Suzanne Mir, Pre-Kindergarten Teacher

---

Every year, I happily take on the challenge of creating an intellectually stimulating and aesthetically pleasing classroom environment for a group of zesty three and four year olds. I am, on a daily basis, dazzled by their exuberance, their joy, their straightforwardness and their energy. They are, on a daily basis, boastful, bossy, fun-loving and hysterically funny. They love adventure and excitement. They love anything new: new people, new games, new playthings, new books, new activities, and new songs. The children in pre-school are so wonderfully appreciative of even the smallest gesture of kindness and love. I enjoy their versatility, their speediness and their lively minds. And, at the same time, I recognize their need for structure, for boundaries and for limits. It is the coming together of their vitality and a peaceful classroom setting that makes me joyful to return to the pre-school classroom year after year after year.

My hopes for the children who enter the pre-school at Corpus Christi are that they become more independent, that they make friends and feel free to explore the world around them in a classroom focused on diversity. My goal is to immerse them in language experiences that literally pervade the entire day. Learning to express themselves creatively, making good choices, implementing their ideas, and learning to work purposefully all contribute to the development of a child’s positive self-image. It is that wonderful feeling of self, the knowing that “I can do” that is, perhaps, the most valuable lesson of all to be learned in the pre-school world of the young child.
 

---