Thank you for all your emails asking me for more detail about the course. I welcome  your questions, so send more if you don’t find the answer you’re looking for! Email me at: stephanie@stephaniewoo.com.

What are the exact dates of the course? I’m busy a couple Saturday in May, what should I do? 

The course takes place over 5 weeks, starting on April 26th at 10:30am Pacific Standard Time.

Session 1: Saturday, April 26, 2014 10:30-11:30am PST
Session 2: Saturday, May 3, 2014, 10:30-11:30am PST
Session 3: Saturday, May 10, 2014, 10:30-11:30am PST
Session 4: Saturday, May 17, 2014, 10:30-11:30am PST
Session 5: Saturday, May 24, 2014, 10:30-11:30am PST

All the calls will be recorded. My goal is to make this course very convenient for parents with young children. That’s why if you are not available during one of these times, you can listen to it on my website anytime over the next two weeks. Each week’s recording will be available for two weeks after that particular session. When you become a registered participant, you will receive special instructions on how to access the recordings. 

What is the format of the course? 

The course will take place over the phone. Whether you are at the park with your family, at grandma’s house, at work or even in the shower, you can simply call in, mute yourself and listen in. If you didn’t hear something or didn’t have a chance to write it down, you can always listen to it again at a later time. I will send participants a special call-in code for the course. The call-in code will be the same for all five weeks.

The first 45 minutes of each session will be a lecture on the topic of the week.  The remaining 15 minutes will be dedicated to answering your questions on the topic. I will ask participants to email questions before and during the call. I will spend 15 minutes answering as many questions as I can from the group. Whether your question gets answered will depend on how many people are in the group and how many questions are asked. 

Both the lecture and the Q & A session will be available in the recording. 

What will I get out of the course? 

A ton of valuable information on your child’s development the first year. You will learn how to follow your child’s lead and parent with much more ease than you ever thought possible.

My client says it perfectly: “I’m surprised when my 4-month-old twins don’t sleep all night!”

My hope for every parent in the world is to experience that level of ease and freedom!

What is covered in each session exactly? 

In session 1, we will ground ourselves in some critical early childhood development theory, that has been proven by brain science. You will stand in awe of your child after this session. 

In session 2, we will examine everything around sleep. I think a great way to do this session would be to use 1 or 2 real-life examples of babies from participants in the group. If you’d like to be used as our example, please let me know in advance.

In session 3, bring every question you’ve ever had about food and eating. 

In session 4, I will tell you all about Psycho-motor development, including gross and fine motor milestones. You will also learn about basic brain development. You’ll hear words like ‘synapse,’ ‘myelin’ and ‘firing patterns.’ If those words don’t turn you on, don’t worry, I’ll also explain it in English – and tell you what’s actually relevant to you. But if you like the sound of those words, you’ll love this information! 

Session 5 is still unknown. I’m leaving this open to see what would be best for the group. I think some interesting topics will be toilet training, language development, the best and worse toys, etc. 

Oh, did I mention there will be homework? Before you panic, just know this: you don’t have to do it. But you’ll get even more out of the course if you do. 

For more basic information about the course, click here

How is your Long Distance course different from your Private Consultation?

Private Consultation is designed for one particular family. Every session is tailored to a specific family’s situation. For example, Private Consultation clients will show me (over Skype) around their home, send me pictures of their child’s daily routines, and receive guidance on their specific questions. We may email  or text everyday while dealing with one particular issue, like sleeping through the night. 

Not everyone can afford Private Consultation, which I understand. That’s why I’ve designed a more general course that can be offered at a much more discounted rate. In this course, I will cover a wide-range of topics. But don’t worry, it won’t be so general as to be boring or irrelevant! I guarantee you will walk away with TONS of valuable information. My life literally changed when I learned all these things. I will never, ever be the same parent. And my children have been the biggest beneficiary. I hope this course changes your life, but I truly hope it will be your children who benefits the most.

Will you talk about Brooke and Mackenzie?

Ummm…yes. (Of course!)

We are a group of moms from a parenting group and we’d all like to participate, do you have a group discount? 

How cool! Friends doing this course together will get even more, cause then you have someone to talk about it with afterwards! If you are registering more than 5 participants for this course, please email me privately for a group discount.

What if I hate the course or really find it irrelevant? 

No problem! I have a 100% Money Back Guarantee. If at the end of the course, if you are unsatisfied for any reason, I will return your tuition. No Questions Asked. Guaranteed.

What forms of payment do you accept?

When you order through the following link, you can use Visa, Mastercard or American Express. If you would like to pay by check, please email me directly at stephanie@montessorionthedouble.com

What is the last day I can register?

The last day you can register to receive the Early Bird Discount is April 21st. 

Any last words of advice? How can I register now? 

You literally cannot lose with this course! If you are unsatisfied, you will get a full refund. My goal is that every participant gets what they came for – and much, much more.

To register, click on the link here: Register me now!

See you on April 26th!

Love, 

Stephanie

We live up in the mountains where mornings and evenings get very cold. Whenever we start a fire, B and M are there to help us.  M (3 years 1 month) has experienced the process so many times, she can pretty much do the whole thing by herself, as long as an adult is there to help her light the fire. 

M starts to clean out yesterday’s ashes…

and dumps it out in the trashcan.

She starts scooping again…

…gets a big scoopful, then dumps it in the trash.

After several trips, the fireplace is now clean and ready for new firewood.

She lays down firewood Mark has cut and prepared – starting with one large piece at the bottom…

…and some smaller pieces at top.

She gets the fire starter.

Then she gets the torch. Don’t worry, dear readers – Mom’s the one who lights it!

It’s lit!

Now we have a warm fire to enjoy the rest of the day!

Look around your home and see if there is a task your family does everyday that your child could participate in – and maybe take over. Let them have the choice of doing the activity everyday, but a child under 5 is too young to be required to do it everyday.

When your child starts to help out around the house, don’t feel like you need to reward them or praise them excessively. If you rely heavily on qualitative praise (like, ‘you’re so smart’) or giving your child rewards (like toys, money or cookies) – it will take away from their own sense of accomplishment. Pretty soon, you’ll find that they only do things for your praise or reward. And their joy of doing the activity diminishes.

The best way to praise your child is by using simple phrases like, ‘You cleaned the fireplace,’ ‘You helped wash the dishes’ or ‘You brought your dishes to the sink.’ These descriptive praises tells them you noticed what they did – and your acknowledgement is all they need.

Pictures from the summer school we’ll be attending in Taiwan

So much has happened recently, sometimes I don’t know where to begin to share with you all! So I thought I’d give you a brief overview of what we’ve been up to, including our plans for the summer and fall. 

My husband and I are in the final stretch of our training (I’m doing my Primary training 3-6 and he is doing Elementary training 6-12). We will both be student teachers for the next month at one of the best Montessori schools in Portland and then it will be exam time! There is only one word for these AMI Montessori trainings: INTENSE. And to do it with twin 3-year-olds while consulting clients on evenings and weekends…well, it hasn’t been easy. However, it has forced me to do a lot of soul-searching and transformation to become someone who can handle all of this stress! So in that sense, it’s been a great experience. 

This summer, we will be going back to Taiwan. B and M will be attending summer school at Taipei Montessori School. I am sooo excited about this. The program looks AMAZING. I’m not just saying this because I have family ties with that school. Seriously, I’ve looked into so many summer schools these last two years and this one has the best program I’ve seen. 

Summer school starts on June 16th. It runs from 830-4pm Monday through Friday. There is the Montessori work cycle in the morning, followed by extracurricular activites everyday, like Taekwondo, Taiko drumming, mosaic art, cooking, music, gymnastics etc. Afternoons are all cultural extension activities, which means, they explore Taiwanese, Aborigine and the larger Asian cultures through art, music, books, plays and other hands-on, sensorial activities. There will also be outings, including swimming, once a week.

I’m so excited for B and M to finally get fully immersed in a Chinese-speaking environment! I hope some of you will come and spend the summer with us in Taipei. Even if your child doesn’t speak any Chinese, they will learn so quickly. That is the power of the young child’s Absorbent Mind when it comes to language. There are lots of Caucasian children who attend this school and it always shocks me to hear perfect Chinese come out of them! For more information, click here for English and here for Chinese.

Here’s the big news:

Next fall, we will be moving to the Bay Area in California, where we will be starting a Montessori Chinese Immersion school. We don’t have the official name yet, or the exact location, but the details are in the works! It will be a Primary program accepting children between 2.5 – 6 years old. Our anticipated opening date is Jan of 2015. I hope some of you who live out there will come by to check us out!

B and M are now 3 years 3 months and growing fast. They attend a Montessori school here in Portland. I’ve got more updates about them coming up over the next few weeks, so stay tuned…