I have extensive experience working with children. I started babysitting when I was 11 and began coaching gymnastics when I was 14. I tutored math and reading to kids of all ages. From ages 13-18, I volunteered as a special needs gymnastics coach working mainly with children on the autism spectrum. I learned so much from the special needs families about how to live in community with others, support each other unconditionally, and how to see the world through the eyes of people different from myself. After graduating high school, I spent a semester in Nicaragua volunteering at a children's home where my team assisted the staff and provided after school activities for the kids. In college, I was the president of an organization that offered free swim lessons to Spanish-speaking families in the community who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford them. I also nannied for a family in college and was responsible for picking up the younger children (4 and 6) from school, driving them to activities, making dinner, as well as helping out with the older siblings (14 and 16) as needed. I have taken CPR and basic life skills trainings many times. For my current family, I wake the kids up and get them to school, prepare breakfast and snacks and pick them up in the afternoon. Until dinner, we play games and sports, talk, do homework, art, or cook. I speak entirely in English with them and make an effort to challenge their vocabulary and reading skills.