It is not the strongest of the species that survive, not the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. —Charles Darwin And, isn’t that the truth In my work as director of several early childhood programs, one of the important lessons I learned was that the only constant was change! Just when I’d get the staffing set—teachers hired, oriented, trained, and working together as a team—the enrollment would shift. Or, when the enrollment was at capacity, key teachers would make life changes and resign. The balancing act between having the appropriate team of teachers for the enr ..read more

The Japanese people have an expression, Kūki o yomu, read the air, which, in essence, means to take in one’s surroundings before acting; to take a few moments to use one’s senses; to observe and listen; to gauge what is happening in this place at this moment, before doing anything else.  Reading the air is a respectful practice. Enter a space or situation quietly and absorb what is going on—the level of activity; the level of conversation or silence; the level of engagement—how are others interacting, responding to one another, or are they not. The Japanese people observe an ..read more

Each year, required reading for my teams of early childhood teachers and supervisors was an article by M. Parker Anderson entitled, “Professionalism: The Missing Ingredient for Excellence in the Workplace.” It was required because, after years of living, working on this planet, and interacting with thousands, I agreed with Ms. Anderson’s assessment that, “professionalism is missing and unaccounted for” in so many places of work. What has happened to our work force, our self-image, our civility to one another, our work ethic? It seems pervasive enough to say that we have lost our way a bit—wh ..read more

A new day! A new start! A new school year! As the Director of an Early Childhood program, I’ve always loved beginnings. What a gift!  To start fresh—to take what I’ve learned from the previous year and add it to my practice. To remember those things that went especially well, and keep them in this year’s repertoire. And, yes, to reflect upon those things that didn’t go as well as I had planned (Should I, this year, drop these ideas altogether or figure out what might work better?). This is definitely the reflective part of my professional life. I think about everything that has gott ..read more

In my work as director of several early childhood programs, one of the important lessons I learned was that, as in my life, the only constant was change! Just when I’d get the staffing set—teachers hired, oriented, and working together as a team—the enrollment would shift. Or, when the enrollment was at capacity, key teachers would make life changes and resign. The balancing act between having the appropriate team of teachers for the enrollment at hand was a constant challenge. It was always back to the drawing board! Over time, though, instead of reacting to it when it happened, I began pla ..read more

Whether it’s a beautiful sunrise, or a special message, each has the power to move us emotionally. I discovered this power long ago and began collecting inspirational quotes that spoke to me. I have journals of them. I placed my favorites around our home—near the mirror in the bathroom for my first uplifting thought of the day; on the fridge in the kitchen; inside cabinet doors. I sometimes purchased quotes on strips of wood and three-dimensional blocks and placed them, strategically, where I would just come upon them during the day—on the fireplace hearth; on the top jamb of doorways; on she ..read more

Making the shift from traditional, individual infant and toddler classrooms to the Zero-to-Three model (where the youngest children and teachers remain together until the child reaches preschool age) brought with it environmental challenges and extra training for teachers and their supervisors, but the benefits we anticipated, and then experienced, far, far outweighed the initial effort required. The following is a letter from a parent in our John Hancock Child Care Center in Boston. As you’ll read, not only did the children and teachers benefit from the Zero-to-Three model, so did the paren ..read more

Our large childcare center in Boston could sometimes feel unwieldy. There were just so many people, so much activity, so much to do every day, that we all needed a break at the end of the school year to prepare our minds (and environments) for the new year beginning in September. We decided to close our program for the two days just before Labor Day weekend—to children and their parents. We worked, however, and worked hard to get everything ready for the first day. But it was a labor of love and that made the difference. As we gathered together that first morning, I took the opportunity to ..read more

My fourth, and final child care center was large! It was the biggest and most visible of the four I opened and directed during my career. At capacity, there were 200 fulltime children, upwards of 400 parents, and a staff of 65 (mostly teachers). Nearly 700 human beings brought with them many, many moving parts! With so many people and so much activity, there was the potential for important things to fall through the cracks and not be taken care of. It was necessary to be thorough, organized, and consistent. At the same time, we needed to be flexible, respectful, and fair, remembering the ind ..read more

As director of the John Hancock Child Care Center (JHCCC), I knew that the key to a quality early childhood program was to find, hire, and retain the finest teachers! I also knew that we had to provide unique, individual opportunities for their professional growth. The children would thrive if our teachers were motivated, inspired, excited, and passionate about their teaching. And so, our Mentor Teacher Program was born! The following are some of the beyond-the-book “how we did it” details not found in Beginning to End…. From our Mentor Teacher Program mission stat ..read more