This is the introduction to a series of blogs on the creation and maintenance of a good early learning program.  Mrs. B., as her children call her, has taught preschoolers, teachers, directors, and parents for a long, long time.  She has been a daycare parent, a preschool parent, a sub, an assistant teacher, a lead teacher in daycare, Head Start, and faith-based programs, an  education/curriculum supervisor, a program director, a teacher trainer, parent trainer, curriculum consultant, and child development specialist.  She has studied children and child development for forty years, and continues to do so.

She has driven the bus, changed the diapers, wiped the noses, scraped off the glitter and glue, swept the floors, taken out the trash, and holds a couple of formal degrees in early childhood education and curriculum. (BS and MAT degrees in English, Early Childhood Education, and Curriculum).

She has dealt with nervous parents, fussy parents, angry parents and absentee parents.  She has planned the budget, hired and fired the staff, and met with the boards, the health and safety inspectors and the licensing agents.

It is her intention to award good preschool teachers for their work with some advice that will lessen their workload, create an efficient system for organizing and designing learning opportunities and present a set of practices for presentation and assessment that will engender excellence in early education.

Each blog will be based on the steps of Anne’s Curricular Continuum, pictured in the next blog . She hopes you find them humorous, blunt, plain-spoken, and enjoyable to read, interesting to discuss, and most importantly, practical for use in your classroom.

(Author’s Note: I do not care to have my picture taken, but suffice it to say, I have not changed for 65 years, so use your imagination.

Next Blog: This is How it Works!