My name is Jerica (“chica” or “meeca” or “ahcah” as my students call me), and I have been teaching toddlers for over 7 years! I consider myself a MacGyver of toddler activities, discovering early on the “art” of creating fun with whatever I could find from painting with household items to creating a treasure map of our center and sailing the seas in search of treasure accompanied by fully dressed and bearded (drawn with eye pencil) swashbuckling tots!
I believe every activity counts so my crafts, songs, books, sensory/math/social activities all fit together in a way that makes connections and supports the weekly lesson themes.
And I do it all…you guessed it! Barefoot!
I am known for tossing off my shoes and getting messy, real, and down to earth. (In my defense, Pocahontas was a very influential movie in my childhood and had a great impact on me, creating a child who ran around barefoot in fields with her stuffed animal friends, standing at the top of the one hill in town, singing at the top of her lungs whenever the wind would blow….yes this is a true story and very accurate description of who I am still.)
In my class, messes are inevitable, dancing is an everyday occurrence, learning through experience is encouraged and fun…is just unavoidable.
“Bare” with me…this may get messy 😉
