Meet Mrs. Shea

My first name is hardly a secret -- but I so miss teaching (particularly reading, which I was always my first love) that I can't resist going by Mrs. Shea here at On The Lap.

I taught fifth grade for four years before bringing my daughter, Bea, home from the hospital. She was too mesmerizing to every consider signing another teaching contract. Now, at just over two years old, I have the delight of teaching her from the coziness of a down comforter and a sea of pillows. And in our jammies. It just doesn't get better -- or won't, until we welcome our next daughter in early May!

I graduated summa cum laude in Elementary Education with a state-certified reading endorsement. I even served as the upper-grades reading coordinator, which was both a delight and terror. I am beyond passionate about the role reading plays in nurturing a child, and most particularly in helping them become well-rounded. Reading is more than phonics and even comprehension -- it's a tool to teach values, consequences, empathy, critical thinking, meditation, specific subject matter, and of course, has a lovely "sheer enjoyment" factor.

I can't wait to spill some of the strategies I've been using with Bea to help her love books and build a strong foundation for her future reading attempts. (And share a few things I learned in the upper grades, too!)