Caitlin K.

My name is Caitlin Kashmanian. Im from a small town in Pennsylvania called Nazareth. I grew up in the country and spent most of my time hanging out with friends or practicing my music. I played piano for 5 years solidly and today still dabble with it. I played cello for 12 years until an injury forced me to change my major in college. I still have the knowledge of 13 years of music theory, music history, and playing knowledge under my belt. I played saxophone in high school and was involved in the high school marching band as a member of color guard. My high school band is nationally known and held the title of best marching band in the nation 3 of my four high school years. I was captain of the color guard my senior year. I started college as a music education major, but had to change majors and started studying business administration and accounting. After three years, I decided my true calling was education. I changed majors to Education and received my associates in December of 2009 for both Education and Business Administration. I continued my studies in education until I decided to move to New Hampshire and take a break. I lived in Plymouth, NH for a year then moved back to PA for a few months before moving to Brooklyn.
I currently hold a full time job as a bank teller/relationship banker at Capital One Bank. Ive been in banking for over 6 years. I never intended to make a career out of it, and have always wanted to work with children. I am also a part-time student at Brooklyn College. Im currently studying Business Administration concentration Leadership and Human Resources, as my job helps pay for business school. Im also working towards my Education degree, but havent added it as my double major at Brooklyn College yet.
I have worked with children since I was in high school. I babysat for the neighbor kids on a pretty regular basis for a few months my sophomore year. I also was a summer camp counselor for the YMCA camp for two years, as well as an assistant counselor for a week at the I.E.S Ecology day camp at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY. While I was a counselor, some of my duties included planning the days activities, doing projects and arts and crafts with the kids, taking them for nature walks, playing games and having fun with the children. I also spent many evenings watching my friends son when she and her husband were both working.
I spent a few years teaching Sunday school at my parents church. I worked with both 6th and 7th graders as well as 2nd and 3rd graders. I enjoyed teaching the children the difference between right and wrong. Being a guide in childrens lives is an important role to play, guiding them in the right direction is my top priority.
As an Elementary Education major, Ive spent time learning about how to teach children, how to adapt my lessons to different learning styles, as well as spent many hours observing and working with teachers in classrooms. In my most recent year of elementary ed. classes, I spent 30 hours in two classrooms, a 1st grade class and a 3rd grade class. I made up lesson plans for both age groups as well as carried out lessons with the aid of the teacher I was working with. My concentrations include Math and Music.
As a babysitter, Ive watched children in the age range of infant to pre-teen (12). As a camp counselor and Sunday school teacher Ive taught age ranges from 4 to 13. My concentration in college is elementary school and I have spent many hours in the classroom with 1st and 3rd graders.
I do not have children of my own as I am still devoting my personal time to my studies and life experiences, but I do plan to have children someday down the road. I have 4 nephews and a niece whom are my absolute joy. I love spending time with them and they love playing with Aunt Caitlin. I currently own a cat named Lula. She is the sweetest cat and a pleasure to have as my fur-baby. I grew up with many pets including cats, dogs, lizards, fish, and small animals like rabbits, hamsters, and mice. So, I consider myself well versed in the duty of animal care.
I have been involved in the past with volunteering. Ive done a lot of community work through my parents church back in Pennsylvania. Ive worked at soup kitchens and done community clean ups with different groups including the Girl Scouts and the marching band service sorority Tau Beta Sigma. Ive also continued to do volunteer work through my job at Capital One. Every year we have a week where we focus strongly on community service; this past year I helped at the PAL youth center in Harlem.
As a caregiver, my highest priority is providing guidance for children in making the right decisions and opening their eyes to new things. I am an educator and, in my family, learning is the most exciting and valuable gift any child can receive. I absolutely love exploring nature, learning new things, going to museums, seeing plays and concerts, any sort of thing that can open my eyes to something new. When I spend time with kids, I always try to find a way to expand their knowledge, whether it is looking at the ladybug on the window sill up close with my 3 year old nephew, or catching fish and salamanders in the creek with my camp kids.
I make sure to keep in mind parental requests whenever given. Children should have fun, but it needs to be supervised and their safety must come first. I have never had an incident as a sitter, and as a camp counselor I dealt with your run of the mill camp injuries like scraped knees and bee stings.
Ive dealt with everything from stinky diapers to sticky fingers and faces. I love taking care of children and watching them as they discover the world around them. I love playing learning games and thinking games with kids as well as be active with them. Children need to get exercise and I am absolutely willing to have fun and play games with them. I enjoy the laughter of children when theyre having fun and nothing feels better to me than being worn out after a day of running around. I wouldnt consider myself an expert at any sport, but I have a good understanding of most sports and I love playing if I get the chance.
I consider myself a healthy individual. I am a vegetarian and do my best to make sure I eat healthy foods. I was not always a vegetarian and can cook pretty much any sort of food if given the opportunity. I love to cook and bake. I also make sure I get exercise on a regular basis. I bike to work sometimes and walk everywhere (what New Yorker doesnt?). I recently ran in the Spartan Sprint at Citifield. I love being active and think children should be active as well. I prefer playing outdoors to playing video games. If inside play is a must, I prefer thinking games and board games. I was a child in a time when there were no cell phones and in the summer you had to use your imagination to make your own fun, not rely on some video game to take you somewhere through a T.V. screen. I know there are educational video games out there and am not opposed to playing them, but I prefer to experience life first hand.

Additional services: Meal preparation, Laundry, Light housekeeping, Swimming supervision, Crafts, Potty training, and Travel with family.

Rate: $15/hour – $19/hour

Child Ages:

3 weeks - 9 years

Smoker:

No

CPR Certified:

No

Hours of Operation:

Early afternoon: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Early evening: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Early morning: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Late afternoon: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Late evening: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Late morning: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.