About me

Hi, I'm Reb! (Short for Rebecca). I grew up on Long Island in a family with seven kids and recently moved to Queens after living in Western New York since 2014. Before that, I went to Purchase College where I received a BFA in Visual Arts. I started working with families throughout college to support my education and really grew to love my time spent getting to know and grow with the kids.

While working on my art I taught classes at a local arts center in printmaking, bookbinding, and photography for five years. Some of my favorite classes were in partnership with local schools, but the summer camp program that I hosted was my all-time favorite. With groups of up to 15 students, ages ranging from 5-to 9, we would work on a long-term project all week. We created books by either sewing or gluing together drawings, prints and poems made by the students.

I've watched children all my life, so when I officially started babysitting at 18 years old I was really comfortable working with a family that had a newborn and toddler. I spent my summers and winter breaks with this family during the week. I bottle fed the youngest, changed diapers, and made sure both children stuck to their routines. This meant entertaining the toddler while also attending to the infant. We played a lot of games from making up stories, identifying plants and bugs, making drawings for mom, playing with toys, and even taking trips to the park and the pool!

Early on, when I first moved upstate, I spent a year doing after-school care for a family with girls who were 6 and 8. I had a lot of fun with these two. After bringing them home from school we worked on homework with snacks, but it was very important that we always made time for a little dance party or to play with dolls or chalk in the driveway.

The thing I truly value about spending time with children is the importance of play as a way of expanding your world view. I believe that curious minds should be encouraged to explore and that that can look like many different things. From playing pretend, exploring the outdoors, asking questions, and learning to express ourselves, I would be honored to be a part of that path to discovery!