I am presently a senior student at St. Joseph College in West Hartford, CT. Before attending St. Joseph College, I taught preschool for 13 years. A lot has progressed in Early Childhood Education since I first started teaching preschool. I realized that my Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education wasn't enough anymore. So, I decided that the best thing I could do for my students and their families was to go back to college.
Besides being a full-time student at St. Joseph College, I am a wife and a mother of two college-age sons, as well as a Eucharistic Minister at my church. I grew up in a big Italian family where children were valued as the center of all family gatherings. Mealtimes and celebrations were events for lively conversations in which children were always included.
I was the oldest of five children, and one of my fondest memories as a child was story time. Before bedtime, my mother would sit on the couch surrounded by me and my siblings. My mother would read us a variety of books because you can only imagine the different interests we all had. My mother is a delightful story teller and we would be mesmerized by her animation as she read each story. I can still feel the sense of relaxation and comfort that I experienced during those story time rituals.
When I was about eight years old, I had one particular book that I always took out of the library for my mother to read. The title of the book was, "Kiki Dances" and it was about a little girl who took dance lessons. I loved that book, because when I was a young girl I always wanted to learn how to tap dance just like Shirley Temple. But, my family could never afford for me to take dance lessons. So, every time my mother would read to me that story I would fantasize about being just like the character in the book.
As much as I loved being read to, I didn't enjoy reading as a youngster. I went to school in the 1950s and early '60s. I just remember learning to read phonetically. Oh, how I wish I could have learned the many reading strategies taught to students today! I didn't enjoy reading until I was in ninth grade when I had a wonderful English teacher. She introduced the book, "To Kill a Mocking Bird," to our class. We spent weeks on that book dissecting it sentence by sentence and page by page. I believe this is when I actually started reading for meaning, After that, I was hooked! Now, I love to read every chance I have. It is interesting that I find reading to be relaxing and comforting just as I felt those feelings as a young girl when my mother would read to me.
"My heart is singing for joy this morning. A miracle has happened! The light of understanding has shone upon my little pupil's mind, and behold, all things are changed."
- Anne Sullivan -
