ABOUT OUR TEACHER
HI! I’M LAUREN!
I can’t wait to meet you! Let me tell you a little about myself.
I have a Bachelors degree in Child Development, hold a valid Multiple Subject CA Teaching Credential, and my Masters in Education. I taught at the elementary level for ten years in first, third, and fourth grade. When I’m not trying to help enrich the lives of others, my dogs and I enjoy visits to the dog park, going on walks, and snuggling on the couch.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a teacher! What many people don’t know however, is that I have always wanted to own my own business. When the pandemic hit, I did what many of us did, reflect on what is truly important in life and if I was genuinely happy with where I was at that point in time. The truth was I wasn’t, and so the soul searching began. In May of 2021, I decided to take a leap of faith and trust God’s plan and resigned from my full time teaching position of eight years. In the months that followed I was on what I call my “discovery phase”.
I was researching and learning about what it was I could create and still do what I loved most, work with children and helping others. This is what eventually led me to discovering the wonderful world of alternative education. I immediately realized that there is this need right now for us as adults to advocate for children and the educational experience they deserve to receive. I founded ElevateU on the premise that I want to help children, families, and educators elevate to their highest potential. We are able to do this through empowering families and educators to “unschool” their minds and own perceptions of what a great education really is and then teaching them how to create a warm, inviting, safe, and empowering environment for children to thrive.
We Focus On The “Whole Child!”
At ElevateU, we follow a “whole child” philosophy where we partner with you to improve your child’s Social, Emotional, Cognitive, Language, and Physical skills. Your child will learn to socialize, make friends, develop social and emotional skills, and further their academic knowledge!
Developmentally Appropriate!
We provide lessons that feature a balance of teacher-directed and independent activities that meet the needs of each child.
We also incorporate Fountas & Pinnell Guided Reading Program to further develop each child’s literacy skills. This includes a one on one oral assessment that allows for us to determine our students’ instructional and independent reading levels. This information then helps guide our instruction to best meet each child’s independent academic needs.
We Love Questions!
We aim to help children become independent, self-confident, inquisitive and enthusiastic learners by actively exploring their environment.
In fact, one of the best ways we can teach is to ask THEM questions. “What are you creating?” “How does it work?” “Tell me more about what you are working on.” etc.
We Partner With You!
We routinely assess our students to discover what areas they’re strong in, and what areas still need more work. This also allows us to provide a more individualized education and place them within small groups of students to receive direct instruction at their level.
We keep you in the loop on what we’re working on, and we also let you know exactly how your child is doing.
Progress… Not Product!
One of my favorite things about alternative education is we focus on the progress each child makes, and go at your child’s individual pace when it comes to learning. If they already have a skill mastered, why waste time and make them continue to work on it?
Children enjoy learning when they are challenged! Our small class sizes allow us to keep children highly engaged and motivated because lessons are able to be tailored to the individual child.
Fun Themes & Centers!
Every few weeks, we dive deep into a new, exciting theme based on our upcoming field trips, the weather, holidays, or whatever the children are dying to learn more about.