Shunna Muhammad has a busy life. She’s a mother of three with a full-time job who also runs her own business.

As for her spare time? That’s when she helps a charity devoted to a cause that’s dear to her heart — the Bermuda Association for the Education of Young Children.

Mrs Muhammad spoke with Lifestyle about the passion that drove her to it.

Q: When was BAEYC started?

A: It was founded in the 1980s by Louise Caesar, a retired teacher in charge of a government preschool. She’s still part of it now. She went to a conference in the States and got permission to have a chapter in Bermuda. [The late] Barbara Wade, retired supervisor of Bermuda Child Care Centre, also played an important role in starting BAEYC. BAEYC is affiliated with NAEYC, the National Association for the Education of Young Children, which is based in the States out of Washington.

NAEYC deals with policies; they publish books and journals all to do with young children. Here, we gear our efforts to professional development involving teachers. We hope to improve the quality of programmes in their schools.

What age group specifically, are you focused on?

From birth until eight. So we usually deal with nursery schools, private and public preschools and their teachers and primary schools, usually primary one to three.

What’s so important about early childhood education? Where can people go wrong?

We don’t have to prove that early years are important. I think [people are aware there’s] a lot of research that shows that. My main concern is involving children in their education, letting them explore, letting them play, to make sure they’re doing development appropriate activities.

Most schools do everything hands-on, so it sticks better. We used to sit children behind desks and give them papers, handouts, it’s not how I think learning should take place. We need more hands-on activities, getting children to explore more.

How long have you been a teacher?

I’ve been teaching for over 15 years. I’m currently at Warwick Preschool. My first degree is in psychology and I specialised in child development.

I then decided to do my master’s in education. I ended up doing my practicum at Warwick Preschool and I’m still there. I enjoy teaching. It’s a passion. I think all teachers should have that passion.

Your business is also centred around children?

I own the Learning World, an educational toy store specialising in toys that are fun and stimulate learning. Busy!

How old are your children?

My 14-year-old is Shukri. I have a two-year-old, As’ad, and an eight-month-old, Yayra. I think parenthood is truly the best thing.

How do you find the time to juggle everything?

I don’t juggle because I may drop one of the juggling pins — those pins are important to me. To manage everything I’d rather say I keep a healthy balance and, of course, I have family support — I am married — and prayer.

How did you get involved with BAEYC?

At first I was just attending the workshops. We do about two per term and we have an annual conference in April [when we celebrate] the Week of the Young Child.

I became an executive member in 2006 and have been president since 2008.

Do you have a large membership?

Currently, we have executive members. There’s about five of us. I’m the president, Carolyn Roberts is the vice president, Jnayah Berkeley is our secretary and Rosemarie Crichlow and Louise Caesar are our treasurers.

We’re currently doing a membership drive to get more teachers on board.

I believe every early childhood teacher should be involved. I think [they] should be advocates for our profession and that’s how we can move forward for the common good of our future — our children.

Do you offer grants to people interested in teaching young children?

We have a scholarship, the Jocelyn Scotland Scholarship. It’s for anyone entering college.

We usually give it to two awardees per year. It’s open to anybody who is interested in early childhood development.

• People can apply by contacting us at bayecbda@gmail.com.

• Mrs Muhammad’s store, The Learning World, is located at 15 Farmstead Lane, Sandys. Find it on Facebook.