How did KrK happen?

I worked at several centers around the Halifax area since I finished my ECE and even spent a year directing.  I then returned to full time practitioner status at another center as I just felt I was not ready to be a director.  My dream had always been to open my own program.  I felt I could offer quality as well as a difference.  I felt I had some elements to add that did not exist in the programs around at the time.  So in 1995, I told my Dad I was going to do it.  He decided to get involved in it too!   So I gave my notice at the beginning of July and my boss took me away from the kids and put me in the kitchen for that month!!!!!  eek!   I cannot believe that the children and I survived!   LOL   Meanwhile, the center was being constructed in 4 pieces in another province.  I kept popping out during the evenings to review the plans and see if anything needed to be tweaked and began to compile the list of supplies and equipment I would need to buy.  I wanted a program for 28 children.  My Dad said he would not help if I did not make it BIG.  At this point in time, I was invested enough in the whole project that I took a deep breath and said "ok, then..."  We opened for 84 children with 4 classrooms for preschoolers only.  We had our first family enroll a month before the building was assembled : )  The Lowes : )  And all of the pieces arrived for assembly at the end of August.  It was crazy watching it be put together.  The playground was done before the building!  The 4 pieces of our building were trucked on the highway from New Brunswick to Nova Scotia.  We then added toddlers to our license in 1996, and then infants in 1998.  In 1999, we built an expansion on the building to have a specialized infant area.  While we have been encouraged to expand and open other locations as the time went on, I have felt (and the team has as well) that we have our hands full here and we would never want to short-changed the program we are dedicated to by trying to be in several places.  Some people can do it, we just feel we can do our best here in the one location.  

Isn't it funny how our ECE can fly out of heads sometimes?

Sometimes, when we are with our own children or our friends children, we find our ECE knowledge heading right out of our heads. Perhaps as we are sort of on downtime at that point, relaxing, etc. Maybe other professionals experience the same thing when they are in another mode. So today, while chatting with a colleague, another one was chastising her for purchasing a pink cup for her son. Never would we ever do that to a child's parent while on duty. We would not generally even think it. We always discourage gender-specific labels and parameters. Yet, there she was doing it. I raised my eyebrows and waited until she looked my way. "Wha???" she said. I then explained my thoughts and she was shocked too. She looked sheepish. So then we both celebrated his new cup!

Bev Bos is coming to Halifax!

In addition to having staff go to Bev's summer conference in California, we are bringing her here!!! We are so excited about it. Here is the link to our brochure: http://www.cccns.org/pdf/bb.pdf . It will be an incredible experience. We have over 179 people registered at this point. :)

Bev Bos

About 15 years ago, give or take, I saw a commercial for an upcoming episode of 20/20. It showed that a story called "Wild About Learning" would be featured. I set the timer on the vcr. The feature inspired me. I took that vhs videotape and showed it at the daycare I worked at to light a fire in the Early Childhood Educators I worked with. It worked. And when I left there and moved to another center 12 years ago, I brought the tape with me. Now I show it to co-workers as well as parents. This feature re-affirmed my belief and intrinsic know-how about child-centered practice and it's validity. It crystallized all my previous concepts and perceptions of this mandate I had set myself as a practitioner.

When I saw the listings for the conferences here in Nova Scotia for 2007, and I saw Bev Bos listed as the keynote as well as a workshop leader I was blown away. You see, it was Bev Bos that was featured on 20/20 all those years ago. It is Bev Bos who inspired me. She is the star on my well-worn vhs tape. I could not wait to meet her.

Where I am Coming From

How exactly did I wind up in the field of Early Childhood Education...?

well strangely enough, very strangely actually, I wanted to be a roller coaster designer. I was sooooo into that idea. My dad bought me an amazing book about roller coaster which fueled my passion about it.

So then, at the end of Grade 11, I found out you have to not only be good in Math... but you have to excel at Math... and I had excelled until I hit Grade 10 and then whether it was the sucky Math teachers at my high school... (nice word huh?) or it was that suddenly my brain was just too full of Math... not really sure. Apparently I would need to become an engineer to design roller coasters sooooo.... I had to let that dream go.... :(

It did not take me long to decide to pursue my next passion... that at the fascinating growth and development of young children. I decided to instead become a child psychologist. So I enrolled in Behavioral Biology in Grade 12 (intro psych) and also a Child Study course along with the other courses including Archeology (Honors History which I loved!) and Honors English which I also loved and Art too of course. I am sure I took other courses... just don't care to remember... French, Math, Sciences... u know the drill.

I had signed up for the Child Study course as an elective. Many of my friends had teased me about it but I thought it would prove to be excellent background for my future as a Child Psychologist. That year, the Behavioral Biology and the Child Study course were my absolute favorites courses. Bio Bob and Mrs. McCurdy were wonderful and so were the courses. We learned all about every aspect of development and the psyche and in the Child Study course not only did we fully cover child development we also set up and ran a brief early childhood program. I loved every moment. I happened to mention to Mrs. McCurdy that I loved it and she smiled and said, "well you can take 4 years of it at Mount Saint Vincent University" and that pretty much was that.

I took my Bachelor of Child Study at MSVU and it was a fascinating and roller coastery (I should have known roller coasters would always play a part in my life) 4 years. 125 of us began that first year and by the fourth year, there were less then 25 of us. By the end of the last year, it was my dream to run a daycare.

I began working full time shy one credit to graduate. During my two years I had moved into an appartment with my fiance and had taken a part time job and while juggling the newness of that and theoretical coursework and practicums as well as work, I had to cut back here and there to manage it all. It was hard to cut one course and therefore not graduate with my friends but while it was frustrating then, now that I am soooo incrediby ancient... I see the value of the decision I made.

My first daycare job was at the CC Nursery many moons ago. A little boy who went by the name of Beanie stole my heart away. As did his sister Marika, a sweetheart named Tamara and a loveable leader named Kara. I heartily abide by the bounds of confidentiality agreements but figure since these guys are on my facebook list of friends and are now adults... sharing thier first names decades later is likely to be ok) While I had learned to not have favorites, this way my first official job and my first group of kids.... what can I say? my heart was fully engaged..... (I still have pictures of all of them although it has been close to 20 years and some of them are my friends on Facebook and remember me!) as was my resource books and songs and activity planning etc. I loved my job with every once of being I was. I could not imagine doing anything else.

(p.s. I know I promised to get the pics on facebook guys and I will, I swear I will... just so hard to find time with my two girls keeping me so busy)

After being with that program for some time, I headed over to a Preschool and was there for several years. It was a very big adjustment. The program was very different and had gymnastics, ballet, skating and swimming woven in with the Early Childhood program. My friend Jayne and I were there together. We had worked at the Co-op as well as several summers with the Department of Recreation doing daycamps and had taken many courses together at Uni. We wanted to shift the focus to Early Learning and less extra-curriculum but it was very much an uphill battle. The kids there were super as well. Again, we tried to not have favorites... they were all so special but some still shine out in my brain: Shannon, Jared, Sean S., and Suzanne to name a few. Jalana, Bradley, Jody, Courtney and Brenna. And many more. It had part time as well as full time so there seemed to be so many more children to develop bonds with and try to prepare for the road ahead of them. My last year there was one as Director. A role I had wanted so very badly. After taking that on and not doing to shabby at it, I decided to step down. I realized I was not ready. They asked me to stay but I felt after coming to such a difficult decision I should start fresh.

I then worked at an amazing center for several years. I experienced being a school age teacher there for the first time and for the first three months, I went home sad and exhausted every day. Those school kids took it right out of me they did. I found the idea of working with so many kids with such a vast age difference rather daunting. They were ages 5 - 12. I gave my all every day and then realized the only way to find my feet with this age group, I would have to reach out and network with others. It was then that I discovered that there was no School Age Association around. I began the Metro School Age Association and we went from center to center each month and what a difference. We would meet in each others' classrooms at the centers we worked at and we all loved learning from each other. The ideas we got from each other were phenomenal and the advice they gave me about being with a broad age range in my group was invaluable. I grew to love every single moment about being a school age teacher. I re-did my classroom and had the janitor cut my shelves in half to complete re-structure the environment. My director was very supportive and welcomed the changes. I still think of the "guys" that I was with for several years... as they did not graduate to other groups but stayed with me... Jeremy, Colin, Ashley, Sarah, Brandy and of course Dawson.

My director shifted me to toddlers as she knew I had never worked with toddlers. When I looked at her petrified... she reminded me that I would need to be able to relate with my future staff one day should my dream come true and I be a director and how could I relate to toddler teachers having not walked a mile in their shoes....... .... .... what can I say? she was good... really good... and still is to this day. So I became a toddler teacher... I was merely adequate at that. I was a great preschool teacher and had become a great school age teacher but toddler teacher... that was a role I could only reach the status of "good". I have tremendous respect for all Early Childhood Educators but hold toddler teachers in tremendous esteem as I will never forget having walked in their most busy shoes. (thanks K).

An opportunity presented itself to me to try my hard at directing again. This time it would be by being involved in designing a center from the ground up, developing all policies, and selecting the toys and equipment to order. The dream I had was of a small center, one for about 28 children. The opportunity was for a center for 84 children. I took a deep breath and jumped... and now 12 1/2 years later... I am where I am. Still in a profession I love very much and still reflecting on all the times and experiences I have had and still trying to learn something new each and every day.