The Motherbird Podcast

Today our guest is Katie Provinziano, founder of Westside Nannies, a premier nanny agency in Beverly Hills serving the Los Angeles area. Coming up, you’ll find out more about the plethora of arrangements families are creating for themselves and in pods with other families - to manage their childcare plus education at home. We breakdown the costs, comparisons, expectations, and even how to go about making a change in caregivers.

https://www.motherbirdla.com/shownotes

*All episodes are lightly edited for time and flow with prior understanding from the participants. Music is fully licensed from Premium Beat. The Motherbird Podcast is written and produced by Motherbird, LLC in Los Angeles, California.

Today our guests are Pauline McPeake and Losmeiya Huang, from Growing Place preschools in Santa Monica. Originally founded with working moms in mind, Growing Place is a full day program with campuses at Ocean Park, Marine Park, and a 3rd campus on the way for the fall of 2021. Coming up, you’ll find out the differences between the 3, and more about how their community keeps learning and growing together .

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*All episodes are lightly edited for time and flow with prior understanding from the participants. Music is fully licensed from Premium Beat. The Motherbird Podcast is written and produced by Motherbird, LLC in Los Angeles, California.

Today my guest is Cecilia Wong, founding principal of the Citizens of the World Charter school’s brand new East Valley location coming soon to the Van Nuys area. Their TK-1st grade will be opening in the fall of 2021 with plans to grow with their founding class all the way up to middle school. Coming up, you’ll find out how the CWC approach sets them apart, and get a glimpse into the way a new charter school is finding its roots with the help of some founding families.

https://www.motherbirdla.com/shownotes

*All episodes are lightly edited for time and flow with prior understanding from the participants. Music is fully licensed from Premium Beat. The Motherbird Podcast is written and produced by Motherbird, LLC in Los Angeles, California.

Today our guests are Melanie Wolff and Darien Williams, co-founders of Brella, a new kind of flexible childcare set to disrupt the industry with its first location open in Playa Vista. These ladies are using their corporate expertise and real life mom experiences to redesign childcare for the modern parent. Coming up, you’ll find out how Brella does things differently, and why they believe flexible yet reliable care - can and should, go hand in hand.

https://www.motherbirdla.com/shownotes

*All episodes are lightly edited for time and flow with prior understanding from the participants. Music is fully licensed from Premium Beat. The Motherbird Podcast is written and produced by Motherbird, LLC in Los Angeles, California.

This is a bonus episode with some quick tips on how to look and sound your best during Zoom tours and interviews (or any type of video call). I troubleshoot common issues parents have with lighting, sound, clothing, framing, and making a connection - using no fancy equipment or setup, just a few smart adjustments at home. Let us know in the reviews if this was helpful for you, and check out the show notes on our website for a transcript of this episode you can reference.

Today our guest is Patricia Hunter McGrath, owner of Branches Atelier preschool in west Culver City. This quaint Reggio Emilia inspired preschool has massive dreams, and an impressive track record of rallying their community to make them real. Coming up, you’ll find out how Patricia challenges her staff and families to fully engage, beyond the Reggio aesthetics, and unite with a passion to make the world a better place through education.

https://www.motherbirdla.com/shownotes

*All episodes are lightly edited for time and flow with prior understanding from the participants. Music is fully licensed from Premium Beat. The Motherbird Podcast is written and produced by Motherbird, LLC.

Today our guest is Crystal Free, owner of Piper Preschool in Santa Monica, and in LA (Pico-Robertson). We’re also joined by the admissions directors for both campuses, Helen and Nicole. They’re a little fancy, a little cheeky, and also deeply intentional. Coming up, you’ll get to hear how a passionate visionary with the right connections is pioneering an LA preschool vibe.

https://www.motherbirdla.com/shownotes

*All episodes are lightly edited for time and flow with prior understanding from the participants. Music is fully licensed from Premium Beat. The Motherbird Podcast is written and produced by Motherbird, LLC.

Today our guest is Camille de Mondesir, founder of The Placing Method. Camille is an educational consultant and admissions strategist for K-12 private school admissions. For the uninitiated, that means she helps families find schools that match their needs, and navigates them through the in-depth process of applying, keeping you on track for what to do, when to do it, and how to not get flagged as that crazy one. Coming up, you’ll get to know her and hear some of her insider takes on applying to schools during the age of covid, and beyond.

https://www.motherbirdla.com/shownotes

*All episodes are lightly edited for time and flow with prior understanding from the participants. Music is fully licensed from Premium Beat. The Motherbird Podcast is written and produced by Motherbird, LLC.

*Update: As of December 2020 we have learned that unfortunately The Little Garden has decided to close its doors at the end of the year, with hopes to reopen in the future.*

Today our guest is Jolene Doucette, owner of The Little Garden Preschool in Marina del Rey. This is a full-day, year-round preschool with a - low 1:6 ratio- that is fairly new (established in 2017), but as you will hear, Jolene’s lifelong passion and preparation to start her own school have been many years in the making. Coming up, you’ll find out a little about her backstory, what The Little Garden is up to now in the fall of 2020, and of course the answers to super important questions about how they approach everything from separation, to nap time, to conflict resolution, and what qualities she looks for in her staff.

https://www.motherbirdla.com/shownotes

*All episodes are lightly edited for time and flow with prior understanding from the participants. Music is fully licensed from Premium Beat. The Motherbird Podcast is written and produced by Motherbird, LLC.

Today our guest is Christina Simon, author and editor of the Beyond the Brochure book and blog which have been featured on NPR, The Hollywood Reporter, and many more publications of note. If you’re the kind of mom that deep dive googles the schools you are interested in, you have probably found yourself on her website, which, like the name suggests, is all about getting beyond the glossy presentation and catching some honest takes on the LA private school admissions “experience” from parent to parent, including personal stories about specific schools. Coming up, we’ll get a little deeper with Christina and chat about her daring to start this blog, realizing she wanted to switch after her first year at what she thought would be her family’s dream school, and her insider thoughts as a mom of color on evaluating a private school’s diversity claims.

https://www.motherbirdla.com/shownotes

*All episodes are lightly edited for time and flow with prior understanding from the participants. Music is fully licensed from Premium Beat. The Motherbird Podcast is written and produced by Motherbird, LLC.