Starting With My Why

Children are curious beings.

As the founder and director of a Montessori Preschool, I dived into the curiosity pool with my students everyday.

I would splash in their world of wondering and find myself swimming from one lesson to another. Engaged, connected and energised by our learning and growing together.

I discovered that I was a curious being too, and I was way beyond my toddler years when I revisited my toddler phase of asking, 'Why?'

The difference between my toddler Why? phase and my adult Why? phase, is that I directed my Why questions inward instead.

If you're here, then I imagine you're curious about a few things pertaining to parent coaching and who I am as a parent coach. That makes sense to me, and I'm so happy that you are here.

Starting With My Why

Why did I choose a Montessori Teaching Qualification?

To prepare myself for parenting. That's right! I had been married for a year, and my husband and I had started discussing our dreams for starting a family. I quickly put our dream on hold as I insisted that I first needed to educate myself on raising a child with intention. I had years of experience with babysitting, and I even took a Gap Year to be an Au Pair for a family with 3 children under the age of 3 - so I had an idea of what taking care of children entailed. I was patient, energetic, adventurous and young. That wasn't enough for me. I wanted to be prepared. So I found a Montessori Teacher training course and signed up. The Montessori philosophy is rooted in respect for the child and nurtures their unique and natural desire for understanding the real world around them. Montessori approached child development with a holistic view, this was most appealing to me.

Why Did I Become A Teacher?

Half way through my part-time teacher training, I resigned from my full time job and enrolled as a full time student. I was fascinated by what I was learning, and I saw my passion and purpose come into clearer view as I progressed through a child's stages of development. I wanted to be a Montessori Teacher because I wanted to give children the experience of feeling respected and appreciated for who they were.

I wanted children to love school, and for school to feel like an extension of the home.

I wanted to provide an experience of school that I only remember enjoying with a select few teachers. 

Why Did I Open A Montessori Preschool?

Our dream finally came true and I found out I was pregnant with our first son while I was teaching at a Montessori school. I worked throughout my pregnancy and loved the environment I was working in. I was fortunate enough to have the choice to stay home with my baby and be his full time mom for his first year of life. In that time, I knew that I wanted to spend more time with my son, and I also knew that I wanted to get back into the classroom.

My husband made my dream come true by finding a property we could develop into our very own school. I opened the school to create my version of that home away from home school environment. I created a school for my son and his friends to feel at home in. I created an environment where parents could feel welcome too, secure in the knowledge that their child was in loving hands. 

I wanted a school that was  overflowing with opportunities to explore and experiment, play and participate in activities that were developmentally directed to each stage of a child's growth. I dedicated 9 years to making this vision a reality,

Why Did I Become A Parent Coach?

I was forced out of the classroom in 2020 due to the COVID19 pandemic, which resulted in my preschool being closed for 4 months. During that time, I came to build deeper relationships with the parents of my students,

as they became a part of my 'homeschooling teaching staff.' As I prepared take home activity bags, recorded video lessons and shared lesson plans with parents, it became clear to me that the joy of learning was waning.  Overwhelmed, anxious and exhausted, parents were trying to balance working from home, teaching their children and managing their own mental health. As I listened to parents, I realised that I wanted to support parents better, so that they could be the support their children needed.

I believe that a parent is their child's first teacher. I know that children look up to their parents as the model for how to live and be.

As beautiful as my school environment was, as passionate as I was about making my lessons interesting and developmentally appropriate, as much as I thought of each child as my own and loved them as such - each child still went home to a parent they adored even more.

I became a parent coach because I want parents to feel engaged, connected and energised in their parenting experience.

I became a parent coach because I believe that children deserve to feel confident in the knowledge of their parents love and understanding of who they are and what they need.

I became a parent coach because I believe that parenting requires preparation.

I've spent many years with toddlers who ask 'Why?' and I've enjoyed every sparkly eyed question, secure in my knowing the reasons behind the questions. I love wading through the curiosity pool with my snorkel and mask on, as a witness to a young child's discoveries.

As a parent coach, I've become the curious toddler, asking parents 'Why?' as we dip our toe into the wide and wonderful ocean of empowered, intentional parenting.

"Success comes when we wake up every day in that never-ending pursuit of WHY we do WHAT we do." - Simon Sinek

As parents, our children's success comes from our clarity of WHY we choose to parent the way we do.