Time---Teaching Inspiring Mentoring and Empowering Journal: A Journal of Encouragement and Inspiration for Early Childhood Educators

This book is for you—yes, you—who have taken the vow of poverty and work selflessly in early childhood classrooms. I know it is often the hardest thing to do—daily/monthly planning, thankless parents, lack of support, and low pay. Yet it is and can be the most gratifying thing to do—grateful parents, unconditional love from children, opening the eyes (worlds) of little people, and constant learning. I know you don’t always feel the love and there are few, if any, incentives to do this work, but as a teacher of little ones and as an early childhood teacher for over thirty years, the rewards have been great! “My children” have gone on to become great people—chefs, lawyers, doctors, and yes, teachers! My heart soars when I am stopped by a parent of a now thirty-something-year-old and told how I made a difference in their life or the life of their child. That is the payoff! That is the incentive! Don’t forget that the words you speak, the hugs you give, the lessons you plan today will matter years from now. You have the power to change lives, to give hope, and to create futures. You get to plant the seeds, lay the foundations, and watch them grow! Be careful, gardeners!