Meet Jennifer, our 2010 TeacherCaregiver of the Year

Two families sharing Jennifer's services for over three years, share their experiences:

"We feel very fortunate to have found Ms. Jennifer through TeacherCare, and based on that experience, eagerly refer other parents to TeacherCare every opportunity we get. Our daughters have grown and blossomed in Ms. Jennifer's care. She has been with the girls through every major developmental stage from crawling and walking to talking and now pre-reading...We always know that the girls are have fun and enriching days."

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Robin, a school administrator, shares her experiences with Laura:

"Laura has been with our family since our oldest was 3 months old. It is now impossible to picture our life as a family without her...As a school administrator who evaluates teachers as a part of my job, I have found that the most effective teachers are those that have the ability to anticipate a student's action or response...and seize that moment. Laura seizes such moments with our two little boys each and every day."

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Joanna, a single, professional mom in Chicago shares her experiences with Brandi:

"William has cerebral palsy and does not walk or talk. When I hired Brandi, I explained I was looking for someone who would push him amd help him achieve his full potential...Brandi has gone above and beyond my expectations...She is a true partner in raising my children to be the best they can be."

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Michele, mother of 18 month old Camron, shares her experiences with Kristin:

Ms. Kristin is not only the PERFECT teacher and caregiver - she is an amazing playmate for Camron...She is compassionate and caring and uses every interaction with Camron as a learning opportunity. There is no way I can ever compensate Ms. Kristin for the quality of time she spends with Camron when I am not able to be there."

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"Do you know what a teachable moment is? Do you know what to say when your child asks for peas and carrots for breakfast? Don't worry if you don't. I didn't know these and many other things about nurturing children until I met our TeacherCaregiver, Leslie Poland..."

"Terry has shaped the lives of our children in so many ways, responding to each of them uniquely and personally in every area (socially, emotionally, and cognitively) every moment of the day. She understands each child's developmental level and is in tune to their individual needs..."

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"Leila was extremely good at structuring the children's days. She never turned on the television. Instead she would get our instruments out, and they would sing and make music, or do arts and crafts, run or skate, read and much more. Nothing was ever forced: everything was fun. The result is that our girls love learning!"

"Karen creates a great balance of home-based and extra-curricular activities for the children. We consider ourselves very blessed to have such a kind, intelligent and loving person taking care of our two boys as if they were her own..."

"My TeacherCaregiver experience has been amazing. I'm learning skills now that will ensure that I continue to grow as a teacher and that I become an excellent parent in the future. I would suggest TeacherCare to anyone looking for a quality individualized education for their child..."

"I have been teaching with this wonderful family for almost six months... The family welcomed me so graciously with open arms into their home, and I sensed that a deep bond would be formed very quickly. My connection with Adam (age 5) and Sadie (age 3) was immediately recognizable, and it was evident that I had made the best decision possible by joining this amazing team..."

"I began working with Jake when he was three-months old. My career has been undeniably rewarding. Jake has progressed rapidly, and I have evolved and grown as an educator and caregiver. Ours is an ongoing and ever-changing, learning experience..."

"I provide children with confidence as they learn about the world. Each child's strengths and natural abilities are windows to heir learning. I help children build a strong foundation for the future. How? I find out how the child learns (i.e. through auditory, visual, tactical, etc.) and then shape instruction through a combination of these elements. When I work one-on-one with a child and with a parents support, the young child develops a broader perspective on life and learning than he or she might in a group setting. Together, the benefits are exponential."

"Rebecca brings intelligence and thoughtfullness to all aspects of her position as a TeacherCaregiver. She is a gift to our boys and to our whole family! Not only do we trust her to keep our boys safe and happy, we know she genuinely cares about them and wants them to thrive. Rebecca is a real professional. From planning daily activities for our oldest son to making sure the baby gets tummy time, Rebecca is knowledgeable about developmental milestones and makes sure that she is working with each of the boys in a developmentally enriching way."

Mom shares her experience with Courtney:

" Anna is tremendously happy now! Courtney is the greatest! Every night, we come home and marvel at how happy Anna is and how much progress she has made with Courtney. Courtney takes such wonderful care of our little girl and I will forever be grateful. Every day, I come home and they have done something fun and new and exciting and educational."

Mom shares her experience:

"In choosing childcare for our 2 young children, we felt it was important that our caregiver have a background in child development and/or teaching. And more importantly, we were looking for someone who would understand our parenting philosophy and work with us to carry that philosophy through every day. We consider AnnMarie a partner in parenting - we work together and the children see us a team. I heard about TeacherCare from several other working moms who had a great experience."

Leslie shares her experience with Amy...

Our experience so far has been great, and given some of the challenges that some of my friends have experienced with their child care situtations, I'm really glad we chose the path we did, and equally glad that we are able to work with Emily, our TeacherCaregiver. I come home every day to three smiling faces and I trust Emily's judgement and her ability to handle situations at home. She is very observant with the girls moods and physical well being, and knows when to alert me to a serious situation, or wheather it can wait until I get home. She has been very diligent in taking pictures and movies for me, so I don't miss out completely on the fun Eleanor and Evelyn are having. Emily has the same level of energy at the end of the day as she did in the morning and I think all three enjoy being together.

Parents Jen and Matt review their experience with Rachel:

Rachel has been working for our family caring for our four year old daughter and we truly cannot believe our good fortune in finding her. She has great experience working with young children, and has become one of our daughter's favorite people in the world to spend time with.

We were exceedingly cautious to find the right person, as our daughter had never had a babysitter, nanny, or caregiver outside the family or her school; Rachel is that person in every way, truly loving to our child, reliable in our routines, and both adventerous and focused in her attention to our daughter.

One of the things we love most about Rachel is she built a strong and authentic relationship with our daughter, and because of that they are always so happily engaged in each other's company. Rachel became a seamless part of our family and our daily lifestyle and routine immediately, and if Kindergarten wasn't beckoning next year, we would keep her in our family forever.

Parents Irene and Jeremy review their TeacherCaregiver Shannon...

We can't say enough about Shannon. That our 20 month old, Emma knows her ABC's is completely Shannon's doing. Emma has a strong vocabulary and has learned to share, thanks to Shannon. Although children hit developmental milestones at different times, Shannon is mostly responsible for such rapid process. After a long search for the right caregiver, we consider ourselves very lucky to have her as a TeacherCaregiver, and to have known her, period. Shannon showed Emma how to plan and develop creatively, making toys out of household objects. She regulary takes Emma to a playgroup, and reads to her for hours, instilling an early love of reading, and strenghting Emma's vocabulary. Shannon is also patient, caring and affectionate, but a firm disciplinarian. Shannon handles tantrums or acting out without "time outs" or even raising her voice. She has taught us a great deal about parenting and her daily journals have helped two working parents understand our child's mental, physical and emotional development.

Madisen reviews Amy, a TeacherCaregiver:

Amy is responsible for the care and enrichment of my two preschool aged children. She has created science units to allow the children to explore temperature states, geography unites with hand rendered maps of Asia and accompanying cultural lessons, and math units with games specifically tailored to their individual interests. All this curriculum, and actually much more, was introduced very unobtrusively and naturally. This learning was interspersed with lots of outdoor play, nature walks, and snuggly story time. There is never a pressure to "learn", and therefore, the kids did so joyfully."

Mom, Anne S. talks about her son Marc, who has Down's Syndrome, and their TeacherCaregiver...

Our family, for the past 2 1/2 years has utilized TeacherCaregivers. Our oldest child, Marc, is a 14 year old, with Down's Syndrome. He is classified as moderately mentally handicapped, is hypnotic, and has limited expressive communication function. Our goal for Marc as an adult is to be able to function in the least restrictive environment possible. When we first decided to hire a TeacherCaregiver, Marc was capable of dressing himself, but needed a great deal of supervision getting ready for school. At the end of six months working with a TeacherCaregiver, Marc was getting up, getting dressed and performing tolieting and personal care functions independently, with minimal supervision. He also transitioned out of taking a special bus, into taking the highschool bus, greatly improving his self esteem and independence skills. We learned how to raise our expectations to a reasonable level from our TeacherCaregiver. We would not have been able to accomplish what we have with Marc, without the high quality care our TC provided. We are extremely grateful to TeacherCare for meeting our needs and highly recommend them to others with similiar arrangements.

Mom, M. J. Naro, shares her experience:

Thank you for listening to exactly the type of person I wanted for our family. You totally understood my daughter's special developmental needs and found the perfect TeacherCaregiver for us!

"We wanted more personalized care than most daycare facilities can provide. Brooke came on board the second month of my maternity leave and instantly put this first time mother at ease. Not only has Brooke shaped the lives of Dave and Andy, but ours as parents as well. She is truly a cherished member of the family...like a third parent to our sons..."

It is easy to see why our TeacherCaregivers are so successful. They have child care experience and teaching experience to combine with personalized education plans in a nurturing home environment - Read this page to see the experiences parents have had with our child care teachers!

TeacherCaregivers can help your child develop life-long skills, while providing nurturing and childcare for children of all ages -- babies to teens.