Welcome!

Welcome to Joyful Spirits Preschool! Here is where you can find pictures, lesson ideas, and the latest news and events from our little classroom. I hope that you can take some of these themes, projects, and ideas and use them at home to foster the growth and development of your little JoyBug.

Joyful Spirits has been a dream of mine for a very long time; if I really think about it, it's been an idea deep within since the beginning of my college days.  To finally be able to bring that dream alive is something I can't even begin to adequately express.  The story is long, but in short, the name Joyful Spirits came to me in an instant, and it holds a couple different meanings.  One is more obvious aspect:  what is more joyful than watching children at play, and who has a more pure and sincere spirit than a child?  The less obvious reason for the name goes back to my strong faith in God, and the Fruits of the Spirit as listed in the Bible (which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control.)  I learned these when I was in second grade and they have been a strong part of my life ever since; in fact, at my wedding reception, we gave the tables names (each table was a different Fruit) instead of numbers.  It seems more than appropriate to continue the importance of this name to my preschool!

My teaching method is a derivative of intuition, training, and various readings.  I believe that I was blessed by God to have a natural gift at working with and teaching children.  He's given us different talents, and mine is to be comfortable around children (often moreso than adults!)  In addition, I am a certified teacher with multiple years of experience teaching students with disabilities.  This has helped me learn to quickly adapt to varied levels of childrens' needs.  Finally, while I am not trained in the practice, I am a strong supporter of Montessori education, and through extensive reading and research, I try to use the theories, practices, and tools one would find in a Montessori classroom.  Montessori teachers go through extensive training, and resources are very specific, so I can in no way promote myself as a Montessori teacher, but feel it is important to share a very simplified and basic descriptor of my classroom learning/teaching style.