The Inspired EC Blog — professionalism

A small sticky hand slides into mine. I know that if his mama were here, it would slide into hers.  Laughter erupts as I tickle her belly. I know that if her daddy were here, she'd be laughing up at him.  They trust us. Each and every day, parents, grandparents, foster carers and guardians step into this place we create. They step into this place knowing that when they walk back out the door, they leave a part of them with us. They say goodbye, their noses pressed to the gate, fighting back tears as their little one wails, or...

**This post was originally written several years ago and has been revamped and reposted. Enjoy! **   I’m just going to be blunt – I don’t get the whole concept of a birthday wall. Never have. The oversized cupcakes and giant balloons filled with children’s names and birth dates and plastered on the walls of early childhood settings, have never made sense to me. And each year, as the “help, what should I do for our birthday wall?” posts invade the early childhood Facebook community, I find myself asking “why?”  In the words of the amazing Lisa Murphy  “What are...

  What if we told you that the difference between you being a standard educator and an amazing educator rested with someone else? Sure - you are ultimately responsible for the type of educator that you are and that you become. You make choices each and every day about the way that you interact with children, and the way that you support their play. But there is no doubt that these choices are shaped by others - in good ways, and sometimes in not so good ways.    Yesterday, Tash called to share with me an amazing conversation she'd had...