Infant Room Lead Teacher

Educational background, credentials, and professional affiliations

• B.S. in Business Management from Minnesota State University, Mankato
• Minor in Family Consumer Science with an emphasis on Early Childhood Education
• Pre-Kindergarten Teaching License:  Minnesota Department of Education
• CPR and First-Aid Certified
• Trained in SIDS, Shaken Baby, and Safe Sleep
• National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) member since 2000.

Additional Experience

• Worked in the toddler room here at The Children's House for 12 years
• Worked in the preschool component at Golden Heart Child Care Center, North Mankato, MN
• Worked in the infant component at St. Paul Companies Corporate Child Care Center, St. Paul, MN

Inspirations:

There are so many reasons I work in early childhood education but one of the biggest reasons is to defend the importance of play as the best way for children to learn.  I want to provide the same environment I had as a child, where I could play for hours and engage in the very things that I was interested in, where adults nurtured and valued the interests I had, where I could run and explore and play outside, where there was no pressure for me to learn things that my brain wasn't ready to learn.  Over the years, I have learned that the time and energy that I give to helping children learn and grow, comes back to me in amazing rewards, such as the gift of perspective.  Every day the children remind me to view the world through a lens of wonder and excitement - to delight in the small things!  Some of my favorite words out of a child's mouth are "I wonder..."  Now that is where the love of learning begins and is my greatest aspiration in life - helping children to develop a love of learning!

Started at The Children's House Early Learning Center: 1999