Capturing the Educational Moment...

This is my entry to win a camera in the "Capture the Educational Moment" Contest sponsored by Spunky and Academic Superstore.

My first impulse on hearing of this contest, was, as a homeschool mom, to write about some fabulous educational moment in our home. That could still happen, but for starters I've decided to write about my inspiration to become a teacher.

Miss Entz, my third grade teacher, was a life-changing teacher. She was of the few adults that I knew, besides my parents, who didn't talk down to kids just because they were kids. She treated us with respect and we returned that respect.

Many of the "educational moments" from my time in Miss Entz's class were due to her ability to think outside the box.

I struggled with grasping how cups, pints, quarts and such fit together, so she had me play at the kitchen sink measuring water into Mason jars.
I still think of the "greater than" and "less than" signs in terms of the green laminated alligator wanting to "eat" the larger number.
We performed the Nutcracker, and the Pied Piper, among other things.
We had "Christmas around the World" throughout the month of December, I think. My family lived next to the school, and I have in my head a photograph taken of me as St. Lucia, acting out the Swedish Festival of Lights by taking "breakfast" to my mother in bed (the whole class was in our house, and it was the middle of the day).

These are a few of the special moments Miss Entz gave our class. She inspired me to teach. And though I did not realize back then that I would one day be teaching my own children in my home, her respect and creativity stick with me to this day. If I'm half the teacher she was, my children will be very blessed.