The first day is coming, and you're the one losing sleep.
One-to-one online sessions for parents of children aged two to six — school readiness, drop-offs, routines, and setting up a home that works.
Sound familiar?
Most parents come to me with one of these.
- They start in September and you have no idea whether they're ready.
- Drop-off ends in tears — theirs, then yours in the car.
- They can do it for everyone else. Not for you.
- Your child is neurodivergent and none of the standard advice fits.
- The house is chaos and you don't know what to change first.
- Everyone has an opinion and none of them know your child.
None of these mean you're doing it wrong. They usually mean the plan was built for a different child.
Sessions
Four ways to work together.
School Readiness
60 minutes · online
An honest picture of where your child actually is, what's worth practising before the first day, and what you can stop worrying about entirely.
- Readiness review for your child
- Week-by-week practice plan
- Written plan after the call
The Gentle Goodbye
45–60 minutes · online
For criers, clingers, and the parents who dread the door. A separation plan built around your child's temperament — not a script that works on somebody else's.
- Drop-off strategy and wording
- A goodbye ritual for your family
- Printable transition kit
Montessori Home Setup
Video review + 45-minute call
You send me a walkthrough video of your space. I watch it properly — pausing, going back — and build you a plan. Mostly it's moving what you already own to where your child can reach it.
- Room-by-room review of your video
- Written plan and shopping list
- Sensory-aware adjustments
- A call to talk it through
Introductory rates while I build my practice — these prices hold for my first ten clients. Follow-up sessions are $40 for 30 minutes. Evenings and weekends available. If you're not sure which one fits, email me and I'll tell you honestly — including if the answer is none of them.
Skills Analysis
An in-depth learning gap review
When a child is struggling, the gap is almost never where the trouble shows up. A child stuck on multiplication is usually missing place value. A child avoiding reading is usually still decoding letter by letter, two or three years back.
Those foundations are built between Kindergarten and Grade 3, so that's where I look first — whatever grade your child is in now.
This is a careful look at what your child can actually do — where they're strong, where the foundation needs shoring up, and what to work on before the next grade builds on top of it.
You'll also get a picture of their strengths, and extracurricular activities likely to suit the way they think. That part matters as much as the rest.
- What's included
- Parent intake questionnaire
- A printable task set for your child
- 30-minute working session with your child on video
- Written report within one week
- A plan to close the gaps, with activities for home
- Strengths profile and extracurricular suggestions
- Wording you can take to their teacher
Who you'd be talking to
Fourteen years on the other side of that door.
I'm a certified Montessori teacher — MACTE-accredited training at the Toronto Montessori Institute — with a BA (Honours) in Educational Studies, and I'm completing my Bachelor of Education in 2027. I've spent fourteen years in early years classrooms, eleven of them in Montessori environments — which means I've stood in the room after you left. I know what happens in the ninety seconds after the door closes, and I know how rarely it matches what parents imagine on the drive home.
I work as an emergency supply teacher and as a specialized educational intervenor supporting students with special needs, including a long-term assignment in that role. So I'm in classrooms every week, not remembering them.
A good deal of my experience has been with neurodivergent children, and it's shaped how I work. I don't start from what a child should be doing by now. I start from the child in front of me and build the environment around them.
Sessions are practical. You'll leave with something written down and something to do this week — not a feeling that you should be trying harder.
- 14years working with children
- BA (Hons)Educational Studies
- B.EdBachelor of Education, Primary/Junior (K–6) — in progress, graduating 2027
- ◇Certified Montessori teacher — MACTE-accredited training at the Toronto Montessori Institute
- ◇Extensive experience with neurodivergent children
- ◇Specialized educational intervenor for students with special needs · emergency supply teacher
How it works
Four steps, and none of them are homework.
Book a time
Pick a slot that works. Evenings and weekends included.
Tell me about your child
A short questionnaire arrives by email. Five minutes, so we don't spend the call on background.
We talk
45 to 60 minutes on video. Bring your questions and your worries. For a home setup, you send me a walkthrough video beforehand instead.
You get a plan
A written plan lands in your inbox within 48 hours. Yours to keep and to share with anyone who needs it.
Questions
Before you book.
Do you work with my child, or with me?
With you. These sessions are for parents and caregivers. Your child doesn't need to be present, doesn't need to perform, and doesn't need to know we spoke.
My child is neurodivergent. Can you help?
Yes — a great deal of my experience is with neurodivergent children, and it's often why families come to me. Much of the standard early years advice assumes a child who responds to it, and when yours doesn't, the advice starts to feel like an accusation.
We work with the child you have: what actually helps at transitions, what the environment is asking of them, and where the demands can come down.
Can you tell me whether my child has ADHD or autism?
No. I'm an educator, not a clinician — I don't assess, diagnose, or provide therapy, and I'll say so plainly if a conversation heads that way. What I can do is help you think about what to observe, what to raise with your doctor, and how to make daily life work in the meantime.
Is a Skills Analysis the same as an assessment?
No. It's a curriculum-based review of what your child can do — the kind of thing a teacher does, done thoroughly and written down. It isn't a psychoeducational assessment and it doesn't diagnose anything.
If what I see suggests a formal assessment would help, I'll tell you plainly and point you toward who does them.
Where are you located?
Sessions are online, so we can work together anywhere in Canada. I'm based in the Toronto area.
What if the session doesn't help?
Tell me and I'll refund it. I'd rather that than have you pay for advice that didn't fit your family.
Do you offer more than one session?
Often, though rarely more than a few. Follow-ups are $40 for 30 minutes, usually a couple of weeks in once you've tried things and want to adjust. There's no package to commit to up front.
September will come either way.
Let's make it a gentler one. Book a session and we'll get a plan on paper.
Book a sessionNot sure yet? Email me at hello.firstbell@gmail.com and tell me about your child.