About Paula Elizabeth
Hi, I’m Paula Elizabeth; a Montessori trained Child-Development Expert who’s passionate about helping “Family Teams” work together for the benefit of each other, as this is how successful, well-balanced, happy children are raised. I’ve been Montessori trained for over ten years now and I also have a degree in Theology with an Art minor. I found studying Theology enabled me to think clearly for myself and not to continually become reliant upon outside sources for an answer. It basically helped me to trust myself and my instincts and really begin to believe in my growing capability of actually observing the answers to life’s questions for myself.
Throughout my career I have worked with children from six months to seven years in both a purposed-built Montessori setting and a home setting. It became increasingly clear to me that my passion stemmed from the fact that growing up I lacked confidence and had a poor self-image; I asked myself why I felt that way when I have lovely, caring parents. You tend to find what you’re looking for, and I began to get some fascinating answers. I realised that it was the subconscious message my parents unwittingly and unknowingly, continually gave me that caused me to continually feel this way. A poor self image equals a low self-esteem so it’s vital for a child’s holistic well-being and success to give them a positive self-image. My parent’s body language, tone of voice and facial expression was not congruent with what thay said, hence I didn’t believe them. A child subconsciously picks up on even subtle inconsistencies and thus will not take seriously what you are saying; remember the expression, “Actions speak louder than words“? This led me to take a personal interest in non-verbal communication and what our body language is actually saying to other people.
It’s amazing what you discover when you are actively seeking to learn. “Energy flows where attention goes”, thus because I have been specifically looking for the recurring characteristics present in successful people (NB successful in work, love and play), in order to encourage these qualities in children, it has given me extreme insight into the science of learning and human development. For example, it became clear to me early on the need for children to have time to do activities that encourage focus, in addition to doing more fun based activities. This stood out to me because it seem that with pre-school aged children a lot of activities are more centred around fun than focus. I’ve also noticed how many new toys that come out for children are all about how to make learning fun; which is great – let’s also show children how enjoyable focused activities can be (it’s about providing balance). We definitely don’t want to give children the impression that anything more serious isn’t worth paying attention too. And when you stop to think about it, there are a lot of serious topics/activities/ subjects that are incredibly interesting.
As Maria Montessori observed; “The first essential for the child’s development is concentration. The child who concentrates is immensely happy.” Children who can focus are better behaved and learn more because they are able to process much larger amounts of information. The secret to encouraging focus lies in your attitude toward the activity and thus how you present it to the child. The Montessori Practical Life activities are a great example of interesting activities that encourage focus/ concentration and also get your children helping you with the household tasks!
Great communication with your child/children is a key factor to their happiness and stability. This is definitely possible before your child has actually learnt to speak. I discovered I had a talent for observing what babies/ toddlers are trying to communicate; plus I enjoy finding creative ways to communicated in an appropriate and comprehensive manner to these very little ones to enable maximum holistic progression. I discovered that in doing this the children always appear much more stable and happy – they were doing things for themselves and they already had an idea about how far they could take things. This creates stability as children can be as independent as possible and they know what to expect.
Another thing I’ve discovered is to look at things from the perspective of what a child can do, and seeing exactly how much a child is capable of achieving with the right input. So many people can be quick to think a child is too young to do something – are they? It’s always best to observe exactly how capable an individual child really is. I’ve discovered that the subconscious message that you give a child is the key to how much they’ll be able to achieve. You can actually make a child believe they are less capable, and thus start to be less capable if you give them a negative subconscious message. It’s amazing the impact of role-modelling alone, and the significant affect it can have on children’s development and behaviour. For children to really believe in the possibilities of their achievements they need to have developed a “can do” attitude and in my mind it is vital to start developing that straight-away. Through observing the capabilities of the individual children I have worked with and reflecting upon the best way to help them progress forwards, as a result I have help children make some fascinating achievements.
My dedication has enabled me to gain acute insight into the best and most productive ways to foster children’s holistic education and to enable then to grow into happy, confident, successful adults. I feel great enthusiasm in sharing what I have learnt for the benefit of children and parents alike (it would be selfish not too): I would like every child to have the opportunity to blossom into grounded, secure and happy adult who in turn, can start making their own positive impact on society.
Every child I have worked with has always been very happy/ stable and holistically extremely capable and advanced for their years. I really don’t what any child to have to feel the way I did growing up as an unwitting result of what can basically be described as miscommunication. Thus I have chosen to set up a Coaching business for families with pre-school aged children because, after working for ten years plus in both a purpose-built Montessori setting and a home setting, I feel certain that I can provide unique support that will be highly beneficial to both the children and the “Family Team” as a unit.
Great teams work together towards the same goals, and in addition take care of the individual team members. This is what I want to offer to you. The reason I believe it is so important that the whole “Family Team” is taken care of is because nothing with have a greater impact on a child’s development than the way s/he is influenced at home. In this quote Stephen Covey sums this up beautifully:
Although I don’t as yet have children of my own; what stands me apart is the fact that I am coming from “the child’s perspective”. From very young I was making observations about my parent’s approach to things that when I look back, were well beyond my years. – I’ve always been a “thinker”! After working through my feelings and developing a very positive self-image, I am ready to share my discoveries with other families.
Another factor that I believe stands me apart is the fact that my philosophy is all about what is best for the “Family Team” – and yes, this includes you too Mum’s and Dad’s!
I can show you how to set thing up in your home to enable you to work together with your child/children so that things get done and your child’s holistic development progresses at the same time!
Also, I want to be able to give each “Family Team” individually tailored advice to suit the need of the whole “Family Team”. The best way to do this is through working with you and observing in order to provide bespoke guidelines and assistance based on the individual circumstances of each “Family Team’s” unique sets of challenges and strengths. As Maria Montessori observed, the adult is the most valuable resource within a child’s environment, and I want to help parents eliminate any uncertainty they may be feeling within this role.
For more information, please feel free to contact me at:
Please also feel free to read and comment on my blog. I look forward to hearing your ideas and comments, and am also quite happy to answer any queries you may have. Should you have any subjects you would particularly like o me to address here, then please do get in contact me and let me know. – I value your input!
I’m also writing a book that will have “My Story” in full and everything I have discovered and learnt through observation and reflection – the same way Maria Montessori did. As Maria Montessori observed; “It is the child who makes the man, and no man exists who was not made by the child he once was.” It is my greatest wish to help parents to encourage their children’s potential to the maximum, because happy people are nicer people and a society full of well-rounded happy people is a better place to live.