About the Owner

Here is a little about me:

Photo Credit: Joni James 

My name is Jessica. I am the owner and lead teacher of a small full day private preschool in rural Maine, where I grew up. I have my B.S in Early Childhood Education. My husband and I have two boys of our own. I am inspired by children and enjoy learning and growing along with them.   

For the Love of Children:

I have loved baby dolls my entire life. I used to get mad at my parents when they stepped on my invisible students, while I wrote on my chalkboard in front of my "class." I brought home stacks of worksheets and old book orders on the last day of elementary school, because I knew they would be perfect for playing school and the teacher's would just throw them away. I would fill them out over the summer and then correct them for my students. "What do you want to be when you grow up?" was ALWAYS answered with "a teacher."  It never faltered.  I always envisioned myself teaching Kindergarten. That changed my senior year of college when I took an Early Childhood Administration course. I knew I wanted my own preschool.  I worked for a few years after graduation, gathering experiences and inspiration. In 2006, I opened Inch By Inch Preschool. A small preschool, which has gone through many changes over the last sixteen years as I have changed and discovered more about who I am and what kind of teacher I want to be. 

For the Love of Nature:

I grew up with farm animals. I grew up knee-high in the frog pond. I ran through the field shooing away bugs to save them while my father hayed the field with his horses. I built forts in the second floor of our barn with hay bales.  I looked for fairies and trolls in the woods. As a teenager I attended conservation camp and weekend survival camp. As an adult I love camping and exploring outdoors. It is important to me to  allow time and space for these types of experiences for my own two boys and the children I work with. 

For the Love of Technology:

I have done a lot of soul searching and research to be able to understand my love/hate relationship with technology. I love technology for myself to gain knowledge in my field and network with other teachers around the world. At preschool the children do not have access to tablets, computers or television.  I respect restricted use of it in certain young learning situations. I understand that the population in some programs have less exposure to technology at home, but I feel my preschoolers are fortunate to have those experiences outside of the classroom. I will occasionally use a laptop or computer to show the children real video footage or photos of things they cannot experience in real life (ie. wildlife, landmarks, artists).  I am often asked to look something up on my phone on the playground, usually to search for scientific information on something we have discovered. Play and Socializing come first at Inch By Inch.