Words of Inspiration and Motivation

“Only when professionals understand culturally sensitive care and are in close communication with families can they know how to work toward positive outcomes for children’s identity, sense of belonging, and cultural competence.”          Gonzalez-Mena, J., 2001

"Know that being proactive is the single best thing that an educator can do to support children who have problem behavior. Being proactive means that you are acting in advance - before a problem occurs."                       Ann Turnbull

"I had, I think, a built in passion that it was important to make a real contribution to the world. To fix all the injustices that existed in the world and I wanted to do that through teaching" 
                                              Louise Derman-Sparks


"It's not all about you. You have to take your ego out of it and think about what is best for this child"
              Renatta M. Cooper

                                                  Personal Childhood Web

ME

My Parents: I believe I have the best parents in the whole wide world. As a child they encouraged and supported me, they still do today. They taught me and show me everyday what unconditional love is. 

Older Sister: My sister is 5 years older that me and I looked up to her in most everything. She was my role model growing up.

Older Brother (with his wife): My older brother is only 1 1/2 years older than me. He was one of my best friends growing up, still is today. He is a wonderful big brother who always looked out for me.

Twin brother (with his family): I am the middle child by 11 minutes! We were very close as children and still are to this day. I could always talk to my twin and I always had someone to play with.

Little Brother: He is the baby of the family :o) He is 2 yrs younger than me. I have such wonderful memories of playing with my brothers. We were a team and always had adventures.

I come from a very close family. My dad was in the Air Force and my mom was a stay at home mom for most of my childhood. I have such wonderful memories and had a wonderful childhood.  On Fridays we used to have popcorn sleepovers. We would all pull our blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals out into the living room in front of the t.v. and stay up playing, watching movies, and eating popcorn. We would watch till we couldn't keep our eyes open anymore. In the morning we would get our bowls of cereal and enjoy Saturday morning cartoons. My family supported me and encouraged me to do my best. My parents taught me that trying your best and  working hard you can accomplish most anything you put your mind to. 

                                                                       

Favorite books!

                    Books, books, books, we are a family that loves books!
 Here are some of our favorites.....

                                                    The Pout-Pout Fish 
                          By Deborah Diesen Pictures by Dan Hanna

                                                 The Pout-Pout Fish in the Big-Big Dark 
                                            By Deborah Diesen Pictures by Dan Hanna

                                           These are just a few of our favorite books to read over and over again. The picutures in all the books are just wonderful. They are filled with lots of things for children to look at and ask questions about. The story in both books are so fun to read. It is almost like you are singing the story for how nicely everything flows.

A quote that I love...

* "Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand"  --Albert Einstein

I think playing and imagination are vital for children and that is is important for parents and teachers to foster this. Children learn from play and using their imagination.  My children and I are always using our imagination. My daughter, who is three, and I were dropping off my son at school. We had walked him to his classroom and on our way back to the front of the school we spot an X on the ground. My three year old says "X marks the spot" in her best pirate voice. I was like woohoo she recognized her letter. I, in my best pirate voice, answered "Do you think there be treasure under the X!" I took out my imaginary shovel and we dug up the treasure. She picked up her ten gold coins and put them in her imaginary purse and we took our treasure out to the car. Through play and using our imagination I helped my daughter learn. We learned about letters and counting and we had a blast doing it!

Me at about 5 years old!

                                           Me as a little girl! I believe I was 5 years old.

HI :o)

My name is Brandie and I am starting this blog for my very first course in my Masters program! I have two children; a 7 yr old son and 3 yr old daughter. I have recently graduated Summa Cum Laude from Walden University with my Bachelor's Degree in Child Development infant/toddler and preschool.