Barbara S. Pinto has worked as a teacher of early childhood education and held other educational functions for the past thirty years. She has taught pre-school, Kindergarten, first and second grade, with the bulk of the experience in Grade One. For the past eight years, she has been a Literacy Coach, mentor and educational consultant. She has co-written curricula materials for the NYC Department of Education, and worked at Random House School Division. Teachers College Reading and Writing Project was a large part of her training, and she contributed to ‘think tanks’ and taught summer institutes there. Barbara resides in NYC with her husband, where she raised two sons who still live in the Metropolitan area.