Jill Lerman

Starting School Strategies

Starting school is a huge transition, and it can feel incredibly overwhelming for both your child and you. As a preschool teacher, I spent many years helping families navigate this, but I am now experiencing this transition as a parent and it is easy to feel nervous and helpless. How can you help or comfort your child if you’re not with them? The Starting School Strategies class will provide you with the key tools and strategies you need so you can make the transition into the start of school as smooth as possible, so your child and you can feel prepared and excited about this transition. We’ll go over preparation for school, separation (what to say and do and what to avoid), setting expectations, and so much more!

Become A Toddler Whisperer with the Schema Class Bundle

Have a child who crumbles their food or playdough into tiny pieces? Constantly throws their water cup out of the stroller? Repeatedly takes every book off the bookshelf? Why do our children do things like this?! I have the answer! Schemas! Understanding these commonly observed behaviors helps us understand our children better. It helps us as parents to differentiate between what’s a natural urge or need for our child as opposed to difficult behavior. Once you have an understanding of why a child is exhibiting a particular behavior, and that he/she isn’t just not listening to you, it makes it easier to cope. Then you can give them other outlets and invitations to safely explore with a more appropriate activity. In this three part class bundle, we’ll explore the nine most common behaviors seen in young children (three in each part), why your child exhibits them and what they're learning when they do, and how to provide other outlets for the behaviors.

The Infant Playbook

"But how do I even play with my baby?!" When I had my daughter, I began to understand more than ever how difficult getting through the day can feel. You need stretches of independent, child-led play to give you some time back for yourself and to fulfill your own needs. You need simple play ideas that are easy to set up and ideally work towards supporting all the exciting development happening in your child’s early years. You want and need to make the most of materials you have around you. This guide contains some of my favorite play tips and play setups to help you set an amazing foundation for play, engage your baby, and get you through the earliest days of parenting!

Jillybeans Clear The Clutter Toy Checklist

Do you feel like you’re drowning in toy clutter? Did you know that there is a direct link between clutter and stress for both us and our children? When a play environment is disorganized and overwhelmed with too much clutter, it can make it much more difficult for a child to focus and engage during playtime. That overstimulation affects a child’s behavior, mood, and concentration. Considering buying a new toy or play object? Not sure whether or not to keep or donate an item you already have? This checklist is your go-to guide to decluttering your child’s playspace and making your child’s play become more focused and meaningful.

1:1Consultation

Parenting can be an incredibly hard, overwhelming, and lonely journey. But it doesn’t need to feel that way. As a mom myself I get it, and I’m here for you. If there's one thing I've learned in my 15 years of experience working with families, it's that every child is incredibly unique and that every phase is different. That means that the approach to engaging a child won't be “one size fits all.” My consultations provide a customized plan specifically tailored to YOUR needs and your child’s interests and developmental goals so you can feel confident and excited about parenting, create simple, engaging, meaningful play experiences your child will WANT to explore, support your child’s development, and feel less burnt out and overwhelmed. Independent Play Do you want time back for yourself while your child is learning and playing independently? Entertaining a child all day long is not only unsustainable for the caretaker ,but it stunts the growth of your child’s ability to entertain, engage, and problem-solve themselves. There are simple, but instrumental things you can do in terms of the setup of your space, what materials are available, the types of activities or invitations to play that you’re putting out and how you’re setting them up that will help build your child’s focus in play and lengthen the time they can engage on their own. Some tiny tweaks can make a huge impact! Playspace Revamp Did you know that the way toys are organized and displayed can affect the way your child plays and interacts with them? In this consultation, Jill will work with you to review your current toys and storage systems, make customized recommendations for toys, organization, and layout of your space to help your child to play and engage for longer periods of time. Developmental/Behavioral Do you have a child at home going through a “phase?” Perhaps trying to master a new physical skill like crawling or walking? Maybe they’re about to have a major life transition like moving to a new home or becoming a big sibling. Whatever it is your little one is working on or working through, play can support it. Caregiver Caring for a child is an incredible important job. This consultation is designed to support your nanny or caregiver with simple tips on creating a safe space for play, ideas for fun and easy activities at home and how to best facilitate them, establishing a routine, and more. ​Curriculum Development/Consulting for Businesses and Brands Do you teach classes or run programming for young children? Maybe you design and develop toys and products or own a playspace? Jill will work with you on things like best practices for introducing art and sensory materials and how to progress and build upon skills previously introduced, revamping existing class curriculums, fine-tuning a clear class progression as children age into new programs, making sure class structures, materials, equipment, and your space work best for you, and more! Custom Have another concern on your mind that you’re not seeing below? Maybe you’re just looking for ideas to get you through the day? Reach out to [email protected] and see if a 1:1 consultation is right for you!