Meet Our Tutor Time Staff – Ms. Paige, Lead Infant Teacher

Ms. Paige – Lead Infant Teacher at our Bloomingdale, IL center – has worked at Tutor Time for three years, but has nearly a decade of experience working with little ones. What does she love so much about teaching in the infant classroom? Read on to find out!

Tell us about your background?

Went to College of DuPage to study for early childhood and I also went to Northeastern Illinois University. I have my associate’s degree in general studies and have worked with kids since I was 16. I nannied for three years and then I worked at a before- and after-school program before working with Tutor Time.

What do you love about working with infants every day?

They’re so young, so they really only know their parents. It’s exciting seeing them when they come in and they get excited to see you. That’s a good feeling.

What types of activities do you do throughout the day?

After breakfast and diapering we do a lot of curriculum activities which could be songs or puppets. Today we explored with Jell-O. We made Jell-O and they all got to play with it and touch it. For the older babies, they really dug in and they ate more than they played.

Tell us your favorite part about running the infant classroom!

The infants just get really excited to see you! There are some kids who when I walk in, they jump out of their parents arms and run to me. We don’t have any kids who cry when they get dropped off, so that’s a good feeling to know that they really enjoy coming in.

Why is an early start to education so important, even for infants?

When they play here they’re learning a different set of skills that should be introduced at a young age. It’s really good for them. It’s often things they don’t realize they’re doing like sharing or taking turns or mimicking noises.

Do you have a favorite accomplishment since you’ve been at Tutor Time?

I was Teacher of the Year two years ago! They came into my room with a certificate and told me congratulations and they took my picture and posted near the front of the school. I was excited!

How is your relationship with the parents in your classroom?

We have daily sheets that we hand back every day. But say a child is a little off for the day – I do tend to call the parents a lot more. Or even if it was something big or exciting, I tend to call the parents. I like to take a lot of pictures so parents get three or four pictures a week of what their child has done. One of our little girls started crawling so I tried to take pictures of her to share with her parents. I have a good relationship with the parents. I do talk to majority of them either at drop off or pick up.

Overall, how would you describe your Tutor Time experience?

I have really enjoyed it so far. Every day is a learning experience. I just like working with kids. I know that it’s where I’m supposed to be and it’s my calling in life.