Posted August 14, 2024
Teaching the next generation of children isn’t for everyone, but for Traci Salette, a Preschool Teacher at the Quincy Place Early Learning Center, she knew it was her calling.
“I realized I had a gift to work with children from a long time ago,” Traci said.
Her interactions with children at her church’s Sunday school made Traci excited and felt like they kept her young.
“I was working with the Sunday school, Children’s church, and everything… I feel like they keep me young.” Traci said.
Traci has had experience with children as young as infants to school age but has formed a special bond with those in preschool.
“I find that the preschool is the most exciting,” Tracie said.
Within the centers, teachers and employees focus on the Conscious Discipline program by Dr. Becky Bailey.
“She [Dr. Bailey] provides an opportunity for children to be more resilient, problem solve, it’s a thing where they recognize their feelings and emotions,” Traci said.
While teaching this program, Traci also has her students focus on spreading kindness to one another.
Her class has a “kindness tree” and when a child does an act of kindness in the room, they’re able to put a heart on the tree.
When a student gets to put a heart on the tree, Traci uses positive reinforcement to show that the child did the right thing.
“I’m one of those elaborate types of teachers, like, ‘You got a kindness heart, oh my goodness, you get to put a heart on the tree!’” Traci said.
Traci and her team teacher not only make sure that their students feel heard, but they also teach their students how to identify their emotions.
When a student can identify an emotion that they’re having Traci and her team teacher take a moment and work through that emotion with them.
“…whenever they do something... or notice something about themselves, ‘I’m mad,’ [Traci responds] ‘Well what do you do when you’re angry?’ … and then we’ll do a breathing exercise,” Traci said.
Guiding her students through their emotions and feelings is not a one-person job, it’s a team effort.
“We work together as a team, and the children have started to grasp onto it,” Traci said.
Along with building a relationship with the students, the teachers and employees in the early learning centers are also very close, some say a family.
“We’re a family here, I mean we all know each other,” Traci said.
The early learning staff not only gets to build their relationships with each other in the classroom but also outside of the classroom.
“We have events, activities, things where we can get to know each other,” Traci said.
The early learning program prides itself on being a family-oriented center, and Traci believes that that’s a calling card in itself.
“To me, that’s a calling card to be a family-oriented center and I think that would be a great thing for parents as well,” Traci said.
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