Meet Our Tutor Time Staff – Ms. Pam, VPK Teacher & Co-Safety Captain

Meet Ms. Pam, the talented VPK Teacher and Co-Safety Captain at our Tutor Time school in St. Augustine, FL. She has worked at the center for almost seven years, and has many years of experience working with children both here in the United States as well as in her native Australia. Read on to learn more about Ms. Pam!

What do you love so much about working in early education?

Just impacting their lives and making a difference and being able to guide them and mold them and prepare them for elementary school.

Why do you enjoy teaching VPK, specifically?

Oh I love VPK, oh my goodness! Just to see the excitement in their eyes and their enthusiasm and their love for learning. It’s just such a great age because there’s so much going on in the room and so much communication. It’s just great!

Can you take us through a typical day in VPK?

We have stretches in the mornings when they first come in and then we do our pledge of allegiance and we sing a song. Then we do our calendar and circle time and then we have our playground time. When we come back in we have our active investigation and we then do our snack and small group activity. Then we have our center time and clean up. We use all our special transition songs in between. We LOVE our transition songs. And then we do our closing circle and then we say goodbye.

What are your duties as co-safety captain?

My number one priority as a teacher is keeping our children safe. As the co-safety captain, that involves teaching the teachers, keeping our playground and classrooms safe and having a monthly “spotlight” which is a list of safety tips for the month. At the staff meetings the safety captains get to share something that is new or needs to be addressed. It’s a big, big thing. It’s a part of our whole day!

Why is early education so important for children?

Studies show that just reading to children during those first three years is vital. In everyday life, no matter what you do, it’s all about reading and communication. Introducing print knowledge is so vital for preparing them for school.

How do you maintain close relationships with the parents at your center?

From the moment I see any parent, whether it’s in the parking lot or in the hallway, if it’s my student’s parent or not, we always greet them and say “Hi, how are you doing?” That’s really, really important. We have an open door policy so they can come to us with anything. In my classroom alone, I always try to say one positive thing to parents about their child.

If your students had to describe you in one word, what would it be?

I would say “fun.” We have a lot of fun. When we have Crazy Hair Day I always dress up with crazy hair, I race with the kids outside on the playground and play hide and seek. I’ll get in there and get involved with them.

What do you love so much about teaching VPK at Tutor Time?

Having a new class with new children to impact, it’s just a joy to wonder, “Who am I going to get next year?” “What are we going to learn?” “How am I going to impact their lives?” Just to be able to impact their lives in a positive way, I cannot get enough of that. I love working at this center. The organization is just phenomenal. It’s a great system and it’s a great family. I look forward to coming to work every day and I have for six and a half years. That means so much.