Hello dear one, I’m here to guide you on your parenting, teaching, or childcare journey. Of course, it’s important to get to know who your guide will be so here’s a little bit about me and why I do what I do.

I’m a creative nature-loving Mama, passionate about earth-kind living, wellness, personal growth, education, parenting, and child development.

I have a deep curiosity and reverence for Childhood, its unfolding stages, and our role in this process. I love exploring how our own ‘childhoods’ are alive within us and strongly influence how we show up in all areas of our lives. This all leads me to the deeper question “What does it take to truly thrive in this world today?”

“The areas in life that you’ve struggled in the most is where you have the most to give.”

As a child I was certainly loved and blessed in many ways yet my childhood was also a difficult and unstable one with long phases of absent parents. The probability of me growing up into one steaming hot mess was pretty high.

At an early age, and thanks too to an otherworldly grace and some positive influences (my angels), I had a single life-saving insight that one person’s sh*t was another’s compost. I set out to make good rich soil and grow a beautiful garden out of my life. As a teenager, I was very creative and loved art yet I was also drawn to sustainable living, and by the time I was nineteen years old, I was living and learning in an eco-village. This grew into a longing to make a positive difference in the world and decided that working with children was the best way. As a twenty-year-old, I started the journey of studying Early Childhood Development and Waldorf Education at the Centre for Creative Education in Cape Town.

And then, still in my twenties, I became a mother. This new role shook me at the core, dislodging old hurts and inadequacies that floated to the surface like an oil spill. I then navigated post-natal depression, a tumultuous separation, single parenting, and the financial strain that comes with being a teacher in South Africa. This new and blossoming love for this tiny boy, depending on me, deepened my determination to heal and empower myself as a mother and as a woman. Now, over two and half decades later my son is a fine young man, we have a warm and beautiful relationship based on trust, communication, and connection. His father and I worked on arriving at a place where we could co-parent peacefully and effectively. I live an empowered and abundant life, and my work has evolved from a local to an international level, teaching and supporting children as well as the adults around them.

To support and educate children we need to support and educate the adults around them. Children have a way of bringing out what is unseen within us, to the surface. Children bring us an invitation to heal and grow and in many ways, they are our teachers. Our noble and humble task is to accept that invitation and raise ourselves while raising them. Their healthy development depends on it.

My favourite thing I’ve learned is this: The goal is not perfection. It is the gold that lies embedded in the striving, learning, growth, presence, and connection. Connection to ourselves, our kids, and our natural world.  This is not as simple as it sounds though and if you look around, this is nothing short of a courageous act, a rebellion against the status quo, a revolution. A worthy cause that I have dedicated my life to and truly believe that peace in the world starts in the home.

I currently live and work between South Africa and the United Arab Emirates

I hope that you’ll find something here to bring you and your children the peace, joy, and connection that you need and deserve.

I’m really looking forward to meeting you!

Love From Jade