An Educator Who is Creatively Educating the Hearts of Many
An Educator Who is Creatively Educating the Hearts of many, Teacher Jennifer Lee Quattrucci grew up in a very close- knit Italian family. Time spent together was more valuable than anything.
Jennifer Lee Quattrucci believes that the simple pleasures of life such as cooking and sharing a meal, playing games, and reading together should be cherished. Valuing relationships over content while having high academic expectations for her children and students is part of her teaching.
“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” ~Aristotle
Jennifer taught kindergarten for 22 years in the city of Providence and second grade for the past two years. She has been teaching in the inner city of Providence, Rhode Island for more than 23 years.
Her classroom is an environment where children are excited about learning and are allowed to learn at their own pace.
“I believe that in a world where children are rushed from place to place, often on devices, we need to create an environment where they are given time and allowed to focus, to think, to create and to learn.”
AUTHOR, TEACHER AND BLOGGER
This amazing teacher recently published her first book titled, Educate the Heart. She loves to share ideas that she knows can impact children. This is one of the reasons she blogs.
CREATIVE ENCOURAGEMENT
Her mother and father both encouraged her love of literature while her dad took her and her sister to the library quite often. Sewing outfits based on storybook characters with her mom, they would enjoy having fun creating outfits for her dolls.
THE STUDENT BECOMES THE TEACHER
Jennifer always wanted to be a teacher. In her own words:
“I can remember being five years old in kindergarten and going home and setting up my stuffed animals and dolls to play school. Reading to them the stories my father read to me was magical. Drawing and painting, I would create shoe box dioramas and mobiles based on the stories I loved.”
As she got older, she remained an avid reader and always loved learning. What she enjoyed most of all was working with young children.
“I loved helping them learn and to see them smile when they enjoyed a story or special activity. I spent a great deal of time with my younger cousins and they quite often became my “students” as we read and discovered different topics to explore.”
With her family, she then experimented with cooking, baking, making up games, taking apart toys, and just having fun researching different topics with our World Book Encyclopedias.
This is how she still teaches today.
IF YOU WERE IN HER CLASSROOM
What you would find is that her classroom activities and learning experiences are hands-on, developmentally appropriate, literature based, and inspire authentic learning.
Her book EDUCATE THE HEART is her book which includes 180 screen-free, hands-on, creative ideas and lesson plans for classroom teachers of students PreK to Grade 6.
Educate the Heart: Screen-Free Activities for Grades Prek-6 to Inspire Authentic Learning is truly a work of heart!
This valuable book, includes ideas for:
- Collaborative art projects
- Proper ways to encourage mathematical discourse
- STEM challenges
- Literacy center ideas
- Author study favorites
- And so much more!
She wants her book to inspire educators to make the most of their time with their amazing students so we, as a teaching community, can continue to create meaningful moments.
It is so important to provide students with the skills, support, and confidence they need to become their best selves.
“These activities have been needed now more than ever as we have been forced into distance learning. Technology keeps us connected in valuable ways but children need a healthy balance of screen-free authentic learning and technology-based experiences.”
GIVING CHILDREN FREEDOM
Jennifer gives children, including her own, the freedom to be themselves and provide them with an environment of open-ended exploration and encouragement.
SOMETHING MOST PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ABOUT JENNIFER
When she is not working, she is actually very quiet and prefers the company of one or two people at a time.
HOW SHE STAYS CREATIVE
Waking up with ideas is easy for this dynamic teacher. She thinks it is because she is constantly reflecting on what she does. “I’m constantly connecting with like-minded amazing people.”
FAVORITE BOOKS
A memorable book is one that you can connect with on different levels and reflect upon during different times of your life, she expresses.
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White is one of her favorites, because of the beautiful friendship between Charlotte and Wilbur. These quotes sum it up beautifully:
“Wilbur never forgot Charlotte. Although he loved her children and grandchildren dearly, none of the new spiders ever quite took her place in his heart.”
“You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing.”
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton because of the relationships of the characters and the messages woven within.
“It seemed funny to me that the sunset she saw from her patio and the one I saw from the back steps was the same one. Maybe the two different worlds we lived in weren’t so different. We saw the same sunset.”
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Impacting the lives of her children and the many children she has and will have the pleasure of teaching, that is what Mrs. Quattrucci wants to be known for. She would tell her 9 year old self to “Be yourself and follow your heart.”
TEACHER JENNIFER’S SON, WILLIAM, SHARING HIS 60 SECOND PUPPET PERFORMANCE:
(Forward to minute 16:00 below to see it)
HAPPINESS IS when other people discover their passions and use their talent and hard work to bring joy to others.
To learn more about an educator who is creative, like Jennifer Quattrucci, go to her blog at: https://www.mommyteacherfashionista.com/
To interact and learn more from Jennifer, join our next talk show chat at “Educate the Heart,” a private Facebook Group for parents.
Attend her upcoming webinar in June – click here to sign up.