KangaroosHello, Kangaroo Parents! Welcome to the Kangaroo Class! My name is Kate Jones, and I am thrilled to have you as a part of our community. I grew up in Mansfield, Texas, and received my BA in Psychology from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in 2008. I later attended Texas State University, where I got my MS in Family and Child Studies. In my graduate studies, I focused on two major passions in my life: child emotional development, and parent education. I am also currently pursuing certification as a birth doula to further my commitment to ensure healthy family relationships. I joined the Child’s Day family a year ago. I started out the year as the associate teacher in the Kangaroos classroom and became the lead teacher in May of this year. Before joining the Child’s Day team, I gained three years experience in childcare, in addition to nearly a lifetime around young children. I am so excited to begin the year with all of you! Child’s Day’s philosophy is… “…young children learn best by doing. Learning isn't just repeating what someone else says; it requires active thinking and experimenting to find out how things work and to learn firsthand about the world we live in. In our classroom, we abide by this philosophy. This will be exhibited in concrete ways: facilitating richer play, providing sensory experiences, and spending time face-to-face in play. Additionally, many developmental theorists have shown that children thrive when they feel loved, safe, and validated. In the Kangaroos Classroom, we follow the philosophy of moving through love. When we build strong relationships with the children, they feel safe to learn and explore the world around them! Toddlers are extremely sensory beings. They love to experience the world through taste, touch, sight, sound, and smell. In addition, the second year of life is punctuated with a growing thirst for independence. Because of all these things, we provide opportunities for toddlers to experience their environment fully, and help scaffold their developing self sufficiency by giving them more control of their care as they are ready. Joining the team this year will be Logan Decleene and Min Kim. Both of these teachers have been at Child’s Day a long time and I am excited to work with them this year. My hope for this year is that we develop a strong community. Your presence is always welcome in our classroom. Please let us know if you have any questions or would like to participate in our classroom in other ways! Warm regards, Kangaroos Lead Teacher |
