My name is Nicole. I am a transplant from the United States. While I was at a monastery in West Virginia in 2021, I met my husband who is from Quebec, he had the same passion for meditation that I have and we recently got married and chose Canada as our country of residence :) I am interested in meditation, karate, reading fiction and mindfulness books, drawing, watching movies, decorating and design, and landscaping. I have had the fortune of traveling and moving a lot in my life, and am now looking to settle down with my husband in Stratford and build a life and eventually, a family here. My experiences as a library assistant, nanny, tutor, ESL teacher, and babysitter have allowed me to connect with so many wonderful children who have touched my life in a way that I can never forget. I am passionate about child development and paying attention to kids in a way that I can discover what lights up their heart. I believe a passionate child is a happy child. My way of finding that out is to ask questions and encourage them to try new things; especially creative things that allow for self-expression. I am also a huge proponent of emotional expression, I feel, with all my heart, that if a child can learn to express and regulate their emotions at a young age, there is nothing that can be too much for them to handle in their adult life. That is my intention and my dream <3

I can viably say I have over two decades in different kinds of childcare experience, as I started as a mother's helper when I was 12 (over 20 years ago :) I became a babysitter in my late teens and started nannying and tutoring in college. After college, I became an au pair in France for travel experiences and lived with a family of two girls as a resident nanny and English teacher in 2019. In 2022 I became an ESL teacher in Vietnam for a 9 month contract. It was a marvelous experience and I worked with kids from 4 to 14 in various classes. I also have had some remarkable experiences nannying in tandem with my bakery job in 2016 with some lovely families. My specialty is with toddlers up to middle school. I have also had the chance to care for my own precious nephew in his toddler age while my step-sister was working. My favorite part of childcare is bonding through learning what children love the most about life. If I could impart any gift to a child, it would be the gift of knowing what makes them happy at the youngest age possible.

TEFL Teaching Certificiate, Mindfulness Educator (Short Training)