Jennifer, a Nanny for Hire in O'fallon, MO 63368
As long as I can remember, I had a love for working with kids, from when I use to play school as a child, babysitting to teaching in a day care and an elementary school, to being a nanny for triplets.
When I was younger, my mom babysat. I would play school; teach my little sister and the kids she babysat. I remember I made desks for them and painted apples on them. Man, my mom was not happy. I would help her feed, change and put the kids down for a nap. That would be the first time I noticed my love for kids.
When I was old enough, I began to baby-sit myself. First, it started with the neighbor. I remember how nervous I was, but as soon as I got there the kids and I started to play, everything seemed to fall into place naturally. We cleaned up our mess, made dinner, took a bath, and played some games, made some arts and crafts for mom and dad then it was time for bed. From there on the neighbor, told friends and friends told friends. I loved it. I loved it so much I would go up to my little sisters preschool and volunteer just so I could see what it was like to be a teacher. I got to play with the kids and help with their art projects. That is what inspired me to go peruse a job myself with kids.
I got a job working as a co -teacher in a day care with 2- 5 year old's. The day would start with the kids playing; I would interact with them and try to get them to play with kids they did not usually play with. Then it would be a bathroom break after we sang a cleanup song. When we took the bathroom break we worked on using the big girl/ boy potty, and the ones who were not ready I would change their diapers. It was center time. The other teacher and I would come up with different activities for each table. Crafts, blocks, ABCs etc. The rest of the day would be about the same, we would have snack, nap and more fun activities. At the end of the day, mom or dad would come and pick up the kids and I would tell them all about our fun, exciting day!
As I got older and worked with the day care for over a year, I moved on for new experiences. I became a Substitute teacher for the Francis Howell District. I would get calls, recommendations, and long-term sub positions. I mainly subbed in pre-school and in the early grades. My responsibilities really were close to the same. I had to guide, feed, potty train, clean, and put down the kids for a nap, depending on what grade. As the sub, I would have to follow already planned lessons, but I would put my own little touch into the lesions. Throughout the day, I would do little tasks for the teacher, such as making copies for her, grading the work we already did, cleaning up the room etc. At the end of the day, I would have to write up a report of how everything went. I loved being a sub; I got the opportunity to meet all different kinds of kids and got an insight into different teaching techniques.
After working as a sub for some time, I got a job working in the same school district as a special Ed Para educator. My duties were basically the same as a sub, however since I was now a part of the District I had to go through training. I received training in transferring and lifting students properly, universal precautions and sever allergy awareness. CPI certification training and the basic training you receive by working with children every day. I have worked with all different kinds of children who have disabilities, such as autism, Down syndrome, Angelmen syndrome, Ashberg syndrome, even emotionally disturbed children. I learned different techniques to use with children who have these disabilities. Working as a Para I have had the opportunity to work in classrooms, working with the children and the teacher with Occupational Therapy/ Physical therapy, working one on one with students, in groups, and being able to write specific lessons for the children. Working as a Para educator for some time, I felt it was time to continue my experiences as working as a Nanny.
I began working as a nanny for four-month-old triplet in 2009. My duties were too obviously take care of the babies by feeding, changing diapers, cleaning up after them, maintain their laundry and taking them to their appointments. As the triplets became older, my duties became more adapted to their age. I began to work with them from learning to walk, talk, potty train; teaching them their alphabet, numbers, basic math, days of week, weather, helping in their cognitive development, social emotion development in preparing them for their next adventure in education to pre-K or Kindergarten. The triplets were just evaluated on a premature term scale by their doctors and the Fort Zumwalt school district, and tested higher than a full term average three year old . Being a nanny, I was honored to be apart of not only the babies' lives, but apart of the family. I was able to watch theses three babied learn, develop, and grow into the young little people they have become.
With having the opportunities of being a baby sitter, day care teacher, Substitute teacher, and a Para educator to a Nanny; I been able to experience everything from teaching, cleaning, changing diapers or little accidents, to feeding, guiding, preparing and being a good role model for children of all different ages.