Welcome

I think I should start this off by describing who I am and the purpose for this blog.

Who am I?

Well I am in my 30′s (so I have been around the block once or twice in my life) and I am a single mum working as an Early Childhood Teacher.  I gained my Teaching degree last year (mid 2012) and pretty well walked straight into a job as a pre-prep (Kindergarten) teacher in a long day care center.  For those of you who don’t know, Australia (after being heavily embarrassed in the OECD report – yes we ranked VERY low in Early Childhood Education) took the radical step of phasing in a new era of education for our youngest citizens.  In essence this new regime means that day cares now how to employ Bachelor qualified Teachers in all pre-prep programs.  Good idea or what?  Perhaps? Perhaps not?

So here I am, a newly qualified teacher, working in an environment where 99% of my colleagues are untrained and in their early twenties.  I literally am crazy!

Prior to gaining my degree I worked 10 years in a Kindergarten as a Teachers Aide and a year in China teaching TESOL to children aged 3-14 years old.  

Purpose of this blog?

I suppose the BIGGEST purpose for this blog is using it as an outlet to share both the highs and lows of working as a teacher in an environment where few really have any idea what they are doing.  Perhaps along the way I might meet other ECE Teachers from Australia who have shared similar experiences and can relate to what I write about.  Mostly this blog is therapy, personal therapy, a way to get off my chest the various trials and tribulations and triumphs that happen within the long day care sector of Australia.  Perhaps along the journey of writing it all out I might be able to find meaning in the various situations that I wind up in on a day to day basis.

Working in long day care is extremely frustrating, make no mistake about that!  

I hope to both entertain, excite, share, frustrate, and delight within this blog.

Stay tuned…