In the late 1970s, as a little girl I would pretend to be a mother with child, and sometimes I would be the teacher.

My sister and I would play house. From time to time she and I would role play. She would be a cop and I would be a teacher. We would have a class room set up like school rooms. Sometimes we would switch, I would be a cop and she would be the teacher. My 7th and 8th grade teacher was one of the best teachers, ever. She was one of my role models. I really loved her as a teacher. I would sit in class wishing that I was just like her. She had a wonderful family. I would dream of being just like her. When I got a little older and I had gone to high school. I would dream being just like her. I loved high school. I enjoyed going out with my friends, and I would laugh and joke all the time. When I became a senior in high school I was having second thoughts about my career. I thought of becoming a police officer to help make the streets better and making the communities safer. When I graduated from high school I went to college and at the age of 21 I had a baby. The birth of my daughter, Diamond, was not in my plans. However, the class Child-development 101, helped me understand the baby that I just had, because I had no clue. Still, I decided to put my education on hold. Years went by, and life got a little rough for me. Even though it was hard for me, I found my way and made the best of my life at that time. I had to find a job and a place to live for my daughter and me. My mom and I didnt see eye to eye with each one another. There I was facing some hard times in a relationship that I was not happy with. So, I got a job working downtown Chicago as a clerk at the Jane Adams center. There, I met a guy. It was like a dream came true. We began to date. We would have conversation about what I wanted to do with my life, and we would talk about me going back to school. So I started back going to school. We got married and we began to have children together. By the time I had my third child I had stopped going to school, again. I wanted to start my own business, though. So, I did. I applied my passion to my home day care. I took a break from school to get my business a started.

A few years later my husband talked to me about going back to school, again. He pushed me to go back and finish what Id started. He told me that he always got my back. Not stopping this time, Im pushing for success. I have been in business for over 10 years and all my clients are teachers and police officers, and one doctor. I enrolled at Daley College, and I have met some wonderful teachers. I really admire Mrs. Hunter for her life experience and her knowledge as a leader. I, also, met Jennifer, another great teach. I have learned a lot from these two teachers. They just keep me going, pushing me to become a great teacher, someday. The purpose for me going to school is to prepare myself and to get knowledge, to educate myself, to exercise my mind, and to help my students by applying what I have learned. I have learned a lot, especially about child care, by observing and assessing children. Every child is different. Every child learns differently, and at a different paces. Jean Piaget talks about how he believed that children could not move forward in development until they had mastered the current stage of development. I like that Piaget discussed his own children. Im ready to teach language, math, science, art, physical, social/emotional, and cognitive development stages. Its important to take time to observe children in their natural habitat - home, school, and playground. Im still learning and Im ready to teach math, science, writing, readying, music language-literacy, health & safety nutrition, physical, cognitive, social, emotional family community relations and creative activities. When I started the Course 258: Principles and Practices of Pre-school Education, I was thinking to myself its going to be a long semester and a lot of work. As weeks went by I enjoyed the class. I enjoyed working on classroom arrangement I love arranging furniture. I didnt understand at first about development appropriate-means taking into account what is known about how young children develop and learn and matching that to content and strategies they encounter in early childhood programs. it seem that all the different terms are so much alike, so I hand to keep reading do get the understanding of the class. Working with themes was an exciting challenge. My theme was frogs. Creating activities

for children, using the frogs theme allowed me to develop a curriculum that was entertaining and educational. The curriculum that I developed included dramatic play, reading, math, music, and art. Each curriculum area incorporated the frogs theme. The 258 class, also, challenged my ability to use technology. During this course Ive developed a website, and uploaded material that can be viewed and used by other people. Course 107: Health, Safety, and Nutrition provided very practical information that I will use in my career as a childcare provider. This course helped me learn how to prepare nutritious meals, to create a safe environment, and how to educate children on healthy habits. 107 educated me on home safety. The checklist for parents is a tool that I will use, and a tool I can share with parents of children in my care. Safety planning for the home is doesnt require a lot of time, but it does require thought and planning. This course informed me of practical, everyday strategies to live a healthy lifestyle. For example, we learned that a brisk 30-minute walk can stimulate brain activity that can make you feel happier and more relaxed. This is helpful information, that I can use, and share with the children and their parents. In 107 we learned that if you cant pronounce the ingredients, you shouldnt eat it. Processed foods contain many additives and preservatives that are intended to keep food fresh. In fact, these preservatives can be harmful to our health. Particularly, sodium is a commonly used preservative. Sodium is also known to promote high blood pressure. By law, processed foods are allowed to contain 5% dirt, insect, hair, and bones. The food industrys standards allow companies to make statements that dont always mean what the consumer believes it means. For example, farm fresh does not mean the food arrived to the grocer the morning it was sold. Farm-raised does not mean the meat from the animal is the best quality. In fact, we learned that many farms feed the animals hormone-infused foods to promote growth, in a short time period. Many animals are fed diets high in corn, which promotes weight rapid weight gain.

Class 262: Child, Family, and Community Relations was instructive on the relationship between children, family, and environmental conditions. This class informed me of the many systemic levels that influence childhood development; the microsystem, the mesosystem, the ecosystem, and the macrosystem. Childrens microsystems include any immediate relationships or organizations they interact with (e.g. family of origin and caregivers). We have learned that nurturing caring relationships and environments promote growth and positive development. Class 149: Creating Activities for Young Children pushed the limits of my creative abilities. Im not a very good artist. So, I was always self-conscious about my drawings. However, my teacher was very supportive. She encouraged me to focus on the freedom of creating, not the limitations of my drawing ability. Once I overcame the fear of my limitations I became a better student, and I was able to engage the children I work with in more meaningful activities. I have learned to ask children questions that invite them to create. For example, 149 taught me to ask the children how they might change something to make it better. I learned to use the childrens interests to develop themes and ideas for activities. The assignments of the 149 course taught me to listen to the children and encourage their creativity. Class 201: Observation, Assessment, and Documentation to Support Young Children and Families was extremely challenging. One of the assignments was the development of a website on weeblie.com. This assignment was my introduction to website design, and documenting my observations. The assignment to design my own website was a great experience, because it challenged me to do something that was unfamiliar to me, which helped me grow. The website remains, and this is a great space for me to post material that I am passionate about; childcare. I enjoy observing childrens development and documenting these observations. In this course we, also, discussed the purpose of assessing children. Assessment is an opportunity to discover alternative approaches to meeting the educational and developmental needs of the children.

Class 109: Language and Literacy Development in Early Childhood helped me understand how language and literacy occurs in early childhood. We learned that when children are learning language it is because they have experienced interrelatedness of listening, speaking, writing, print, and reading. We learned that language and literacy skills can be developed through thoughtful, planned activities. Theorists, like John Dewey, were discussed for the contributions made to the field early childhood development. Dewey has informed us that children should have thematic-based education. These courses have reinforced the decision I made to pursue a career in education. I know that to achieve my goal of becoming a great educator, I must apply the principals of early childhood education as Ive been instructed. I want to provide children with the quality developmental education for longterm academic success. My role will be to help children in the key development domains language, physical, social, cognitive, emotional, and creativity. Teaching is a noble profession. Parents entrust educators with their childs development and safety. The significant responsibility of this role is a reward all its own.