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| Teacher Robin playing her guitar at circle time. |
Teacher Robin Bunster...
It
is a privilege and a great pleasure to be a teacher at Oswego Playschool: a place to imagine, wonder, laugh, play and learn.
I am inspired each day by my students and their families to be a life-long learner. I think of each day
as a new beginning that I welcome with an open heart. I often wonder how I can best support each student’s particular
development needs. How can I help parents more fully understand the benefits of learning through play? What are new ways to
further understand and support brain development? How can I best help parents understand how important they are to all students,
other families, the school and me personally?
My journey began in 2003 when I
came to OP as a parent. My daughter was a student in the three-day class. I chose this particular school because it came highly
recommended by parents whom I knew and admired. It was easy to put faith in a school that had existed for over fifty years.
I served as a board member and as newsletter editor. I liked having a voice in school decisions and policy making.
Once
I visited OP, saw the provocative environment, understood the play-centered philosophy of the curriculum, and felt the cooperative spirit of working together, I knew it would be a great place to foster a sense of belonging in
my child. She would get to be an integral part of a blossoming community! And as a bonus, so would I. As such our family has
met some wonderful people and developed lasting friendships through the school.
I
was delighted to be asked to be a substitute teacher that year when needed. When my daughter’s teacher retired and the
position for lead teacher opened, I knew it would be a great fit for me professionally. I wasn’t really planning to
look for a job. But my prior love of working with children led me to realize that I had a strong desire to give to other families
the wonderful benefits I had received myself from the school.
I first began working with
young children when I was 16. Aside from babysitting, I worked for the YWCA at a crisis shelter for women and children. I
was in charge of the supervision of young children, often with some type of special need or developmental delay. While the
mothers went to group therapy or looked for employment, I would connect and play with beautiful yet at risk children.
As a student, I took a job
at a correctional facility for adolescents. I was part of the correctional education program, as well as a tutor. I worked
as a juvenile specialist at the Oak Ridge Juvenile Correctional Center for five years in Bon Air, Virginia.
Then
I got married, had two children and chose to be a stay at home mother for eight years.
During that time my older child attended the Sabot School in Richmond Va. This
preschool was a Reggio Emilia inspired program that was cooperative in nature. I enjoyed volunteering in an atmosphere
that valued a high level of parental involvement. It was wonderful to connect with young children and parents. I was able
to witness the needs unique to preschoolers and understand how a teacher encourages a child's self esteem and autonomy. Thus
my love of serving this age group was born.
My main goals as a cooperative teacher at OP
are to acknowledge children as powerful thinkers, help foster joy in learning, support social, emotional, physical and academic
growth, discover their unique gifts to share with the community, and document the preschool journey so kids may gain
a deeper understanding of themselves. I am fully committed to a play centered curriculum that reflects developmentally appropriate
practice and help parents understand the myriad strengths of our program.
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