It has been a bit of a bummer, but I have been unable to find a teaching position for this next year. At this point in time, I'm willing to just let it slide. I've started putting applications out in different places, and I even heard back from one!
It's called Tutor Time and it is a preschool. It is part of the Learning Care Centers group which has a whole arary of educational preschool situations. They run baby-preschool all-day programs, as well as before and after school care and summer camps for school-aged children. They called me back and I'm going in on Monday for an observation time from 9-12. I hope I do well, recently I have gotten married and my husband and I have moved to Arizona. The recessions down here is pretty brutal on every profession.
Anyway- in preparation for this I visited the Phoenix City Library to see if I couldn't pick up some literature on Toddlers. My expertise is in Elementary aged children, and I'm a little wary of the really younger kids. I want to make sure that I don't mess up this observation as me getting a job is pretty vital to my husband and I being able to stay here. I have been fairly reassured about it. It seems like a majority of my training in school aged children will transfer, I will just have to be more simple and repetitive in my words and actions.
I have found a couple books that I want to share however.
Reading with Babies, Toddlers and Twos by Susan Straub
This is a very interesting book. It talks about how to choose a book for a child who is between ages of unborn and well, two! It gives examples of developmentally appropriate books, such as Oh, Baby, the Places You'll Go! by Tish Rabe for newborns and The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper for slightly older readers. She talks about what babies do while you read, like fall asleep. As well as what you should take from it and do about it, in this case, nothing- keep reading. It has book lists upon book lists which include many classics like Clifford, the Big Red Dog by Norman Birdwell. It is a delightful guide for parents that want their children reading later in life, but are unsure how to start exposing their children to text when they are walking away from the books! I highly recommend this book to parents and educators of all realms of life.
The Toddler Owner's Manuel by Brett R. Kuhn, and Joe Borgenicht.
For a parent not use to the scholarly jargon of human development parents can get lost in the names of theories and theorists that often show up in parenting manuals. The Toddler Owner's Manuel isn't like that. It is organized like a computer manual (minus the computer legalese!). It outlines what parents can do in different situations, such as potty training, along with ways that it can go wrong (when a parent gives confusing messages) and ways parents can avoid those pitfalls. It also notes that not all children are equal and gives multiple strategies that parents can turn to. It does not read like a fluffy feel-good book, but a no nonsense guide that a busy parent could pick up and ready quickly in a stressful situation.
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