Is the stress level in your home higher than you’d like?


Here’s how I help parents like you:

Show ME!

Teaching

Catholic Montessori child raising

In small online workshops, Understand your child’s behaviors and learn exactly how to respond

Your child’s behavior is telling you things. Do you understand the message?

1

Learn about the Four Temperaments from a Catholic perspective and gain a better understanding of yourself and your family by identifying each person’s Temperament mix.

2

Understand Maria Montessori’s Four Planes of Development, and pinpoint your child’s Developmental Plane or Transition Stage.

3

Use the Montessori techniques, with a Catholic worldview, to improve your child’s behavior, creating a more peaceful, joyful home.

BE AMONG THE FIRST TO KNOW

The clerks at TJ’s commented on how well behaved my children were!

I went grocery shopping at TJ’s by myself the other day, and the clerks asked where my children were. They commented on how well behaved they were. Apparently, they see lots of misbehavior!

~ Joanna from Minnesota

Consulting

1-on-1 sessions

Learn specific techniques, tailored for your family

While the Four Planes + Four Temperaments framework benefit every child, sometimes you just need someone to help you through your specific situation. Feedback and personal guidance can make a big difference.

1

We get to know each other as I learn about you, your family, and your biggest stresses and struggles in child raising.

2

You learn about the Four Temperaments from a Catholic perspective and gain a better understanding of yourself and your family by identifying each person’s Temperament mix.

3

You learn Maria Montessori’s Four Planes of Development (of course with her Catholic worldview!), and pinpoint the current Developmental Plane or Transition Stage of your child.

4

Together, we make progress in creating your own Catholic Montessori Home. You become a more confident and effective mom, and your children become more joyful and peaceful!

5

Together, we make progress in creating your own Catholic Montessori Home. You become a more confident and effective mom, and your children become more joyful and peaceful!

book my time

At bedtime, time – rather than Mom and Dad – has become the enemy.

With your tweaks, the checklist was a smashing success! Thank you for suggesting that we give our daughter sole responsibility for her bedtime routine.

~ Monica from Oregon

Guiding

Recommendations

useful books & products

Are you wondering what I like?

You’re not alone. I’ve been asked many times over the years what I recommend for this or that. So I’ve put together this collection of things I’ve used and found helpful.

1

Throughout my 20+ years of being a Catholic Montessori mom, I’ve read hundreds of books and tried many different products.

2

I’ve chosen some lemons for sure, but I’ve uncovered a lot of gems too.

3

By checking out my recommendations, I save you time and cut through some confusion.

* Note that links in my recommendations may lead to 3rd-party sites, with their own privacy policies. These can include affiliate links, where I may make a little money at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my site!

See what I like

Because of your encouragement,
[our son] was tested for reflexes, and at least four of the six were retained.

We will be working on this in OT. Thanks to you many times over for helping us uncover this!

~ a Grateful Mom from California

Are you wondering . . .

Nope, Let’s talk

Catholic Montessori is Montessori as Maria Montessori herself told us.  That’s why any approach to Montessori that leaves out her Catholic worldview and the Catholic element is incomplete.

“There is a striking resemblance between the method of the Montessori school and the method of the Catholic Church, in the manner in which both institutions adapt themselves, in practice, to the psychological nature of man” (Montessori, The Child in the Church, 1930, p. 144, emphasis original).

Speaking of visiting priests, she noted, “Although these Fathers neither knew me, nor knew that I was a Catholic, and, although in my book, I made no direct profession of religious faith, it seemed to them that in its very substance my method was Catholic. . . . [Principles of my method] all were pedagogical principles which seemed to [the priests] to emanate from, and to be directly inspired by Catholicism” (ibid., p. 2, emphasis mine).

You may be able to find some of this information for free on the Internet.

Occasionally, I’ll share a personal story on my own website. But I save my most personal experiences and mistakes for my clients, for them to learn from and apply to their own families.

(You won’t find me divulging many details on the web. Social media isn’t my thing.)

Yes, you can read Montessori yourself. And at some point in your child raising journey, you’ll probably want to.  (Just be sure you’re reading a faithful translation.) With enough time and effort, you could figure out Catholic Montessori child raising on your own.

But as the saying goes, smart people learn from their own mistakes. Wise people learn from the mistakes of others.

Coaches:
• help you be wise, guiding you in what works
• save you from the stress of stumbling through figuring things out on your own
• get you to results more quickly, because your children won’t stop growing while you’re figuring things out
• answer your questions, because books don’t talk back to you

Going it on your own means accepting that you’ll make mistakes along the way. These mistakes cost time and sometimes money. If you’d like to learn from my mistakes, then you should consider coaching.

If you’re looking for a quick fix or unwilling to try a very different way of child raising, we will not be a good fit for each other.

You should also be:
• willing to take a deep look at yourself and your actions
• humble enough to admit when you’re making mistakes
• honest about your own biases (often leftovers from your own childhood)
• open to change
• eager to take action and try out my suggestions

Most Montessori information available:
• does not respect or even reflect Montessori’s Catholic worldview and can even be in direct conflict with our Catholic Faith
• is often given by moms who have 1 or 2 children still in the First Plane
• focuses on the physical Prepared Environment of the First Plane child or on secular Montessori pedagogy

My Montessori guidance:
• is decisively and unashamedly Catholic and  Montessori
• is from a now-homeschooling mom who helped found a Catholic Montessori parochial school, so I know what it’s like to both have children in a school and to homeschool
• comes from long-time experience with both sons and daughters of all Four Temperaments, with a few already in the Fourth Plane
• focuses on the practical aspect of Catholic Montessori child raising and character formation.  While I do address the Prepared Environment and homeschooling with my clients, these topics are approached within – and not apart from – the overall context of child raising.

I do my best to share with you my experience: how to avoid mistakes I made and how to achieve the successes I have.

Paraphrasing Patrick Bet-David, there are three levels of expertise among mentors: Theory, Witness, and Application.

• Theory: These smart individuals are well-read and often have degrees, but they may lack wisdom. They offer suggestions based on theory. Wisdom, however, comes from practical experience.

• Witness: These individuals worked closely with successful people but weren’t in charge. They offer suggestions based on their observations, not from their own experiences.

• Application: These individuals have achieved success in what they teach. They offer suggestions based on their own experiences.

I started at the Theory level, with intensely studying the topic of child raising, as well as attending Catechesis training. I moved into the Witness level through my founding role of a Catholic Montessori parochial school, which opened its doors in 2004 and is still in existence today. During this life chapter of 8 years, I interacted daily with amazing Catholic Montessori mentors and like-minded parents. I earned my stripes at the Application level raising my 9 children with Catholic Montessori over the past 20 years.

I currently don’t hold any Montessori degrees or certificates. As I like to say, my children are my resumé!

To get the most out of working with me directly, you should have:
• already chosen Catholic Montessori child raising as your way to go
• a basic overview of Montessori theory

If you need more help in these areas, check out my recommendations and my articles.

Ideally, your spouse will also be on board with Catholic Montessori child raising as your chosen method. Success is possible without your spouse’s initial buy-in, but it will be harder and take longer. Honestly, though, it will be hard to stick with Catholic Montessori child raising without your spouse’s long-term support.

No, I do not.

Catholic Montessori is the foundation for my child raising methods. Over the years, though, I found that Catholic Montessori is made even better by hyper-personalizing, using the Four Temperaments from a Catholic perspective. Catholic Montessori techniques are adjusted according to the temperament of the child, making child raising even more effective than just Catholic Montessori alone.

The combination of Catholic Montessori with the Four Temperaments is a child raising method that respects both your child’s God-given nature and individual personality.

In the booking process, you’re required to answer questions to help me better understand your background and your family.

At the bottom of that same form, I give you space to share any additional details that you’d like.

With your input, I’ll have solid insight about you and your family before we meet in our session.

No, I can’t guarantee your success.

I guarantee to give you my best guidance, but ultimately, your success will depend upon practicing what you learn in your daily life.

And since I can’t get back my time spent with you, I don’t offer refunds. (I think that’s fair.)

I’ve deeply experienced financial stresses that come with living on one income, so I understand your position. If coaching means skipping on necessities, then of course this isn’t the right time for you.

Hop over to my contact form, and get in touch!

How much help do you need?

Choose your time with me

Sometimes, you want just a little help;
sometimes, you need more.

Let’s Just Talk

your next step

$0
15 minutes

Togther, we will:

  • Think through some
    big questions
  • Decide your next step
  • Email support not
    included
  • Limit one free session
    per household
book my time

Pick My Brain

advice or feedback

$99
55 minutes
  • Virtually meet in one
    55-minute session for
    1-on-1 personalized
    coaching
  • Choose your topic
  • Email support not
    included
  • Spouses welcome and
    encouraged to come!
    (no extra charge)
book my time

Group Workshop

on popular topics

$149*
per person
for 4 weekly sessions
  • Workshop topics vary
    and may be requested
  • Maximum 15 participants
  • Email support not
    included
  • Commontopics include:
  • Setting bedtime routines
  • Creating leave-the-house
    routines
  • Ending tantrums
  • Having children help
    around the house
  • Developing responsibility
    in your children
  • Reading and discussing
    Montessori’s works
  • – OR –
  • * Form your own group,
    and save $20 per person
  • Minimum 10 participants,
    maximum 15
I'LL BE IN TOUCH

Deeper Consulting

longer-term help

$249
(2) 55-minute sessions + 30 Days of email support
  • Virtually meet in
    two 55-minutes sessions
    for 1-on-1 personalized
    coaching
  • FInish your “homework”
    before our first session
  • Hyper-personalize your
    child raising with the
    Four Temperaments
  • Choose your topic, or
    work through my
    suggested order of topics
  • Learn helpful Montessori
    principles to improve your
    children’s behavior quickly
  • Receive email support
    between sessions
    (please allow up to
    2 days for replies,
    since I personally
    read and answer all your
    emails)
  • Spouses welcome and
    encouraged to come!
    (no extra charge)
book my time