As if the chaos of living out of boxes, and washing dishes in the bathtub weren't bad enough, I've decided NOW is a great time to reorganize boxes of old photos. In the process of doing so, I've found these old memories, and wonderful friends, most from nearly 20 years ago, when I was an exchange student in the old town of Nijmegen, Nederland. Picture me now, people, riding through tulips on my maroon bicycle. Well, sort of...
It's been interesting trying to answer the usual questions in talking with folks I haven't seen since my early 20's, especially with that storm that happened almost 8 years ago:
What's it like living there? What do you do? I live in an amazing city. It's vibrant and thriving--beyond the music that provides the backbeat for daily life, the people carry that rhythm, and spread it all around as they see each other. (Please remove mental images of high waters, poor folks stranded on rooftops, black mold). I direct a non-profit childcare center called Abeona House. I have to give them the short and sweet version, because I don't think they want to hear all of this.
What do I really want them to know? That Abeona House is key in this city of renaissance. If we educate young children to not only love learning but to value themselves and others, our community will thrive beyond our wildest imaginings.
It starts at a basic level of service to families and children who are doing good work in our city as educators, policy makers, small business owners. They come and check us out, and make a rather huge decision: to trust us with what matters more to them than anything in the world.
Yes, Twins.
After parent-teacher conferences, I get notes like this:
"Thank you so
much for your empathy and compassion. We've never experienced that and I grew
today. I felt safe and knew that I could let my guard down and really focus on
learning how to be a better mother. I am so grateful."--October, 2012
What makes Abeona House so special? In short, it's this philosophy that shapes what we do, that stole me away from "big school," never to return. Read about it here, but prepare to have your mind blown. Building schools from bombed out buildings? Children are protagonists of their own education and development? It never ceases to inspire me.Teachers document play, problems, activities. And it sounds something like this when two-year olds negotiate corks covered with decorations:
"The heart corks are in a group, the orange corks in another,
and the glittery corks in the final group. Angus sees the heart corks and grabs
one. Lulu once again protests: “NOOOO! I need one more right here!” she says,
pointing to the empty space beside the matching cork. Angus scoots the cork
back towards Lulu; she replies with a simple 'Thank you.'"
You'll have to come visit and open a portfolio if you want to know what happens next.
Hundreds of moments captured, building blocks for exploration and research, but it all comes down to everyday acts of love, being present, expressing tenderness and patience, and complete belief in what children can do.
Mallory spends her day crawling behind newly mobile infants. She and her team ditch the super cushy chair in their room because the kids need more room to explore. Because it's not uncommon to see Jaime cracking up as a four year-old tells her an exceptionally good anecdote. Amelia changed her plans to go to school in Lafayette, because she can't leave "her kids."
This is Camille. I start each morning in Camille's room. I get paid to do so. Don't hate.
Besides loving these kids so intensely, both Audrey and Abby bring earth consciousness to every day. They have taught the children how to compost uneaten food, and even our brown paper towels. They are helping shape at these formative years, responsibility, interconnectedness, and love.
Aurelea has made it her personal calling to find out what lullaby best puts her twos to sleep. Can you imagine being serenaded daily?
Our chef, Sarah Bouley, has been cooking since she's an infant(-: Her cooking is fresh, local, whole grain goodness. Since the food program has started, 3 teachers have lost a combined 175 pounds. Her influence, flavor and incidental education is shaping ALL of our lifestyles.
Aliza is our center director, and enthusiastically guides our staff through the 100 details of daily life. She was an exceptional teacher for us too...(yes, that's Oliver with the luscious long curls). She connects our parents to our program, and makes life feel good around the center. She says things like, "The teachers need a coffee pot for the holidays." We all love coffee...and we all love Aliza.
And here I am, the fearless leader. My work is guiding this amazing team to make children and learning more visible, and in believing in their unlimited capacity--and by extension, their very own. In the same way we've watched children wobble on unsteady feet, I've been lucky to get to watch these loving and caring adults deepen in their teaching practice, and respect for children. I've watched them cultivate community in pockets of children, and shine a light on huge developments that we get to experience. I've watched them grow and learn too.
Our focus is on our capacity, as children, parents and adults. I love this quote from Grace Hoppern: "A ship in a harbour is safe, but this is not what a ship is built for."
Are we really impacting the world? I would argue that educating one child has an impact. However, our work is community focused, from the inside-out.
Yes, we are a special place. But it's not good enough for us to be special. That's because we live in a city where there are lots of needs, and lots of ways that early childhood can look. And so my work takes me into the community where:
- We advocate for more reasonable subsidies for low-income families. We are working closely with state leaders to allow for sliding fee subsidies so centers can afford to serve these families.
- We share our unique ways of teaching, researching and documenting with the broader community. We have shared our work with over 300 educators to date.
- We are a part of an alliance of exceptional programs to strengthen and share business practices in childcare centers so they can provide a higher quality of care.
- We are developing our food program to include gardening, family and teacher education, more composting, outreach to other childcare centers, and the greening of our space. Lifelong foundations for health.
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