As a small child, I had three great loves: other children, teaching and creating. In regards to the first, I would tell my mother that I wanted 100 children when I grew up. Her response: "please don't bring them all home at once." My two younger siblings were my students and I "taught" them everything from math to how to make (and sometimes eat) a mudpie. Raised on a farm in rural Louisiana, I spent most of my days outside (yes, even the hot humid ones). I gained a profound love, fascination and appreciation for the beauty found in nature. The closer I looked the more I saw. Nature was an artist all her own. Simply breathtaking.
As a stay at home mom and educator, I am diligently trying to instill in my little girls these same loves. They have become my inspiration and my challenge. The name of this blog was inspired by my incredibly independent (and capable) three year old daughter, Matilda (we call her "Tilda" at her request). At eighteen months of age, she quickly latched on to the phrase, "No mommy, I a big girl."Being a very opinionated child from the very beginning, she quickly asserted her independence and has been claiming it ever since. Her independence and desire to figure things out on her own remind me of myself quite often. These traits in my daughter have also helped me to see that I cannot and should not always try to go it alone. There is great value in being a part of a community of learners and educators. The opportunity for learning has grown exponentially in the past few decades. The diversity of information available to us via the internet has opened up our worlds to possibilities that our ancestors never even dreamed. When I would have a question as a child, my father would tell me to go look it up. He meant in the World Book Encyclopedia or Webster's Dictionary. Today, I am still "looking it up" on the internet every time I have a question. Thank goodness for iPhones! Right?!
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