Today, we’d like to introduce you to Maria Speyer. Maria was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Sanya Kerney.
Hi Maria, we’re so thrilled to have you sharing your story with us today. Maybe we can kick things off by having you introduce yourself to our readers? We’d love to have you go into your story and how you got to where you are today.
I started working in a Children’s Center for the After School program for the Elementary schoolers up in Northern California. I also attended this center for Pre School and the After School program. This really helped me learn as a teacher because my co workers were once my teachers and they got to show me how they would run their class rooms and what they changed over the years. It was so much fun working with the children because I remember being in their shoes. I moved to San Diego two years ago and I am waiting to hear from SDSU if I will be accepted in the Elementary Education Teaching Credential Program. In the last year while I’ve been at school, I have been working as the Lead teacher of the Infant/Toddler Class at Kiddies Korner. This has helped me grow as a teacher because Sanya has taught me how to prep for the week and future weeks and shares what previous teachers have done before. Sanya is such a great leader and has also taught me to be a leader in my class.
Let’s talk about your work and career – what else should we know?
I worked in the After School Program at the Children’s Center for four years. Since the kids were older, I could have conversations with them and teach they hard activities to do like making bracelets/knitting. The entire class including the teachers felt like a family. I feel the same way at Kiddies Korner. The Infant/Toddler class with all of the teachers and babies is the best because we all spend the entire day together and know each other so well. That is why we are a family. I write the curriculum for the class and do art with all babies. I am shadowing what the Pre K’s themes for each of the months so that the school is uniformed. I’m helping the Infant/Toddlers in completing their ABC book. Each week the babies learn the letter of the week, a word that starts with that letter, and I help paint their footprints and handprints in the shape of that word. Story time is my favorite because the second I ring the bell. All of the Infants and Toddlers know what that means. They all run over as fast as they can or scoot/crawl as fast as they can. I pick out six or eight hard-back books to read twice a day for a month. I switch out new books each month and also revisit a couple of books. The reason why I switch out books once a month is that the Toddlers who are speaking more and more are using their memorization skills by repeating what the teachers are reading to them. It is the greatest feeling of feeling like a successful teacher.
Sanya Kerney and Kiddies Korner have been great to us and I know you’ve got a great relationship with them as well. Maybe you can tell our audience a bit about Sanya Kerney and Kiddies Korner and your experience with them.
Sanya has given me the greatest opportunity for being the Lead Teacher for the Infant and Toddler class. Even though I am taking courses at college that are in the same field as teaching. I am only able to work three days a week. The days I work, I am at a 100%. Sanya has really helped me in what do to when talking to parents about updates or needs on their children. All of the parents at the school are amazing and wonderful. They also understand how hard us teachers work for their children. Which is the best part and are the most memorable. What I really admire about Sanya not only does she own the school, she runs the entire school. She is owner and Director. She is very hard working and is so committed to her business. Most preschools and daycare centers have owners who hire someone to be director. This is her business and she makes it her own.
Facebook: Kiddies Korner
Image Credits
Maria Speyer
