Posted: March 10, 2020
While these aren’t the conventional snow people that Terri VanHoudt and her homecare preschoolers usually make in their wintry Minnesota neighborhood, they were a lot of fun to create during some indoor play time. Terri repurposed recycled black corrugated cardboard she had been gifted by a parent into the backdrop, painted feet and allowed the kids to convert feet into their own snow girls and boys, each one as unique as the child whose feet formed the foundation.
“Do you want to build a snowman?”
Terri is a long-time family child care professional with more than 20 years in the field. After a time of working shift work, she began substituting at her sister-in-law's home child care program. Eventually she opened her own home and had the privilege of caring for all of her grandchildren over the years. The last one is three, and she thinks that she will retire once that granddaughter settles in to elementary school.
This winter, Terri was a first-time BKC On Demand user, completing a module "Preschoolers' Emotional Development: Feelings and Managing Emotions?" She really appreciated how affordable the modules were and that she didn't have to print a lot of materials in order to complete the learning. She felt like the BKC modules provided fresh information to familiar topics, and she was able to do them a little at a time, as the children napped. She's looking forward to exploring "Building Relationships with Children and Youth Who Challenge Us" next as she continues to seek support for one preschooler that she wants to care for well.
