I Love My Job

People who know me well know I love children & I have an incredible passion for anything that has do with children. In fact, my order of priority is

1. God
2. Family
3. Children’s ministry (yes dealing with children is a ministry on its own)

So, with a business degree under my belt and work experience in the financial sector I went off to do a masters in Early Childhood Education and then made my passion my full-time job. Today I am an Early Childhood Educator (Professional), I own & run a preschool (The Leabridge School, Ikeja, Lagos), I teach and I am loving it.

One of my many aims in my chosen profession is to help children love learning. This is because when a child loves to learn the job of the teacher becomes easier. This is one of the foundations that The Leabridge was built upon. So far (God helping us) we haven’t had one child who complained about going to school or who did not want to come to school.

At The Leabridge we make learning fun. One of the ways being some of the activities we do. To an onlooker the children simply look like they are playing but in reality, an element of the day’s study plan is infused and as the children play or engage in the activity they are also learning.

We believe every child is talented / gifted, we believe every child is a leader, we believe every child has the potential to become great and we work with every child to bring forth this greatness.

At The Leabridge we aim to give each child a solid foundation in life both academically and socially. At The Leabridge we are dedicated to raising world changers and superstars.

 

My name is ‘Deola Olowolafe.

I am an Early Childhood Professional

I am the Head of School at The Leabridge School

 

#TheLeabridge

#TheLeabridgeKidsRock

#TheLeabridgeSchool

TEACHING OUR CHILDREN EMPATHY

Hi there,

Something happened to me today and I would like to share it with parents and teachers out there. Its holiday time here in Nigeria so the boys and I go to work (The Leabridge) together. So like most kids do during the holidays they eat more than 3 meals a day. What that means for me is cooking enough food to last them till about 6pm as well as having some back up snacks.

But today I decided not to cook rather I took the leftovers in the fridge for the boys with the hope that I will buy lunch. I was surprised when my older son walked up to me and said “mum my brother and I have decided that you have the food while we just have our snacks”.

They had noticed that there was only 1 bowl of food rather than our usual 3 and automatically they knew I wasn’t planning to eat. So, they gave up their meal so mummy could eat. My boys are 11 & 8 (9 next month). I was really touched by their act of empathy. They thought about the well-being of someone else over their own. I am so proud of these boys and I thank God for the young men they are going to become.

Empathy is not something we see very often in our society. Slogans and quotes such as ‘survival of the fittest’, ‘every man for himself’ ‘ look out for #1’ etc. have become the order of the day. You see little children exhibiting an ‘entitlement behavior / mentality’ i.e. my way or no way. Being the best seems more important than being the nicest. What type of society are we building?

Its important we help our children understand the need to be empathetic. Encourage them to be nice to each other. “Be Nice” is one of the positive words we use a lot at The Leabridge. At times it’s funny when you hear the children say it to each other when one of them is being naughty.  But it’s the truth.

We need to help the children see that being nice is just as important as being the best. And the best way to teach them is to practice it ourselves. Be nice to the children, be nice to others make a conscious effort to raise kind children.

Always remember children do what you do not necessarily what you say.

We made Top 20 Preschools in Lagos

I am so excited and i just can’t hide it.

The Leabridge was listed as one of the top preschools in Lagos, Nigeria  by a reputable school guide. So glad that our hard work is being noticed by others. This is so encouraging and it just makes us feel the need to even do more.

A big thank you to all The Leabridge parents.

Thank you for trusting us.

20 Best Schools in Lagos, Nigeria.

Happy Father’s Day

Dear Dad

Thank you for your love, support & guidance.

Thank you for being the perfect example of what a gentleman should be. Above all thank you for being my super hero & playmate.

I love you.

Your number #1 fan 🥰🥰🥰

The Leabridge Promise

Cooking 101

We have a saying in Yoruba language which says ‘to omo re, ko le fun o ni isimi’ loosely interpreted it means ‘raise your child in such a way that it will give you peace of mind’. I’m so sure this saying was gotten from the scriptures

Proverbs 22: 6

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

I’m so proud of my boys (8 & 10), they are simply the best. Don’t get me wrong my kids are not perfect according to the world’s standards but according to the grace of God which I enjoy they are the best.

My boys are like any typical boy child, plays a lot, makes a mess, football lover, doesn’t do any chores until mummy has repeated herself like 4 or 5 times and all other things that we mums get to enjoy.  But like I say ‘I am theirs to run up, down & around the bend and back again’.

At the moment we are working on being independent. I want my kids to be able to make some decisions & do somethings on their own without mummy always having to be there or deciding for them.

My boys love to eat so they come into the kitchen a lot and they know their way around better than their dad. In fact they come to his rescue when I’m not home and he has to go into the kitchen.

My boys are semi-food critics too. I tried my hands at baking bread the other day & my younger son did not hold back on me at all when he said “mum this is not bread its biscuit in fact it just too hard’. So you know the young men am dealing with.

So mum decided that they need to start cooking e.g. noodles & fried eggs for themselves.  The first lesson I gave was on the gas cooker. I rounded up my lesson by saying if we mess with the gas cooker then we will all be seeing Jesus earlier than we thought. So whenever they want to cook they call on mum to help with turning on the burner which am happy to.

So far they have made noodles & fried eggs with love & assistance from mummy But this week they went all out to fry eggs by themselves all I did was turn on the burner. And they both did a great job & it tasted nice too.

I’m so proud of my boys

My days of kitchen retirement are slowly approaching 💃🏿💃🏿💃🏿💃🏿💃🏿

Art at The Leabridge

The world’s 🌎🌍🌏 next greatest artists 👩🏾‍🎨🎨👨🏾‍🎨🎨 are at The Leabridge.

For every child, play!

@vangoghmuseum

@unesco

@unicefeducation

#michaelangelo

#rembrandt

#vincentvangogh

#leonardodavinci

#fridakahlo

#pablopicasso

#theleabridge

#theleabridgeschool

#theleabridgekidsrock

#learningthroughplay

#makelearningfun

#ForEveryChild

#Play

My Boys

Something funny & incredible happened in my house the other day. Like I have said on this blog before am blessed with 2 wonderful boys who are now aged 10 and 8. Believe me when I say they are a blessing, they really are.

So, the other day (a beautiful Saturday morning when I had a million and one things to do before noon because I had an appointment later in the day). I was going about my chores and I could hear my boys chatting away like they normally do. I don’t know what was said but the next thing I heard was ‘I can’t wait for you to leave this house and go to boarding school, I will finally have the room to myself I have always wanted my own room’.

I heard this and I thought ‘oh boy these boys are at it again’ but I have learnt not to get myself involved in their arguments because at the end of the day they both blame me so I simply kept quiet and listened. My older son said ‘ yes am going to go to boarding school & you will be at home all alone and you can have the room to yourself’. The next thing I heard came as a shock, my younger son burst into tears. Then he asked his brother why he would want to go away to boarding school knowing fully well that he won’t see him everyday.

I tell you I was as shocked as you. This same boy that was just upset with his brother and wanted their room to himself is now crying about missing this same brother. I was giggling behind the door (couldn’t afford for them to catch me eaves-dropping). The funny aspect is that boarding school is not till next year and he is crying now at the mere thought of the future.

I thought about the innocence of a child and wondered what the world would be like if all the adults retained that innocence. There will be no malice, hatred, revenge, war, starvation etc.

Yes he was upset with his brother but it was only for a moment.

As much as my boys have their moments (arguing) I know they love each other deeply.

#MumsBoys  #ILoveMyBoys  #MummyBoys  #MumToBoys

Summer School 2018 @ The Leabridge

Teaching, The Most Fulfilling Job

When you ask people about the career they think is the most fulfilling; you will hear all sorts.

Doctors will say its theirs because they are able to save lives. Inventors will say its theirs because they come up with new things and new ways of doing things. Engineers will say its theirs because they are able to build things and so on.

If you ask me, I would say it is TEACHING. TEACHING is the most fulfilling & most profitable career I know and I will tell you why.

Something remarkable happened to me on Sunday at church. I am a teacher & the coordinator for Junior Church (Kids church – from ages 2 to teenage). Some year ago, I had 2 students, one a boy who was then in primary school (year 5 or 6) and his sister who was then in secondary school. They moved to another side of town so they stopped coming to church. Sometime after that, I had also been asked to go and serve in another Parish of the church as well.

About a year or so ago I bumped into their mum who told me how well they were doing and I was really pleased.  And then on Sunday I got a pleasant surprise.

I saw a young man walking towards me with a smile he looked familiar but he was much taller than I remembered. He said good morning and I realized that it was the same little boy I used to know. I asked how they knew where I was and they said they knew the name of the church and they road it was on (a very long road) and simply took the bus all the way till they saw the church banners and knew I was there.

My boy is now a teenager should be doing his O’ levels next year, the girl is in university in her third year studying medicine. I am so proud of them and the fact that they had come looking for me, was even more fulfilling. It made me know / believe that all my time in this very ‘Humble Profession’ is worth every moment.

Today I would like to celebrate every dedicated teacher out there. And I would like to encourage us ‘whatever you find your hands doing, do it well’. Let’s continue to do our BEST.

I thank God for the grace and privilege to help shape the lives of children and I pray for more wisdom to do it the right way (His Way).

‘Deola