Michael Snow & Katie Pomeroy: Engaging Pre-K Kids with Quality Interaction

In honor of National Teacher Appreciation Week, DEL would like to highlight some of the state’s outstanding teachers from varying programs and areas.

Katie Pomeroy and Michael Snow are instructors for Lewis County Head Start. The two are from the area and enjoy working closely with children in an active and creative environment.

“What I love most about teaching is seeing a child ‘get it,’” said Snow. “There is no greater joy than seeing a child’s eyes light up when they have been working so hard at a skill or concept and it finally all makes sense.”

Pomeroy shares Snow’s views and is happiest when children achieve educational goals.

“For me the most rewarding aspect of teaching is being able to help children bring out the best in themselves and meet their full potential,” she said. “We tend in our society to underestimate the capabilities of children. They can do great things if given the opportunities.”

Snow and Pomeroy are currently utilizing a variety of engaging activities in their classroom to help kids with reading, math, and logical and critical thinking skill sets.

“The kids in my preschool class have been working on a lot of math/number concepts and creating graphs to track their progress,” said Snow. “It is quite astonishing that my partner and I can show them a new concept like creating a chart or graph and moments later they are able to put their new learned skill in action during their own free time," said Snow.

Snow described the class-room activity using dice. Children roll dice and identify numbers on a chart to see which number is rolled the least. 

"30 minutes after that lesson, I caught four kids taking turns rolling dice and keeping track of the numbers that had been rolled on a chart they made themselves,” he said.

Michael Snow helping children use charts to learn numbers.

Beyond numbers, children at Lewis County Head Start are working on literacy and logic.

“Our kids are really engaged in literacy activities right now and we are supporting them in illustrating and labeling their own stories,” said Pomeroy. “All of our children can name at least a few sight works, and some are beginning to sound out words on their own.”

Katie Pomeroy teaching using "Mystery Items."

Pomeroy also noted that children are interested in solving problems and asking the “what if” question.

“We are also encouraging questioning and logical thinking with ‘Mystery Items,’ that the children have to ask questions about in order to identify,” she said.

“Katie & Michael exemplify quality Teacher Interactions through their rich and relevant classroom studies based off the interests/desires of the children in their classroom,” said Debi Hood, director of Lewis County Head Start. “This dynamic duo extends their quality teaching strategies to families through family engagement activities within the classroom with parents regularly facilitating activities within their classroom.”

Thank you Katie Pomeroy and Michael Snow for being dedicated and imaginative instructors for Pre-K children in Washington!