Assistant Teacher

Hi! My name is Debbie Traugott. I'm the person who opens the center bright and early before the sun comes up each day. I enjoy greeting the children and their families in the mornings when they arrive.

I am recently widowed and was married to a wonderful man for 25 years. I have two children. James is 30 and Kristi is 27. I also have a dog named CoCo and a cat named Toby Marie.

I have been teaching and caring for young children since 1980 as a registered home child care provider. In the past I cared for infants and taught preschool in home. Currently I operate an after school care business in my home near Braun Station elementary. I'm an active member of Home Grown Kids Home Child Care Association and attend local classes and conferences to continue my training and learn about new changes and ideas in early childhood development and education.

Working in the mornings at Playworks has given me the opportunity to keep busy during the day in the line of work I really enjoy. I generally float from room to room and play with the children while their teacher takes breaks and such. I enjoy this, as I'm able to get to know all the children in the center. I believe children learn tremendously through interactions with their peers, adults and environment. Whether it be academic skills like colors, shapes and numbers; or social skills, which are so important to get a grasp of prior to entering the school system.

I also cook for the children. You can imagine the joy in hearing toddlers call out for me when it's time for lunch or preschoolers asking me to cook specific meals for them. They actually give me some great ideas for meal times.

My hobbies include taking photos with my new digital camera, scrap booking and learning about my family genealogy. I'm also a Spurs and huge UT Longhorns fan. My daughter graduates from UT this May?so I'm quite busy.