“Children need the freedom to appreciate the infinite resources of their hands, their eyes and their ears, the resource of forms, materials, sounds, and colors.” -Loris Malaguzzi

I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since I worked at the Second Family Childcare Center. So much of what I know as an educator and as a mom came from my years with Thena as my mentor. Even today, the relationships that have stemmed from my time there are some of the most important ones in my life. The greatest lesson of all that I learned from my time at Thena’s was that children are more capable than we believe and as long as they can get up, they can come down. Since the day Jude could roll over that’s what I’ve adapted to every skill he’s learned. Encouragement in the place of praise, acknowledgement in the place of prizes, and laughter in the place of lectures. I didn’t get to stay long, but here are some of the snapshots from our 10 year reunion from a couple of weeks ago.