My Experience
ABOUT ME
Sally D'Italia
Early Childhood Advocate and Expert
For over 30 years, Sally V. D’Italia has been an enthusiastic leader and advocate in the field of early learning and administration. During her career as administrator, Sally managed the first on-site early learning program for a law firm. Sally was also instrumental in the design, development and opening of her current program in its new location. And this was completed on time within a tight deadline! Some of her other achievements include achieving continuous NAEYC accreditation for the program since 1995.
Sally has been an active advocate for quality early learning programs as well as for access to these programs. Over the years, she has served on many committees working towards these goals such as the School Readiness Panel; the Program Quality subcommittee of the State Early Childhood Development Coordinating Council; and the Low Income Investment Fund Advisory Committee. Currently, Sally is co-chair of the Program Funding and Compensation Committee for Under 3 DC and has been appointed to the ECE Equitable Task Force for the DC Council: and co-chair of the DC Directors Exchange. She also serves as a coach for Survival to Revival: Rethinking, Reimagining, and Reconstructing Financially and Programmatically Fragile Child Development Centers (a project sponsored by the DC Early Learning Collaborative).
My Educational Philosophy
I believe that all children should be able to meet the next challenge in life, embracing life-long learning with confidence, curiosity and a participatory attitude. Each child brings an individual and unique way of embracing life. It is my goal to provide the framework that connects expectations with that of the child. Within this framework, we should support growth in skills and abilities of each child that help the child to meet life’s challenges.
The framework begins with the curriculum. A curriculum that helps a child to embrace life-long learning rests upon the emotional development of the child and the teacher’s active participation in this development. I believe that intentional learning experiences and activities that lead to specific outcomes in all growth domains should be an integral part of the curriculum.
The starting point for each child, of any ability, is a sense of self-worth and a feeling of security. Learning occurs throughout the day and children should be encouraged to make their own choices; to explore and create within the structure of the daily routine.
By actively participating in a variety of experiences creates enthusiastic learners and builds a solid foundation for future success. The teacher’s role is to facilitate the learning process through an awareness of each child’s social, emotional, physical and cognitive development.
And just as each child is unique, so is each family. It is the role of the teacher to include the family in a child’s journey of learning; building a relationship that is responsible and supportive. Their goals and family culture must be respected and incorporated into the curriculum. By doing so, the curriculum will fulfill its’ role of supporting a child’s emotional development, a key to successful learning.
Finally, to support children and their families during this journey, there is a need for compassionate, dedicated and strong early childhood educators. Their impact during these early years is great and how they approach teaching and supporting learning is vital to a child’s ongoing development and success. As such, we must support these educators to retain them in order for children to have continuity and consistency.
