About me

Hello everyone!  My name is Lesley Florell  My qualifications are a Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Teaching Assistant Certification.  I started teaching the  Online Aboriginal Early Childhood courses for the College of New Caledonia in September, 2008.

Early Childhood Education is my roots and I completed my ECE certification right out of high school.  I was hired by the Child Development Centre in Prince George in their daycare setting.  After a short period of time, the Child Development Centre was looking for an educator to start an integrated preschool for children with diverse abilities in Mackenzie, BC.  I took on the challenge, thinking it would be only for a short period of time.  Little did I know, the small town of Mackenzie has a way of growing on you.

I opened the Growing Years Preschool initially under the support of the Child Development Centre in Prince George and then the Mackenzie Counselling Services. The educators and I worked with many children with many diverse abilities.  I continued to supervise this preschool for the next six years.

After my first baby, I took the next ten years off to raise my two children. They are now sixteen years old (Parker) and twelve years old (Haley).  Time flies by so fast!  During my time off, I finished my Diploma in Early Childhood Education (Infant/Toddler citation and Post Basic Citation in Special Needs) and obtained my Teacher’s Assistant Certification through on-line courses. So, I know the challenges of juggling a family, course work and working too.

The summer of 2008, I began to be a respite intervener for a little boy who is deaf and blind. I also took two intervener courses in July and August and hope to further my education in this field. I am always amazed at what children can teach us. This is my fifth year educating adults and the fifth year for this program to be offered by CNC.

I have been enrolled within the Provincial Instructor courses since 2008 and have been taking one course at a time online.  PIDP 3250 is my last course to complete before the CAP stone.

As a new educator and new learner of the aboriginal culture, I acknowledge that each family/community/nation have differing outlooks and responses to external/internal influences. There is as much diversity within cultures as well as between cultures. The same goes for us and our children.

“There are no two children that are the same.” 

I believe for adults to guide young children, we need to understand ourselves. By sharing our experiences, we will truly learn from one another.

~ Lesley Florell ~