At a very young age, I knew I wanted to be a teacher and that I wanted to be involved in children’s lives. My total of thirty years in the field of education includes studying Elementary Education for my undergraduate degree, as well as being a certified K-3 teacher. By the age of twenty-four, I had the unique experience of directing my own preschool and creating a mind-heart curriculum. Together, in trainings with the staff and families, we created a unified vision for how we wanted the children educated. We developed a model for an empathetic, culturally sensitive preschool that focused on learning through play, culture, and peaceful conflict resolution. The preschool staff and parents were also trained by one of our enrolled families in anti-bias education. An anti-bias approach to educating young children is based on understanding and empathy for one another by focusing on similarities and differences between people. We took this one step further by extending this compassion to the earth, animals, and all living creatures.
My passion for culturally sensitive education led me to get a master’s degree in Human Development, focusing on the political and social context of how children and adults are socialized. In addition to my job as an early education trainer and consultant, I began teaching child development courses including partnering with parents, as an adjunct faculty at multiple colleges. I have been teaching college courses and workshops, coaching, and mentoring for the past twenty years. I believe understanding a family’s lifestyle and beliefs are essential to building and sustaining respectful relationships with parents.
Parenting Possibilities provides parents with practical and easily implemented strategies to support children’s holistic development and mindfulness.
***** Testimonial*****
“I met Marcia at my last preschool teaching job about 9 years ago. I was a teacher and she was our coach. I honestly don’t think I could have gotten through that teaching job without her help. She knows how to listen and validate your feelings but also is awesome at helping you come up with solutions to use in the classroom. I loved that she was always ready to jump into action with solutions we would come up with right then and there. It wasn’t just about talk, it was help and support in getting the things we needed done. Visual cues, books, materials, approaches; she was on it. From taking pictures we needed with her camera, bringing in resource books for teachers to video taping our interactions with the children in the classroom to provide us with the best feedback sessions. I learned so much from her, I am the teacher I am now because of her.
I respect and value her knowledge and advice so much that even after leaving the field and becoming a mother, I still seek her out for support with my children. She always is quick to provides me with so many tools, resources and advice on topics I ask her about. She’s not only an amazing coach but an amazing mentor whom I look up to still.”
S.N.