Hi, I'm Christy.
Educator. Mother of two. Founder of Nurtured Nest Learning Co.
I started Nurtured Nest Learning Co. because of my daughter.
She was two years old, full of curiosity, and I wanted our time together to actually mean something. Not flashcards. Not Pinterest pressure. Something purposeful — activities that gave her a head start while also giving us moments I'd actually remember.
I'm an intentional person. I always have been. As a teacher I'd spent years studying how children learn, what environments help them thrive, and how the right invitation at the right moment can change everything. Becoming a mother made me want to bring all of that home — in a way that actually fit real life.
I loved Montessori. The intentionality, the independence, the deep respect for the child. But something was missing for me. It felt a little cold. A little rigid. Like it had all the right answers but had forgotten to ask the most important questions — about creativity, about nature, about the relationship between a child and the people who love them most.
That's where Reggio Emilia came in.
And that's where Nurtured Nest lives — in the warm, creative, connected space between the two.
I spent years learning how children learn.
Before Nurtured Nest, I was an elementary and special education teacher. I taught first grade, worked in gifted education, and presented internationally on virtual learning — back when virtual teaching was still considered a frontier, long before the rest of the world was forced to figure it out.
During that time, I took on one of the hardest challenges a reading teacher can face: a full cohort of first graders, nearly every single one of them below grade level.
Nearly every one of those children ended the year at or above grade level. Virtually. Before virtual teaching was something most educators had ever tried.
The way I did it wasn't a program. It wasn't a curriculum. It was observation. Documentation. A Montessori-informed letter introduction sequence that made sense for how children actually learn sounds — not how alphabet books present them. And deep, consistent connection with their parents.
That experience is baked into every product I make.
The parent guides aren't extras. They're the whole point.
Because I've seen what happens when a parent understands the why behind what their child is doing. Everything changes.
Then I became a mother — and started learning all over again.
Motherhood changed the questions I was asking.
"What should a child learn next?" became:
How do we create a home where learning happens naturally?
How do we help a child become independent without rushing them?
How do we create rhythms that support a family without making childhood feel scheduled and managed?
How do we prepare an environment that says: you belong here, you are capable, your ideas matter?
And maybe most importantly — how do we support the child in front of us while still protecting the connection between us?
Those questions became Nurtured Nest Learning Co.
The prepared environment, purposeful work, respect for the child, and the quiet confidence that grows from real independence.
Curiosity, relationships, beautiful environments, documentation, open-ended exploration, and the belief that children have many ways to think and create.
NNLC lives in the thoughtful space between them. Not as a rigid method. Not as a perfect home to recreate. But as a gentler way of seeing childhood.
Comes first because learning happens within relationships.
Matters because the spaces around children quietly shape what becomes possible.
Creates security without requiring rigid schedules.
Grows through trust, preparation, practice, and time - not pressure.
Children are not projects to complete. They are people to know.
I want to be the friend who's a little further down the road than you. The one who says — I've been in that exact moment. I know what that transition meltdown feels like. I know the guilt of the activity that lasted forty-seven seconds. I know the 3pm snack negotiation and the toys everywhere and the wondering whether you're doing enough.
And I also know what works.
Not because I have it all figured out. But because I've spent years in classrooms and years on the floor with my own kids, paying very close attention.
You don't need more to do. You need conditions that make the good stuff possible.
NNLC resources are created for real homes and real childhoods. I don't want to give you 100 more things to do with your child. I want to help you create conditions where there can be more independence, more meaningful play, more manageable rhythms, more curiosity, and more room to enjoy one another.
Sometimes that looks like a thoughtfully prepared activity. Sometimes it's a visual routine, or a simple basket that gives a child somewhere to begin. Sometimes it's changing the environment instead of trying to change the child.
The goal is never a picture-perfect Montessori shelf. The goal is a home that works better for the real people living inside it.
My professional background informs this work. My children keep it honest.
Nurtured Nest began at the intersection of two parts of my life: everything I learned as an educator and everything my children continue to teach me as their mother.
They remind me every day that development isn't linear, beautiful invitations can be ignored, rhythms can fall apart, independence and connection are not opposites, and the child in front of us will always be more interesting than the plan we made for them.
I created Nurtured Nest Learning Co. because I believe parents deserve more than endless activity lists and impossible standards. You deserve thoughtful support. Children deserve to be deeply known. And homes can be places where learning, connection, wonder, and growing independence live together.
I'm so glad you're here.
Start where it's easiest.
If this aligns with how you envision raising your child, the free Three Baskets
guide is an easy place to begin — start with real, screen-free independent play from what you already have at home, then two more baskets for connection and big feelings.