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Should I be worried about my child?
Probably not. Children develop in lots of different ways, at a variety of speeds. It can be confusing, unpredictable, and downright mystifying, especially if you haven't spent a lot of time with children. That's where I can help. With a BA from Yale University, an MS from Bank Street College of Education, and twenty years of classroom experience in New York City, I've got a solid understanding of what children should -- and shouldn't -- be doing.
Parenting is
HARD.
You're entrusted with a tiny individual, who changes on a daily basis. As soon as you figure out your infant, she's a toddler. Once you've got that down, suddenly she's in preschool, making friends and asking for playdates. And then kindergarten begins, and maybe she's not reading yet, and you're not sure if she should be... It's hard to know. It's okay to want some help. After years of working with three- to six-year-olds, I'm happy to provide support to busy parents.
Get
SUPPORT.
It's natural to want to talk things through. Finding the right person to talk to can be a challenge. Unlike your therapist (you've got your own issues to discuss), your child's current teacher (you don't have to see me every day, or worry that what you say will affect how I view your child), or that other parent on the playground (who hasn't met very many five-year-olds), I can offer a different perspective, one grounded in a thorough understanding of children and their development, and without excess baggage.
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Laleña Garcia can decode my child's behavior and explain it to me in language that finally makes sense. She is a wizard at creating strategies for more harmony in our family and helps me understand how to communicate with my child, even about challenging topics, in a simple, developmentally appropriate, and down-to-earth way. She gets it! What a gift she posesses! I am so grateful to know Laleña and so are my children!
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Tanya Wills
parent of a 5-year-old and an 8-year-old
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Is my kid
NORMAL?
Parents ask themselves this all the time, and then realize they don't even know what "normal" looks like. That's where I come in. With over fifteen years working with children in New York City, I've met hundreds of children, and have a good sense of what's really "normal." It's not one thing: it's a whole range of behaviors and development, that you can only get a sense of by looking holistically at an individual child.
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Laleña's years of experience
teaching a diversity of different types of kids make her advice on childrearing indispensible. And, with many years of parent/teacher conferences under her belt, she has valuable insights on how to develop the best possible relationship with your kids' teachers and school's administration.
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Jamie McClelland
parent of a 3-year-old
Working in NYC classrooms since 2000
ASK​ QUESTIONS
about...
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School readiness
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Gender expression(s)
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Peer interactions
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Developmentally appropriate behaviors
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Helpful routines
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Sibling rivalry
