I have such a passion for education and young children. I always have. I knew that I wanted to teach when I was a high school student. I spent my Jr. and Sr. years of high school volunteering and apprenticing in special education classes, daycares and at the local Head Start program. I graduated and immediately pursued a degree studying Special Education. I transferred to multiple different schools as a result of being a military wife, and ultimately graduated from Northern Illinois...
I have such a passion for education and young children. I always have. I knew that I wanted to teach when I was a high school student. I spent my Jr. and Sr. years of high school volunteering and apprenticing in special education classes, daycares and at the local Head Start program. I graduated and immediately pursued a degree studying Special Education. I transferred to multiple different schools as a result of being a military wife, and ultimately graduated from Northern Illinois University with over 150 credit hours. The overwhelming majority of those classes addressed education, child development and individualized program planning.
When my family moved to TX for a year, I landed a dream job. I spent a year teaching preschool special education at a private Christian school for students with severe-profound disabilities. I spent the following summer teaching the middle school program at the same school. We are now back in Illinois and teaching full time isn't a feasible option for our family. I have decided to utilize my experience with individualized education by tutoring and substitute teaching with the local school district. I love that these options give me a healthy mix of 1:1 individualized teaching from tutoring and the chaos and large group fun of substitute teaching without the commitment required of a full time teaching position.
I have a very specific passion for reading. Children's literature is wonderfully diverse, and when utilized appropriately it can lead to a lifetime love for the written word. I have a background in emergent and developing reading skills including phonemic awareness, phonics, blending, etc.
I have spent many years volunteering in Children's Ministry and I love helping children appreciate scripture beyond the mere "story". I specifically think children should understand how to apply scripture to the world they live in today. One of my more recent lessons addressed the story of the woman at the well, and how it demonstrates appropriate responses to diversity and pe
