Stephanie M. Nanny in Baltimore, MD 21229. Looking for work as a live out nanny.

Creative, energetic, patient, and consistent are 4 words that best describe me.

          I grew up inBaltimorein a family of 5. I have a younger sister and brother. My mom was a stay at home mom for the first 12 years of my life and then went back to work as a teacher. It is partly from my mom and partly from my 6 years of working in the educational field, that have developed my philosophies of interacting with children.

          Children are creative sponges that seek out everything in the world. There is nothing worse than stifling their quest for the unknown and the new. As an educator, my place in life to show children as much as I can, encourage their imaginations and curiosities, and to keep them safe.

          Some of my most favorite interactions with children are when they are having new experiences. There is noting more rewarding than watching the eyes of a child light up the first time they encounter a new and fun experience.

          How do I go about making sure I maintain my philosophies? Easy, I play with the kids. I get dirty with the kids. I do everything that they do with them. I figure that at the end of the day if a child is not covered in some sort of dirt, sand, sweat, glue, glitter, paint, or what ever I have not done my job correctly.

          I am currently an early intervention instructor for children with Autism and other language based developmental disorders at theTrellisSchool. We are a Verbal Behavior program. This program has a great deal to do with shaping me as an adult.

          I will give you a little background on what a Verbal Behavior program does. We teach through play. Children are meant to play. This is how they develop who they are. This is how they learn what their interests and strengths are. In our program we follow the interests of the child and teach through play. We call it student lead teacher directed. This sort of teaching procedure requires a great deal creativity and fast thinking on the instructors part.

          The second element of our program is all about behavior shaping. We positively reinforce the good and desirable behaviors. This creates a more positive and rewarding environment. This by no means suggests that I do not believe in addressing behaviors that are not as desirable. I firmly believe that there are consequences for breaking rules, but I also believe that when children are rewarded for their good behaviors they take note. They would much rather have rewards than consequences and when they are encouraged with rewards they will do as much as possible to make sure that the rewards do not stop.

          So now that I have stated my philosophy, I would like to address the more fun side of who I am.         What do I like to do in my free time? I am not very good at sitting still and I never have been. I always need to be doing something.

          My husband and I play in an intramural football league on the weekends. We love it! We love playing football and watching football (GO RAVENS :)). When we are not playing football we are always bouncing around town. We love going to all the parks, museums, festivals, and everything thatBaltimorehas to offer.

          When we find ourselves at home, I still can't sit still. I am very into crafting. You name it, I do it. Scrapbooking, knitting, sewing, painting, I do it all and I am always looking for new and fun ideas. I actually can't wait to have kids one day so I can have a real excuse to do all the fun crafts that kids get to do. If I am not crafting then I am working in one of our 4 gardens (2 flower gardens and 2 vegetable gardens),helping my husband with repairs around the house, or cooking.

          All in all, I consider myself well rounded, energetic, fun, friendly, attentive, and pretty easy going. I can't wait to meet you and start working with your family.