Autobiography: Childhood
Autobiography
Arlene Casillas
2/24/2013
For as long as I can remember, I have loved children. Some of my earliest memories are of time spent with my extended family and a house full of children. Our family would get together on the weekends for family time, and me and my closest cousins which were more like siblings would try hard to stay out of trouble. There were no planned activities for us, but we found lots to do, and to get into. I remember secret hiding places, learning to apply makeup, skating, swimming and having fun no matter what activity we did. Perhaps these experiences led to my love for children. I began babysitting for my nieces and nephews at a very young age of thirteen. Every other weekend for the next few years was spent finding fun stuff to do with young children that I took care of. Lucky for me, my older sister enrolled my niece at a family childcare home within walking distance of my high school bus stop. Each afternoon I would go directly from school to get my niece and wait for my sister to arrive after work to pick her up. The provider, Lucile, was so happy and great with the children that I honestly thought this would be a great job for me. She treated the children in her care with such love and warmth that I thought someday I would become a childcare provider or teacher. After graduating Highschool I was speaking to my mother and she had mentioned to me that she was thinking of opening a childcare in her home immediately I was so happy to hear her say this I felt like this was my opportunity and gave me the desire to one day complete a degree in Early Childhood Education. In 1999 my mother opened her licensed daycare she called it Rodarte’s Daycare I started working with her immediately It was wonderful being able to meet new children, new families and caring for them on a daily basis. I worked at Rodarte’s Daycare fourteen years and was privileged to have worked with a very diverse
Arlene Casillas
2/24/2013
For as long as I can remember, I have loved children. Some of my earliest memories are of time spent with my extended family and a house full of children. Our family would get together on the weekends for family time, and me and my closest cousins which were more like siblings would try hard to stay out of trouble. There were no planned activities for us, but we found lots to do, and to get into. I remember secret hiding places, learning to apply makeup, skating, swimming and having fun no matter what activity we did. Perhaps these experiences led to my love for children. I began babysitting for my nieces and nephews at a very young age of thirteen. Every other weekend for the next few years was spent finding fun stuff to do with young children that I took care of. Lucky for me, my older sister enrolled my niece at a family childcare home within walking distance of my high school bus stop. Each afternoon I would go directly from school to get my niece and wait for my sister to arrive after work to pick her up. The provider, Lucile, was so happy and great with the children that I honestly thought this would be a great job for me. She treated the children in her care with such love and warmth that I thought someday I would become a childcare provider or teacher. After graduating Highschool I was speaking to my mother and she had mentioned to me that she was thinking of opening a childcare in her home immediately I was so happy to hear her say this I felt like this was my opportunity and gave me the desire to one day complete a degree in Early Childhood Education. In 1999 my mother opened her licensed daycare she called it Rodarte’s Daycare I started working with her immediately It was wonderful being able to meet new children, new families and caring for them on a daily basis. I worked at Rodarte’s Daycare fourteen years and was privileged to have worked with a very diverse