I’m an early childhood educator, a single mom of three, and — depending on the day — a guitar player, a tree climber, and professional rhythm-stick enthusiast.

I started @theECeducator because I got tired of choosing between “real learning” and “fun”. In my classroom, they’re the same thing. Play isn’t a break from learning — it IS the learning, when you build it with intention.

Here’s what I believe:

Kindergarten should feel like childhood. Now a worksheet factory, not a race to reading levels — a place full of movement, wonder, laughter, and meaning. Kids don’t need to sit still to focus. A lot of them need to move in order to focus.

That believe shapes everything I bring into my classroom — rhythm and music tools that support reading and directionality, sensory materials that build regulation, movement that isn’t just a “brain break” but a real, purposeful part of how kids learn. I pull from what I’ve learned watching occupational therapy, vision therapy, and auditory processing work — not because I’m a therapist, but because understanding how kids’ bodies and brains work together makes me a better teacher.

What that looks like in my classroom:

I have ADHD. Too much visual noise — stuff on every wall, every surface, every inch — makes it hard for ME to think, so I stopped assuming it was any easier for a five-year-old.

My classroom is calm on purpose. Earth tones instead of primary-color chaos. Watercolor plant prints instead of clip-art posters. Real plants, a round green swivel chair, open floor space instead of furniture crammed into every corner. My alphabet wall, number wall, and color wall all use real-life photography - not cartoons - because I want kids building letter and number sense using the actual world around them.

Flexible seating is everywhere: wobble stools, floor cushions with lap desks, resistance bands stretched across chair legs for kids who need to move while they sit. Every student has a yoga mat, and we do yoga daily. Above each table group hangs a geode suncatcher — our “table colors” — calm, beautiful, and functional all at once.

We have a family portrait wall where every student displays a photo of their own family (mine’s up there too), and a sound wall that fills in gradually as the year goes on. Beyond that? I keep it pretty empty. On purpose.

People compliment the feel of my room constantly, and it’s not an accident — it’s the same instinct behind the rhythm sticks and the sensory tools. If a space or tool is going to ask something of a kid’s nervous system, I want to be intentional about what it’s asking.

Whether you’re leading a classroom or raising a kindergartner:

If you’re a teacher, I hope this becomes a place you steal ideas from, feel a little less alone, and remember why you got into this in the first place.

If you’re a parent, I hope this becomes a place that helps you understand why your kid’s teacher hands them a rhythm stick instead of a worksheet — and gives you a few playful purposeful things you can try at home, too. So much of what looks like “just play” is actually building the skills behind reading, focus, and coordination. I want to help you see that, and use it.

A little more about me:

I’m currently working toward my instructional coaching license, because the same thing that lights me up in my own classroom — watching a kid fall in love with learning — lights me up when I get to help another teacher find that spark too.

I’m also just a mom trying to keep it together most days, who happens to think glitter, guitar chords, and good classroom systems can all coexist.

What you’d find here:

This site is just getting started — but it’s going to grow into a home base for classroom resources for teachers and simple, playful tools parents can use at home. Think: the stuff that doesn’t fit in a caption.

If you’ve ever felt like you had to choose between rigor and joy, structure and fun — you’re in the right place. I don’t think you should have to choose.

Come say hi on Instagram/TikTok [@theECeducator] — I’d love to know: are you in the classroom, at home with a kindergartener, or both? Tell me what brought you here.