My First Post

  Welcome to C+C Preschool Factory.  This is my first post on my first blog.  My name is Christa.  I am a married mother of three sons, Nic, Zac and Xander.  They are 20, 12, and 3.  I have worked with young children as long as I can remember.  I started out babysitting as many young girls do.  When I was a senior in high school, I began working part time at a nursery school.  I started out working after school with three year olds.  After graduation, I was offered a full time position. I spent a summer teaching three and four year olds. When the fall session started I was assigned to working with two year olds.  However, neither of the two  teachers hired to care for the infants worked out.  Each time they were unavailable, I would sub in their room.  Finally the parents requested I be put in the infant room on a permanent basis.  I LOVED working with the infants.  I used my spare time doing art projects to brighten up my room.  Then other teachers started asking me for ideas, and I realized I enjoyed helping others with their art projects also. Eventually, I was made head teacher for infant - three year olds.  I held that position until I resigned to become a nanny for a former student and his brothers. Two years later, I moved to Louisiana from my home state of Connecticut to join the rest of my family.

  When my oldest child was three, I decided to enroll at a technical college to study child care.  I was able to have my son with me at the on-site day care, which was also the child care classes on site lab.  I graduated with an Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education and Development.  I was their second graduate from the Associate Degree program, and the first with all A's. This led to my being hired as the teacher for their day care, but I only stayed for one summer.  I left to work for the school system as a paraprofessional in EvenStart taking care of infants, which was my first love.  Unfortunately, the EvenStart I worked for was moved to four different locations in two years, and the teacher I worked with decided to leave to work with four year olds. So I chose to resign to stay home with my second son, who was nine months old at the time. When Zac was old enough to go to preschool, I went back to the same school I had worked at when I was first hired by the school system.  I have been back at work now since February 2005.  We moved into a newly built school, I moved to a new classroom, and have been in that classroom since August 2006.  I have had four different teachers pass through this classroom.

     My blog's name a play on C+C Music Factory  - a dance music group, best known for their hits Gonna Make You Sweat and Things That Make You Go Hmmmm. I'm always quoting songs when something in a conversation makes me think of a lyric.    

  This blog is going to be a place for me to share the wonderful things I create in the Preschool classroom I work in.  My hope is it will inspire and give ideas to other preschool teachers and paraprofessionals.  I encourage you to look at working with young children as a positive experience, even during the hard times.  I hope you enjoy it!

~Christa~