Day: March 20, 2020

My career began as an accident at first.  My sister was working with school-aged children when she asked if I wanted to work at the YMCA here in Santa Clarita, CA. When I started working with the school-age children, the preschool also needed help.  My site director sent me to assist and I impressed the director so much with the way I cared for the children that she wanted me to work for her.  After working there, I wanted to explore preschool more and ended up working at another preschool for 13 years where I grew to love not only the kids but my staff I worked with as well.  It felt like family and to this day I would still do anything for the providers I worked with.  Now some of my kids have grown and are in high school.  A few weeks ago something happened that shook our town to its core.  Even though kids I have cared for are bigger now, they are still in my heart and I am #SaugusStrong.

My favorite activity during the school day is the children’s choice time and whenever they are exploring. At that point, I’m learning from them, seeing who they are as individuals.  My heart motivates me to work with children.  Kids are kind and caring and don’t pass judgement and everyday when a kid smiles at you its genuine, not forced.  When you see a child whose day would be crushed if you weren’t there it becomes the same when the kids aren’t there for me as well.

What I enjoy most about my job and educating children is seeing who they grow up to be.  They don’t remember you as they grow, but their parents do and knowing that you were a small building block to their development makes it the most rewarding to me.

In my free time I draw and write children’s stories and I self published as a downloadable book.  I also enjoy spending time with my son whom has been teaching me the fine aspects of jazz on his saxophone and clarinet.  I don’t play but I enjoy watching and listening to him, and I am in awe of his talent.

I would love to continue my education and I feel like I’m never going to stop.  As a teacher, you learn something new everyday.  I have participated in three CCEI courses thus far:  GUI103: Understanding Aggressive and Defiant Behaviors, CUR125: Loose Parts: Incorporating Found Objects and Open-Ended Materials into the Classroom, and CUR124: Active Learning Experiences in Early Childhood so far but I am still actively taking courses.  I plan on taking and completing as many trainings with CCEI as I can.  I would recommend CCEI to anyone because the courses are so detailed and the handouts allow me to have the information I learned after taking the course even to share with my students’ parents.  I am very thankful the current owner I work for provided training for us through CCEI.  The training offered truly helps to create a resource for staff to go to when there is information we need or want to learn something new that we haven’t seen or heard about and it helps make us more prepared for issues that might arise from day to day.

It is important for directors and program administrators to lead the way when it comes to incorporating self-care. “Burn out” is a huge issue in the education field and leads to high turnover rates among teachers. Encouraging staff members, children, and even parents to practice self-care can benefit everyone. That being said, being responsible for a program full of staff and students can be incredibly stressful, so it is just as important for directors and program administrators to practice self-care.

We highly recommend using a variety of methods to encourage self-care.  You can share articles, books, videos, or professional development courses, such as the one offered by CCEI (PROF100: Stress Management for Child Care Providers).  Once employees have had the chance to review the materials, hold discussions about the benefits that self-care would bring to the program, obstacles to the practice of self-care, and what you can do to support self-care practices. Some of the ways you can encourage and support self-care are:

• Consider guided meditation or yoga before opening for the day
• Incentivize teachers for self-care practices
• Provide bonuses or gifts that are self-care related
• Track self-care activities on a bulletin board on the staff lounge (here is a staff Self-Care Bingo to try)
• Share self-care reminders and strategies via social media or email
• When time allows offer a duty free lunch or recess time
• Encourage teachers to recognize the good in each other
• Give teachers the opportunity to journal about the school day for themselves not to be turned in or evaluated
• Handle issues with compassion

These are just a couple of suggestions of how directors and school administrators could support their staff and encourage their self-care practices. Again it is important to keep in mind that self-care is important for everyone, so take a moment to evaluate your self-care practices, and even consider encouraging the parents to do the same.

For the main article Self-Care, CLICK HERE

For the article What is Self-Care?, CLICK HERE

For the article How Can I Practice More Self-Care?, CLICK HERE

For the article How Can I Help My Students Practice Self-Care?, CLICK HERE

We’ve shown you just how important self-care is for teachers as it helps them cope with daily stressors, therefore, it is logical to assume that benefits of self-care would also be good for children. While self-care becomes increasingly more important as children begin attending school, practicing these activities from a young age can help children create positive, life-long habits. Here are some examples of activities teachers can do to promote self-care in the early learning environment:

• Kinesthetic brain breaks or movement (here is just one example)
• Healthy snacks and lunches – talk to children about how the foods are helping their bodies and minds
• Encourage children to drink water
• Celebrate small moments
• Recognize effort as well as success
• Take a walk outside
• Quiet time/Meditation
• Read aloud
• Let children acknowledge and talk about their feelings
• Reflective prompts
• Classroom yoga
• Sing and dance
• Provide opportunities to create

What do you do to help your students practice self-care? Tell us on Facebook!

For the main article Self-Care, CLICK HERE

For the article What is Self-Care?, CLICK HERE

For the article How Can I Practice More Self-Care?, CLICK HERE

For the article Director’s Corner – How Can I Support Self-Care in My Program?, CLICK HERE

It is important to understand that everyone has different lives with different needs and different schedules, so self-care will look different for everyone. Self-care is so much more than taking a bath or visiting a spa. While making time to pamper yourself does count, it may not be everyone’s cup of tea.  Here are some suggestions of ways you could include self-care into your daily routine:

• Going for a walk
• Exercising
• Listening to music
• Getting enough sleep
• Eating health food
• Meditation/Mindfulness
• Aromatherapy
• Journaling
• Reading
• Creating or engaging in a hobby
• Learning something new
• Doing a digital detox
• Saying “No”
• Practicing self-compassion
• Setting firm boundaries
• Taking 10 to 20 minutes a day to decompress
• Joining social groups or communities
• Asking for help
• Meeting new people
• Visiting friends and family
• Seeking a support system at work
• Taking professional development classes
• Decluttering
• Tidying up
• Volunteering

While all of these are great self-care activities, it is important to remember that this is just a snapshot as the possibilities are endless. The bolded ones are especially recommended for teachers. Check out some other ideas on our Pinterest page!

For the main article Self-Care, CLICK HERE

For the article What is Self-Care?, CLICK HERE

For the article How Can I Help My Students Practice Self-Care?, CLICK HERE

For the article Director’s Corner – How Can I Support Self-Care in My Program?, CLICK HERE