Lifetime Learning: Building with Blocks to Building a Business

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She Let Go

November 19, 2017

I am calm and cool, warm and not, at the same time. A brisk autumn walk, turned coldish at the end. The grandpa I passed wearing a leather Eagles jacket and black knit cap shivered and breathed into his cupped hand as we passed. “Cold,” he shuddered with eye contact when we shared the same sidewalk square for an instant. Moments before I had been sitting on the sidewalk, taking in the warm glow of the tree across the street. I felt the frigid pavement, but it was worth the sit. The phone stopped working just before I arrived here. Despite there being some percentage left in the teens, it suddenly stopped playing the podcast, stopped letting me add photos to my Google Keep memo of ideas and reflection, stopped acting as a camera. It just went black, and apparently shut down. I shoved the device in my pocket thinking this must have happened for a reason. I’m meant to enjoy the rest of my walk without distraction. I turned the corner and there in front of me was a magn

Learning Through Action

October 29, 2017

As an early childhood teacher, I often speak with families about the education and development of their young children. The one thing I always come back to, is the the value in playful authentic learning. People are motivated to learn, and learning happens best by actually participating in the activity. We don't teach babies to walk. We don't show them a powerpoint, read them the steps and tell them there will be a quiz on Friday. Of course this is laughable, but for some reason conventional wisdom says that this drive for human learning changes as we get older. Some people realize that this natural inclination to learn and grow doesn't go away with age. It's understood that if they want to do something, they just have to jump in and figure it out. Much like a child learning to walk, adults who want to learn new skills follow the same steps. First a learner notices a desire begin to grow within. Then she looks around to see if there is any help in watching othe

Just a thought...

July 18, 2017

While talking about Life with one of the children I work with today, we shared our current interests and how they make us feel. The children with whom I spend time inspire me on many levels, particularly this one child I saw today. Whenever I am around her, I am infused with ideas, inflated with energy, and optimistic about life... I am grateful. This is what I wrote down as we sat at her child-size table, me perched on a handmade stool, drawing and talking: "I like to take photographs because it lets me look at the world through a different eye. This is also why I love to work with children, because in order to be present with them, one needs to be willing to look at the world through a fresh lens called Childhood." Life is good :)

First things first: From Yuma to Philly- time to process it all!

July 18, 2017

Happy Tuesday! It's about a month and a half since I departed from my new sunny home of Yuma, AZ. I have been waiting, waiting for the right time to finally digest all that I learned over the last year, but it is only now that it all seems to be falling into place. Even during the school year, I continually had to push my brain away from processing in order to stay focused. I thought it would happen immediately after I handed in my keys on that last day of school. I closed the preschool door for the last time, said my final "see you laters," headed to the car with the last few classroom plants, and walked to the driver's side door to drive home. I planned to stop at my sister's to see the kids and celebrate the beginning of summer, hop in the shower, and head to the airport- my sweetie was coming!!!!!! But alas, the best laid plans... I locked the keys in the trunk. Apparently I was not meant to leave that parking lot so fast! With the help of two grea

Smith Memorial Playground

July 15, 2017

It's a new day and so far it's a great one! My Saturday has been filled with learning through play and by following the lead of Life. We spent the morning at the amazing play space, Smith Memorial Playground in Fairmount Park. Most everything about this place speaks to play- letting children explore at their own pace. The human-made play structures are set in nature- tall trees, green grass, logs for balancing, hills for rolling. The staff are passionate, enthusiasts of play- being silly with one another and the families visiting for the day. The woman who was seated at the top the infamous wooden slide, told me and the kiddos about a baby bird preparing to leave the nest just above our heads. She also pointed out a tree with a blue robin's egg within view. On our next trip down the slide, we mentioned that we thought the egg was gone since we couldn’t find it. She followed us down to check- indeed the blue egg was right where she expected, in the next tree

Baby steps

July 14, 2017

Do you ever have so many ideas, you don’t know where to start? And then you don’t? It's frustrating isn’t it? And a shame, because hidden within all those ideas, there are probably one or two that could change your life or the lives of someone you know…. I struggle with this daily. I am excited about life and passionate about the development of young children and their families. I get excited, I come up with ideas, and then I sit on them. I have many supportive family members, friends and employers (who often feel like family members and friends :-) who encourage me on a daily basis, and yet I sit. I’ve often come to a point in which I know I am letting others down. Why does this happen? Why do some humans (for I know I am not alone on this) get excited and then just let the excitement go? I am not sure about the answer (and part of me wants to delve in and start researching human nature and psychology and totally go off on another tangent… often the cause of n