My thoughts

What a whirlwind experience!  So much time was spent planning these visits and coordinating with flights, hotels, and rental cars.  I've read a dozen books and immersed myself into curriculum models for the past five months and what have I learned?

Private education is awesome, innovative and very expensive.  Each of these curricula have advantages and disadvantages.  Educators are passionate about the curriculum that they teach.  Children are fortunate to have such wonderful environments created by early childhood professionals.  Parents love their children and want to have a close relationship with their child's teachers.  Children are sponges to stimulating environments and I feel badly for children who don't have those environments.

I feel bad that our society doesn't respect young children or their teachers because the damage is done by the time they reach public school.  Their curiosity and self worth have already been effected.  I feel bad that my children went to public schools more interested in their test scores than stimulating their minds.  The children fortunate enough to be enrolled in ANY of the schools I visited will have a huge advantage as they grow up.  EVERY school I visited provided outstanding examples of early childhood education.  I felt so fortunate to have been allowed entry into all the schools and was amazed at the high quality I saw.   I have many, many stories to share with my students and people who attend the workshops that are planned for the fall.  I hope you have enjoyed sharing a glimpse of my sabbatical journey!