all.
I'm Elaine Coutu and I attended the discussion last night.
I'm a Child Development Instructor at Blue Hills Regional Technical School in Canton.I run an onsite preschool program (1/2 day, 4 days/week) which is the lab school for the students who are studying Early Education. The juniors and seniors alternate weeks in the preschool with me. The rest of the time I'm teaching theory classes.This is my 7th year at Blue Hills and it is the BEST job, a great combination! Before this and for many years, I was an Education Coordinator at a large child care agency and also a year as Edc Coor at Head Start. I've been a co-director of a small day care program, and a preschool and Kindergarten teacher for many years.
I live in Randolph. I have one adult son. I enjoy reading, movies, gardening, hiking, the beach, farmers markets...
Nice to meet you all,
Elaine
Greetings to all!
My name is Rosemary Murphy. I am the Lead Preschool teacher at Maples Little Angels Child Care Center in Wrentham. I have been at MLA since it opened 10 years ago. I graduated from BSC in 1975 with a degree in Elementary Education although my major prior to my senior year was in Special Ed. (thanks to Chapter 766). I taught at The Boston School serving Deaf and Aphasic Children (Aphasic Dept) in Randolph for 7 years before retiring to have my sons, Michael, 25, and Timothy, 22.
After an unsuccessful career in retail merchandizing, I went back to school to begin my new career and passion, early childhood education. I have taken courses at Fisher College towards an associate's degree in early childhood education and a number of graduate courses at Wheelock through HHCC/CPC.
I also spent two years teaching in the Norton school system in their integrated preschool program (Project Early) I have been teaching toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners for 16 years.
I also have a part-time job as a teacher/naturalist for Mass Audubon at Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary in Norfolk. I have been teaching at Stony Brook for 8 years inspiring preschoolers, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and their families to use their senses to explore the natural world around them. Last year I was asked to teach a community outreach program for preschoolers and their parents. It is called Turtle Trekkers. We meet once a month for songs, stories, games, and nature walks around the sanctuary.
I look forward to our discussions about how nature influences our lives.
Rosemary Murphy
Maples Little Angels, Wrentham, Lead Preschool Teacher
Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary, Norfolk, Teacher/Naturalist
Hi All,
My name is Susan Benson and I reside in North Easton where I have enjoyed operating a family child care for the last nineteen years. As the mother of four children, working at home has given me the best of both worlds, the opportunity to teach young children, while being with my own four throughout their childhood. After earning a M.ED. in Early Childhood at BSC, I thought it was a temporary career choice but now I can not imagine doing anything else.
In addition to time spent with my family, running a family child care has afforded me the wonderful and oh so important benefit of being able to go outside whenever I wish. The children and I spend as much time outside as possible (sometimes all day, weather permitting) in every season. Reading The Last Child in the Woods has reaffirmed my belief that children learn and live best by "doing" in a real and natural environment.
Enjoyed Tuesday night's discussion and look forward to reading your thoughts on this book.
Kind Regards,
Susan Benson
Learning Garden Child Care
Hi everyone,
My name is Sue Mello and I am currently the director of Noah's Ark Child Care Center in Fall River.
I have been in the field for 15 years, having started as a volunteer in a preschool classroom. I went on to teach kindergarten, then pre-k and settled into my present role as director of this program. We're a medium sized program that serves 50 families.
I have long believed that this generation of children is being short-changed by not having had the same opportunities I had as a child to explore and be part of the nature that surrounds us. As I began to read this book I was excited to have those feelings validated by this writer and the research to which he refers. I attended to face-to-face discussion and really enjoyed meeting everyone and listening to their thoughts and input. I'm still in the process of reading the book and am really looking forward to these discussions with everyone!
Sue Mello
Director, Noah's Ark
smello1352@aol.com
Hi, my name is Kristen Lind and I work at the Cape and Islands Resource and Referral Agency as the Training Coordinator. I am only participating in the online portion since I already attend several meetings or trainings at night during a typical work week.
I have two teenagers in high school and a wonderfully supportive husband.
My son is a senior in high school and is in Germany on a scholarship. My daughter is fourteen and whenever we start getting 'her teen attitude' we tell her to go take a hike or jog around our Yarmouth Port neighborhood. It does wonders for all of us if she's willing to get out and exercise her body rather than just her mouth. Yes, that was meant to make you laugh- I'm not really that mean but I am known to having a cutting wit at times.
I've spent the past twenty plus years in the early childhood profession so I started this career before becoming a mother. I've had most roles from being an infant/toddler teacher, preschool teacher to center director. I've worked in both for-profit and non-profit programs. At this point, I work with all adults so I miss the daily interactions with children.
My hobbies are baking, photography, camping and kayaking.
The discussions are wonderful and I look forward to reading more posts from such an experienced group.
Kristen Lind
Training Coordinator, Child Care Network
Hello To All,
My name is Euphemia Jones. I am the director at Start Right Start Bright in Brockton. I've worked here since it's establishment five years ago. I 've been in the field for thirteen years and worked as a teacher and lead teacher before my current position. I am a mother: two girls - 14 and almost 13, and like Kristen I do have those teen moments. My lovely husband of 17 years is currently working in West Africa. I hope to learn more for you all and will try to give my best also. Sorry I missed the first meeting.
Hello,
My name is Jane. I currently work at the Children's Museum In Easton as the Education Coordinator. I am a BSC alum and hold MA certificates in Early Ed and SpEd. I successfully ran a family child care business, have taught public school for 10 years and have directed summer camps for more than 20 years. I consider myself fortunate to have as a child summered on Cape Cod where I spent summer days outside.
I am happily married and living in Norton. We have two children who both enjoy the outdoors. My daughter asked where I was going last Tuesday night - I replied to a class about playing. She asked "Why Mom? You know you play in the pool, the snow, the backyard and the beach. So why do you have to go learn that again?"
In my free time I enjoy reading, gardening and cooking.
Jane Rotondi, Education Coordinator
The Children's Museum in Easton
www.childrensmuseumineaston.org
508.230.3789
"helping children and families become life-long learners"
Hello,
My name is Nancy Clark, and I have been the director of the Bridgewater State College Children’s Center for 17½ years. Before that I worked in a number of other early childhood programs as an administrator and as a preschool and kindergarten teacher. I grew up on a farm and spent much of my childhood outside with nature. I got my first Shetland pony at age 5, followed by several horses that I was responsible for feeding and caring for everyday, including cleaning out their stalls. My mother was our 4-H horse club leader and she regularly took us on all day horseback rides on bridle trails that are now housing developments. I also belonged to a 4-H sheep club and saw animals being born and dying at a young age. I often think about how different my childhood was from most children’s today. Those of you who attended Tuesday night’s meeting might remember me saying that I had the opportunity to hear Richard Louv speak at an early childhood conference in St. Louis in 2007, and I am excited about discussing his book with all of you.
Nancy Clark
Director
Bridgewater State College Children's Center
Burnell Campus School
Bridgewater, MA 02325
nclark@bridgew.edu
phone: 508-531-1244
fax: 508-531-6165
Hi my name is Michelle Packard I am the owner and director of The Children's Village in Mansfield. I have been in the child care field since 1994 and am currently finishing my degree at BSC. I live in North easton with my boyfriend of 12 years, his 14 year old son (so I have the teen moments too) and our 18 month old daughter. I love having my center an being able to have the best of both worlds working, teaching, and getting to spend days with my daughter. I grew up in brockton so I am one of the urban children Louv talks about but I have to say you make your own outdoors. I am looking forward to the discussions. Sorry I missed the first meeting.
Michelle L.Packard
Hi, My name is Debbie Lynn-Roy. I live in Abington and work at Dove's Nest in Rockland. I have one son, 20, in his second year at Bryant U in RI. I have been at Dove's Nest for 15 years and did home day care for four years before that. Plus I took two years of Child Dev. in high school. So it has been my life. I currently do not have a degree. I have, however, taken all but two child care courses needed for my degree and just need the English's and Math's. I am going to wait until my son completes his education, for financial reasons, until I continue mine. I am Director 2 certified and teach half day and am the director the other half. I enjoyed our discssion last Tues. and am looking fwd. to our sessions.
Hi my name is Maria McDonough. I am a Home Daycare Provider in Mansfield. I currently have 10 mo old twins, a 20 mo old and a 2 1/2 year old in my daycare. Along with my own younger ones, my 3 year old son and my 5 year old daughter. I also have another daughter who is 14. I have had my home daycare for almost 6 years. I babysat for several years and then became a nanny for awhile before my first daughter came along. Then I went into the Financial industry for the money I needed at the time but my passion has always been working with children. I love my job and am happy I am in the right situation to do what I love best. I was a kid who grew up where we were outside all day with no tv, video games or dvd players and lived a very happy life. I love the outdoors as do my kids although they do watch tv and play video games... I am looking forward to the ongoing discussions.
Hi everyone,
My name is Jennifer Medeiros i am a preschool teacher for Triumph Headstart. I graduated from Bridgewater State in 2004 with a bachelors degree in ECE and Psychology, i began working on my masters in ECE but decided that i wanted to change my major but haven't decided to what quite yet. I am a mother of a lovely almost 2 year old who loves the outdoors. I have had many experiences with children ranging ages 0-5. I have worked for Early intervention, another headstart, a family childcare system, a residential behavior high school. So i have a bit of varied input. I was unable to make it to Tuesday nights class due to having an ear infection but hope to make it to the next one and look forward to meeting everyone.
Jennifer Medeiros
Preschool Teacher/ Triumph Headstart
Hi my name is Linda I operate a daycare in Stoughton I've been a provider for 24 years and have kept myself very busy with it.
Hi all.
I am a little late with my intro, sorry about that.I was at the face-to-face and am very excited to be part od this group. I am currently a Kindergarten teacher at Noah's Ark Childcare Center in Fall River. I hold a BS. Ed in communication disorders from BSC, and an MS Ed in early childhood ed. from Wheelock. I am also curriculum co-ordinator for my center, and Assistant Director.
I am a mother of two, Abigail who is 5, and Brady who's 3. I am currently developing training workshops for Early Childhood educators and hope to someday teach at the college level.
Nice to be part of the group.
Amy
Noah's Ark
Hi everyone,
I really enjoyed the lively discussion the other night and look forward to many more interesting conversations. My name is Joanne Hogan and I have been teaching preschool at the Bridgewater State College Children's Center for the past 8 years. I received my BA from Assumption College and my M.Ed from BSC in 1994. My other teaching experiences included 2 campus based preschool programs and when my two girls were babies (they are 14 and 11 now) I operated my own child care business for six years. As a teacher and mom I am concerned with the lack of natural experiences that children have today and I know this discussion group will be very beneficial.
Hi everyone. My name is Dotti McDevitt. I was a family child care provider for 13 years while I brought up my 5 children and went to school. I currently have a BS from BSC in ECE and am working on my masters. I own/direct/ and am one of the lead teachers at A CHild's Wonderland PReschool in HArwich. We have 30 children ages 2.9 to 5. I am really looking forward to this group!
Hello my name is Kathy Hallett. I was unable to make the change to the Tuesday night face to face meeting. I am the Director and owner of Bearly Beginning Nursery School located in Wrentham. The program was established in 1990, running morning and afternoon classes for 3, 4 and 5 year olds. Although, we face new changes, by reducing our programs to just mornings, we also extended our program hours to accommodate the parent. My team teacher and I enjoy working with the children and find each day enjoyable and heartwarming.
Hello everyone!
My name is Eileen Estudante and I am a lead teacher at the Bridgewater State College Children’s Center. I was there at the first face to face meeting and probably the best way to remember me would be my long red hair. I enjoyed the discussion very much and I look forward to the next one. A little about me - well, I graduated from Bridgewater in 1990 with a Bachelors in Early Childhood Education and I have been employed by BSC for the last 10 years. In addition to working full time for the college, I am a proud mom of a ten year old son. My son and I live near the ocean in the small town of Mattapoisett where I (now he) have spent many years exploring the tidal pools near our home. In addition to my career at the Children’s Center, I enjoy volunteering and giving back to my community through service. Currently I serve on the board of managers for the Mattapoisett YMCA – another group which supports our children’s relationship and union with nature! I am looking forward to these discussions and continuing to incorporate, develop, improve and nurture our children’s connection with the natural world.
L. Eileen Estudante
Lead Teacher
BSC Children's Center
(508) 531-1244
lestudante@bridgew.edu
Hi my name is Theresa Gormley. I am the owner and Director of Growth Unlimited PreSchool in Kingston Ma for the last 31 years. We are a private PreSchool that serves 70 families. My Undergrad is from U Mass Boston, my Grad work is from Wheelock in Parenting Education. I also teach Scuba Diving as a second career ( definitely an outdoor job)! Personally I have 2 daughters, 2 grandaughters. We lived on a horse farm in Plympton for many years.
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