Inspiration For the Day

"Be careful what you teach. It might interfere with what they are learning." -Magda Gerber.

This is a picture of me as a child.  I love this picture because it reminds me that I was in my children’s shoes at one time in my life.  If I can grow into what I am now from where I began, what will these incredible kids that I work with every day do?

“You won’t lag behind, because you have the speed.

You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead.

Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best.

Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.”

-Dr. Suess, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

Dr. Suess has a way with words that is second to none.  One children’s book that I have particularly fond memories of is “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” By Dr. Suess.  I had many favorites growing up, but this book was special to me because it was also one of my father’s favorites.  He was a pilot in the Air Force and was gone a lot.  On one particular trip, he took this book with him to read to his crew.



Dr. Suess books are very special to me.  Of course, I loved them growing up, but they are also favorites of mine currently because of their value in the infant classroom.  Dr. Suess books have a certain rhythm and flow to them and it is something that even a child under a year of age can pick up on.  The rhythms and patterns in these books open an infants mind to early math in a way that ordinary books can not.  I had a little boy in my room in 2011 that loved the books so much, that by the time he could crawl, we could begin saying the first few lines of one of the Dr. Suess books, and he would go find that very book in the classroom.  I tell this story over and over to different people as I tell them about what it is that I do. 



This picture shows the same child that loved the Dr. Suess books doing some layered ball art.  Over a period of about 3 weeks, we created these masterpieces by taping a piece of paper to a cookie sheet, adding paint and a ball, and letting the child play with the ball and paint.  With every roll of the ball, fun tracks were formed on the paper.  We used a different color paint and a different ball for each layer.  If you look at this picture, you can see that the purple layer looks as is it has hardly been touched.  This is because it was the first layer, and when we placed the cookie sheet in front of him, he literally freaked out.  He turned in his chair and started clawing to get away.  The first layer was not much of a success, so once we cleaned the cookie sheet, we placed it in the room for him to explore on his own terms.  After a week, he was ready to do the yellow layer without any hesitation.  It is moments like these, where I can help a child conquer a fear and turn it into fun and learning, that fuel my passion for the age group I work with in this wonderful field of early childhood development. 

Inspiringly Yours,

Rene