Nurturing Early Childhood Development with Julie Kalakau

Watch or Listen to the full episode

Interview Transcription

ADRIENNE: 
Welcome back, and thanks for listening to the Team Lally Real Estate Show, home of the guaranteed sold program, or we’ll buy it. I’m Adrienne and I’m Attilio, and if you have any questions, just give us a call at 7999596, or check us out online at Team lally.com

ATTILIO: 
Our guest today is a dedicated advocate for early childhood education from Kailua. She bank began her journey with sunshine school in 1985 as a teacher’s aide. While attending college, she worked her way up to assistant director, developing a deep passion for early childhood education and contributing to the school’s reputation for excellence. After

ADRIENNE: 
working as a child life specialist for 12 years, Julie returned to Sunshine School in 2018 as the director, bringing her extensive experience and dedication full circle, please welcome our guest, Julie Kalakau,

ATTILIO: 
Hey Julie,

JULIE: 
Hi. Good afternoon.

ATTILIO: 
Alrighty. So we just told your story here of

ADRIENNE: 
that. How do we know Julie? We know Julie from a child event,

ATTILIO: 
yes, that we all volunteers first birthday in why not? No, no, wasn’t that one was for kids, basic, kids, psi, basic, yeah, yep. So we had a chance. We got to meet each other there, for sure, yeah. So you spent a long time, a long time, in early childhood development. What you know? What made you passionate about staying, staying with this, this, all this time?

JULIE: 
Well, it’s so funny. When I went to college, I didn’t want to pigeonhole myself, so I got my degree in services and started taking some early childhood classes, and just fell in love with the brain and how important these years are, and then started working with children. And so the Human Services came in handy when I decided to reinvent myself, but my first and foremost love is early childhood. Yeah,

ADRIENNE: 
so,

so, Julie, why? Why is the early childhood education so important?

JULIE: 
You know, early childhood is, what some people might not realize, is it’s from zero to eight, so it’s a huge chunk of time and development, and it’s a time of rapid growth. Early Childhood is a time of rapid brain development, and so there’s so many exciting things happen. I mean, if you just think about a baby, all that they learn by the time they’re three. We don’t learn that much, pretty much in the rest of our lives, to walk, talk, you know, communicate, ask for help, all of the things. So mostly, I really think that early childhood is so important because that’s when their brain is really developing and having rich, meaningful experiences for them to build. You know, all the skills, all the development, language, cognitive, social, all, you know, self help, all of it. That’s why I think early childhood, there’s so many other things, but that’s, I would say, the foremost,

ATTILIO: 
yeah, I think even, you know, as a father with, you know, having three kids, we did all the stuff. We played classical music while they were in the tummy. And then I did, like, flashcards with the kids, you know. And then just, you know, did all of the things that would encourage brain growth even before they even got into preschool. And then one of the things I learned is that it’s very important for parents to have a lot of verbalization, positive stuff, not negative, but actually just talk in front of the kids, words, really

JULIE: 
words, yeah, and, and there is a, there’s many studies, and I can’t quote them right off the top, but that kids that are spoken to, read to talked with, yeah, really have a much larger vocabulary and succeed. So that’s absolutely correct material. Yeah,

ATTILIO: 
the difference in words spoken in in annual basis was like, hundreds of 1000s of dollars. Oh, yeah, different. And so, you know, I’m talking to all you monks out there, so don’t be like, bye.

ADRIENNE: 
I would say also too. Like, if you’re, if you’re a bilingual parent, speak, speak to your children in that second language, because that’s the person that they can really absorb valuable, yeah, that’s

JULIE: 
when the synapses are all building the pathways. So, you know, having those open just opens a greater wealth for them,

ATTILIO: 
all right? So, language, yeah, so let’s talk about, so we talked about PSI a little

ADRIENNE: 
bit. That’s how we met Julie. Was we were all volunteering at a kids basic.

ATTILIO: 
Kids basic, which is the children’s version of the Adult Basic, which is a weekend, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, deal. And

ADRIENNE: 
for the kids, it’s just a Saturday, Sunday, and it’s all done through like experiences and playing and stories and puppets. I mean, I like that kids version better than the adult version, yeah. Well,

JULIE: 
I think that it’s fascinating that it takes us three to four days to get the info and the children gas grasp it in two days. Speaks volumes about their brain, right? Yeah,

ATTILIO: 
and then the it’s just amazing. Because you know, when you go through that program with psi, you just see these kids are like, this is the future leaders of our country, and everything’s gonna be okay. It’s not gonna go to, yeah, go to heck in a handbasket. Because it was very inspiring being able to witness that. So let’s talk about psis. How

ADRIENNE: 
is it involved with the Sunshine School? Yeah. What’s the connection? The connection? So the

JULIE: 
connection is, in 1978 a bunch of graduates that had done the seminar wanted a place where children could really learn in ways that were different, maybe than the regular schools, meaning that they could experience things. It’s okay to make a mistake. That’s how you learn, you know, and really getting the children to be involved in their own learning. And so they created sunshine school. So we are psi child centers, and we do business as sunshine school, and having a place where the staff, the board, all have the same vision for how kids, you know, what we want to provide for excellent education for children makes all the difference. And so, yeah, we this. We’re 39 years old now. Nice. So

ADRIENNE: 
with with the school, like, do you guys have a wait list or, like, if people are interested in getting their children signed up. What does that process look like?

JULIE: 
So Sunshine School, we are so fortunate. We have we’re year round, and we do have a waiting list. And you know, it’s joked around in the community that when you get when you conceive, you need to get on our wait list, which is, which is. Not, not that far off. Yeah. And so, you know, we’re really lucky, and we have so many return families like we have cousins and brothers and sisters. And since I came back into I came back in 2018 after I reinvented myself as a child life specialist, I am getting the next generation so kids that I was their teacher are now coming back as parents. And so it feels like such a special, you know? It just says to me, like that we mattered and that it makes a difference. And that’s really cool. So since I’ve been back, I’ve had eight, eight children that I taught now back as parents. Yeah, yeah.

ATTILIO: 
I think you kind of like, you know, the bad things can be multi generational, like dysfunctionality and not being able to communicate and work through issues. And then the opposite of that, you know, creating little little kids are going to be functioning adults, and now they’re bringing their kids patterns, functioning, positive patterns, multi generational. So,

ADRIENNE: 
So Julie, what is the age range that the school supports? So

JULIE: 
we enroll children from two years six months until the year before they go to kindergarten. So we are truly a preschool.

ATTILIO: 
Yes, preschool, and that’s very critically important. Oh, yeah.

JULIE: 
When I was dating my ex husband, he said, How come you don’t be a real teacher? Yeah, you know, I had to school him in that. This is where all the learning, it’s all the foundation we’re doing, the foundation you guys are in, in, you know, Realty, like, if you don’t have a strong foundation, yeah, it’s all gonna fall apart. So we’re the foundational piece.

ATTILIO: 
And you know, it’s, I think, I think I took preschool. I think I was in Mother of rice.

ADRIENNE: 
Oh, my preschool, they just

JULIE: 
closed. So this is, this is the thing about early childhood right now, early childhood in a crisis, because finding educators, because truly, they’re just not as valued. We were super valued during the pandemic when we kept everybody working. But, you know, a good we lost three major preschools this past year, and one more is going to close next year, and that just makes me really sad. Yeah,

ATTILIO: 
well, it’s good that you guys have this going on in Kailua, because I know a lot of times it’s important that these things be in the communities where the kids live. So hopefully maybe somebody, maybe some other graduates, will come out and say, We’re gonna slay. You know, we’re

ADRIENNE: 
going up on the west side.

ATTILIO: 
What’s that?

JULIE: 
What did you say? Oh,

ADRIENNE: 
I said that. Maybe another one will open up. And let’s, let’s start with up on the website. Yeah,

JULIE: 
that would be great to expand. It’s just hiring teachers right now, any aspiring teachers, this is a really exciting time of growth and development for for their brains, and it’s a really rewarding job. I just want to encourage people like this is really where it all begins,

ATTILIO: 
and then you’re gonna see, you know, it’s like, when you, like you said, when you see these kids, and then you see the parents coming back, it’s like, it’s a, it’s a multi generational reminder of all the good that you’ve done in the community. So volunteers, let’s talk about volunteers and and we are going to come next quarter, and so get your your list ready. I think we needed more planning to make sure that we come in and do it right.

JULIE: 
And you know, so what makes sunshine school such a really cool and special place, yeah, is that we have all kinds of volunteers. We have volunteers from organizations like yours that come and help do trainings for us and work days with us. We also have, like, right now, we’re partnering with the Boys and Girls Club and having the youth come because I really do believe that showing them that this is a really wonderful job and a really wonderful profession, yeah, will help. So we’re going to partner with them. We have a awesome foundation called a okay Foundation. They do all kinds of community service, but they have done projects at our school. They’ve built incredible spaces for kids that are inspiring. And then we have people come and volunteer and do maintenance and, you know, the dirty work speak, you know, but volunteers in any organization, especially a nonprofit, are what really help build the community. You know, when they built the playground, they got the whole Kailua involved, people raising money, people coming to do the work. I mean, and the sunshine school does a lot of things in the community too. So it’s a win, win right now we have a adult with autism as a volunteer doing kind of like skill building and and it’s been really awesome for the kids to see different learners, you know, working and doing different things. So, yeah. If anyone wants to volunteer, give me a holler,

ATTILIO: 
yeah. The other thing too is, I did a lot with my boys in scouting. One one left. He’s gonna go eagle to be an Eagle Scout, but in the scouting community, so this is a shout out to all you Scouters and scouts out there that I think the Sunshine Preschool would be an excellent Eagle project. And if you’re familiar with the eagle projects, but it’s the the actual Scout to reach their final rank in scouting. As as an Eagle Scout needs to coordinate the volunteers, the budgeting, the program, everything they do, everything.

JULIE: 
We had parents, child life specialist. We had a Eagle Scout come and do a toy drive and build a toy chest for the treatment room. It was beautiful, and just to see how hard they work. I mean, it’s all the values that we we hope that the we’re instilling in these children. You know that giving back is part key and part of being a part of a community? Yeah, so

ATTILIO: 
I’m gonna encourage any troops out there on that side, maybe this would be a great eagle project for for those of you out there that need to finish that up and and go Eagle. So

ADRIENNE: 
if you guys want to get more information on Sunshine School, you guys have a nice website that we’ve been screen sharing because we aren’t doing the live stream, live. Oh, yeah. So Sunshine School kailua.com and so you can click through there, and probably, that’s probably the best way to get a hold of Julie. Yes, yes, Sunshine school, kailua.com

JULIE: 
and you know, we’re right on the Kawai Nui Marsh. So this year, we got a grant, and we’re building a lot about culture and our place in the Kuula poco. So a lot of learning this year. It’s going to be exciting.

ATTILIO: 
Hey, and just talk about the training that you guys did, who I know, I came in to do some training, and I thought about the ideal team player. Was that helpful for your group? Oh, 100%

JULIE: 
I mean, it just encapsulates all the values of being a true player as a, you know, on a team, and it’s and it was so helpful, and we still talk about it now. I mean, you know, and I think we’ll revisit, like, just checking in throughout the year, because I think that that’s critical, because it’s easy to fall into, you know, your old habits when programming, yeah, when you’re tired and, you know, feeling unappreciated. So, yeah. So thank you for that. That was such a gift for us. And

ATTILIO: 
it was, it was a request for an endorsement, because it’s, I it’s just something I like to do with local businesses, to to give back to the community, and go in there. And a lot of times you just need, and I like the what you do there, because you’re bringing outside people in to do some training. What were some other training things that you guys did that day? Because I noticed there was something right before I showed up.

JULIE: 
Well, we did. So we really try to give back to our employees, because it takes a whole person. I mean, just like how we approach children, the whole child, the brain, the body, you know, all of it. And just like our staff, so we had a financial person come in and talk about, you know, things that there might not be. They’re young. So what could they do to set up their life for future? So, and then we do, of course, early childhood things, but it’s, it’s not only early childhood, it’s calling in professionals to talk about your team, because wherever you go after this, you’re going to be on a team. Yes, you know, you’re going to need to think about your finances. We do things about nutrition. We do things about man, whatever, all, all of the developmental for being a good person. Well,

ATTILIO: 
that’s, I’m glad that you mentioned that, because it’s for if you need people to fill spots or become teachers, that it’s not just you’re there where they’re doing early childhood learning, but you’re also pouring into them as adults. Great.

JULIE: 
And like, you know, there’s a lot of talk about mental health, like these days, so we do some things on stress reduction and how to be mindful, okay? And that’s why this Hawaiian piece that we’re going to add, and you know, it’s going to be, it’s going to just add, and it’s learning, right? Like we live in this beautiful place, and some of us don’t even know the coolness that surrounds us, so we’re getting some cultural practitioners to come and teach us, like Hawaii Nui Marsh is a culturally relevant place, and we’re going to learn a lot about it this year. I’m excited,

ATTILIO: 
awesome, and it’s literally in your backyard. Well, literally, yeah, well, we’re coming through the end of another show. Yes.

ADRIENNE: 
So Julie, thank you so much for being time to talk to me. I appreciate it Yes, and sharing about your wonderful school and the history. So we really appreciate you being on and sharing with our listeners. Yes, thank

JULIE: 
you for the for your time, and I look forward to seeing you in the next quarter. Yes, we’ll see you soon the team. Thank you so much. Thank

ATTILIO: 
you. Bye, bye. So that is the Sunshine Preschool out there in Kailua.

ADRIENNE: 
Sunshine school, kailua.com.

ATTILIO: 
If you’re thinking about having a child, you might want to, just soon as you get the test back from the rabbit, go get on the waiting list.

Follow Us On Social Media