The years I have spent professionally in the field of Early Childhood Education (ECE) have enabled me to work with families in ways that empower them to provide their children - both typically-developing and those with varying special needs - with optimal social, emotional, physical, and psychological learning environments. I have worked with families of varying socio-economic backgrounds both within and outside of the classroom setting. In addition to day-to-day interactions, I have conducted parent workshops, home visits, consultations, and countless parent-teacher conferences. My experiences facilitating parent-teacher conferences in particular have given me an in-depth understanding of the concerns many parents have about their children, and what areas of support parents commonly seek.

My educational background in ECE began in 2010 at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where I studied child development, psychology, and sociology as an undergraduate student. While there, I interned at several of the ECE facilities on campus, which formed the foundation of my professional experiences. Upon graduating in 2012, I continued in the ECE field as a full-time teacher for an Early Head Start program, and worked primarily with infants and toddlers. Concurrently, I began my Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education, which I completed in 2014 at the Loyola Marymount University (LMU) and wrote my thesis on teachers’ discipline practices in ECE.

While studying at LMU, I began working at its Children’s Center, which is Accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and has received the Argonaut’s Best of the West Child Care award every year since 2013. During that time, I have worked in both the classroom and administrative settings as a teacher and as the Site Supervisor and Infant/Toddler Curriculum Coordinator. As the Site Supervisor, I have trained hundreds of teachers and caregivers to uphold high quality education practices that adhere to the standards set forth by the NAEYC. My professional experiences also include collaboration with various ECE-related organizations, such as Resources for Infant Educarers™ (RIE®). Under the RIE® organization, I have worked directly with RIE® Associates Ruth Anne Hammond and Melissa Coyne for many years.

Pedagogical influences that have informed my work include the RIE® approach, as well as philosophies derived from Reggio Emilia, Waldorf, Montessori, and Social Constructivist Learning Theory. Theoretical influences stem from the work of 20th century child development psychologists including Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, Erik Erikson, Urie Bronfenbrenner, John Bowlby, and Mary Ainsworth, as well as modern psychologists such as Allan Schore, Alison Gopnik, Carol Copple, Sue Bredekamp, Alan Fogel, and Annette Lareau. I have worked closely with Dr. Ani Shabazian since the Fall of 2012, and have taught child development classes under her many times at the Loyola Marymount University.

Overall, my approach to working with children and families is one of respect, empowerment, and trust. My own personal upbringing has exposed me to an array of cultural influences in both the East and the West, which enables me to draw inspiration from the diversity of the human family. I was raised around the world, from Ketchikan, Alaska, to Changchun, China, and many places in between. My immediate family has ancestry in nearly every continent, as our roots extend from Tlingit to Filipino, from Japanese to Puerto Rican, from Ethiopian to Irish. With a profound appreciation for the beauty of raising children in this complex world, I am delighted to share what I know with others, and hope to be an avenue of support for families as they begin their journey to raise the next generation.