A Day in the Life: Preschool Teacher

DROP-IN:

“I love it when they go from, ‘I can’t do it!’ to ‘Traci, I did it!’ That’s the very best part.”
Preschool teacher Traci Castleberry

Not Exactly Child’s Play

By Stephanie Abbajay

Though most people would run from the prospect of spending 10 hours a day with 10 three-year-olds, Traci Castleberry embraces it.

Castleberry, 49, of White Hall is a preschool teacher at Sonshine Kids in Jerseyville where she spends 40 hours a week helping the little ones learn and grow.

“I absolutely love my job,” she said. “I love watching them learn new things, I love watching their eyes light up when they discover something new and I love talking and listening to them. It’s wonderful.”

Castleberry is a professional child caregiver with advanced training and a child development associate’s certification. She has been a caregiver for eight years, seven at Sonshine Kids. Before working with children, Castleberry did factory work, which she found less than fulfilling.

“I hated it,” she said. “I always loved being around kids and I just decided that since I hated my job, I was going to quit and do something I loved instead, and that’s how I got into child care. The pay is low and there are no benefits, but I am very happy with my job.”

A typical 10-hour day for Castleberry starts at 6 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. What may look like child’s play to the casual observer is actually a carefully choreographed curriculum that is designed to help each child grow and develop. Castleberry schedules each day around the core areas of pre-school development.

“We work on fine motor skills, which means finger manipulation, like threading beads and doing puzzles,” she said. “We work on gross motor skills, like running and jumping, for the large muscle groups. We do art sensory, which means something artistic with a sensory component to it, like using shaving cream or bubbles to create something. And, of course, we work on letters and the alphabet, reading, circle time and more.”

Castleberry said she is exhausted at the end of the day.

“It doesn’t hit me until I get home,” she said. “When I go home my husband says, ‘You never talk,’ but I talk and listen so constantly and so intently to my three-year-olds that I am tired of talking when I get home.”

Castleberry said her favorite part is seeing her charges accomplish something that they didn’t think they could.

“I love it when they go from ‘I can’t do it!’ to ‘Traci, I did it!’ That’s the very best part, seeing them accomplish something on their own. And that is a very important step for them, to accomplish things for themselves and to feel a sense of pride in themselves.”

Castleberry added that the little things really add up to a child feeling self worth and a sense of accomplishment.

“Snapping their snaps, buttoning their buttons, turning on the lights. Parents are so busy these days that oftentimes these little steps are overlooked,” she said. “But these are so important to a child’s development, especially at this age.”

Sonshine Kids offers day care and preschool from infant age to five-years old. Castleberry worked with infants before moving to preschool, but the center is small enough where she sees all the children every day. She said the hardest part of the job is when the children leave to go to school.

“I’ve known these kids since they were infants,” she said. “I see them every day for five years and then they go off to school and it breaks my heart. I fall in love with them and the hardest part is saying goodbye.”

Low pay and no benefits doesn’t sound like a recipe for a rewarding career, yet Castleberry loves teaching preschool and feels confident that she is doing the most important job in the world.

“I know why I am doing this,” she said. “It’s an investment in the future.”