Guide Stories: 'I Chose Guidepost as a Parent and Now as a Toddler Guide'

I knew what I wanted for my son

I’m originally from Venezuela, so I experienced a bit of culture shock when I first got pregnant with my son, Arthur. I learned that everyone in the U.S. plans things for their child way in advance! From the moment I was expecting, people were asking what school I would send my child to. They talked to me about the local public school, private schools, religious schools—but I knew what I wanted for my son, and it wasn’t any of these.

I wanted my son to have an open and active mind. I wanted him to have freedom and to love learning. I didn’t know anything about the Montessori philosophy or method at the time, but it’s what I wanted without knowing the name.

One day, I remembered that one of my college friends had mentioned Montessori years ago, so I started to look into it. I just fell in love with the philosophy. It shows so much respect for the child as an individual. It emphasizes that the adult isn’t there to shape the child into what they’re going to be. But instead, we’re there to guide the child as they learn and grow.

With Guidepost, it’s more than talk

When I discovered Guidepost, I started to do a deep dive. I read all the reviews, the comparisons between Guidepost and other Montessori institutions, talking to other families about their experience, and just tried to learn everything that I could.

What made me think Guidepost was really for me, was the homeschooling program. I was really drawn to that. It’s so flexible and you have people you can talk to about setting up your home and how to use the materials.

We started Guidepost homeschooling just after his first birthday, and now he’s almost 4-years-old and attending Guidepost in a Guidepost Spanish Immersion Children’s House classroom. Everything has just really clicked with Guidepost. It’s a place where they do more than just talk about respecting the child, they bring that philosophy to life. That real-world commitment means so much to me.

Guidepost was there for me in a dark time

A couple of years after we started homeschooling, we were going through a really hard time. It ended up that I was on my own here, in a foreign country, trying to be a mom and trying to do what was right for my son. But I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to handle everything financially on my own. At first, I was looking for a job that I could do remotely so I could still be at home with Arthur and homeschool him. But then I talked to my parent concierge in the homeschool program and she encouraged me to knock on the door at my local Guidepost campuses and see if there was an opening.

I ended up interviewing at the Williamsburg campus and they wanted to hire me. I was concerned about Arthur, though. I didn’t want to take a job that would mean he would have to go to another school—I didn’t want him to lose all the progress and independence that he’d been developing at home with me, and I didn’t want him to be forced to do busy work to learn things that he was never going to use in the future. 

Fortunately, they told me that Arthur could attend Guidepost too and could start on the same day I started. I was just so amazed; it was a perfect opportunity. And it has been so wonderful so far. Arthur didn’t have a difficult transition from home to the classroom because I’m still right there in the building just a few doors away. And it’s also nice because he’s already familiar with the method and some of the work. He walked in on the first day and said, “Ah, this is my kind of school,” he felt at home immediately.

I love guiding toddlers and forming bonds with them

Right now, I’m working as a Toddler Assistant Guide at the Williamsburg campus. I work in a room with children between 2 and 3 years old, which is perfect because that’s an age where I’ve had a lot of experience with Arthur.

My favorite thing about my role so far has been getting the opportunity to form bonds with the toddlers. Getting to be a guide—to captivate a child’s interest in a material and watch as they become engaged and start to concentrate—is amazing. 

When you respect the individual child in front of you and when you're committed to guiding them, you get to have this wonderful experience where the child opens up and lets you guide them. They honor you with their trust and their respect. It’s that mutual respect and that bond which enables you to guide the child in their learning.

I want to work hand-in-hand with Guidepost going forward

I have big dreams for the future. Right now, I’m working on getting my Montessori certificate for ages 0-3 through The Prepared Montessorian Institute, Guidepost’s in-house Montessori training center. Later on, I want to get a Children’s House certificate for ages 3-6 as well. 

I know Guidepost has campuses across the country, and even globally, so this really excites me. I’m a nomad. I would love to work at Guidepost in France or elsewhere in Europe while Arthur attends a Guidepost elementary or middle school program. Or maybe we could travel across the country to “roam-school” and I could work with Guidepost along the way.

Wherever there is a campus at Arthur’s level, that’s where we’ll go. And wherever we go, I want to work hand-in-hand with Guidepost to help meet the needs of children.

*This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity