Hello, I’m Jade 

Certified Early Childhood Practitioner, Waldorf Teacher, and Parent Coach.

I’m a lifelong learner and teacher, weaving my passions for mothering, early childhood, education, self-development, wellness, creativity, and eco-living into all my life and work. This leads to unique and bespoke offerings through: 

  • 1:1 Parent Coaching

  • Parenting Courses - 1:1 & in a group

  • Talks and workshops

  • Holistic Nanny and Au pair programme

  • Waldorf Homeschooling guidance and teacher recruitment.

  • Early learning, Creativity, and Play Coach for Parents

  • Low Impact Family - Coaching and Education

Adventure

Like you, I’m a seeker, a learner, and a questioner, a cycle breaker. I have been looking for a way that's different, better, more peaceful, more connected. One that makes sense. 

I watch the world racing ahead like a crazy, packed cartoon train without brakes. More stuff, more to do, more stress, more disconnection, more division, more devices, more fear, more war, more pressure on kids and parents, more, more, more. 

And …I take a deep breath from the grassy hill of the wilderness, watching it go by.  I choose a different path, a slower one, a more connected one. I choose it daily. 

If we work together and walk together, it will be personal and sometimes vulnerable, so I share with you now some of my story, so that you know how I got here and what I stand for. 

I hold a deep curiosity and reverence for the time of childhood, its unfolding stages and our role as the adults in this. I believe our own childhoods live within us and profoundly influence how we show up in every area of life, especially with children. I believe we can protect our planet and find better ways to live in peace with each other and nature. I believe this is all connected. This leads me again and again to the question, “What does it take for us and our children to truly thrive in this world today and in the future?” 

The first answers that come to mind are courage, creativity and connection. 

Childhood

I’ve been a motherless little girl who later became a motherless mother. I grew up in Tzaneen and then Johannesburg, in the northern parts of South Africa, before the dark days of apartheid had ended. I carried the childhood wounds of perceived abandonment, parental alienation, ongoing instability, rejecting, absent or inconsistent caregivers. Underlying this, in my family, was a silent web of hurt, secrets, lies, abuse and addiction. I grew up in a time when corporal punishment was acceptable, and being fully yourself or different was not.  We were blessed, too, of course. It's never always all bad. Many people showed us love, and we could, for some time, live in a childhood bubble of innocence and magic, accompanied by unbounded imagination and creativity, and the freedom to play, surrounded by nature, not screens. The odds of me growing up whole and secure were not in my favour, but I clutched the tiny seeds of love, grace, and hope in my little hands, close to my heart.

As a young adult, I came to the realisation: one person’s pain can become another’s compost. This is a choice. The choice. And it's work. The work.  I am a survivor, yes, but I am not a victim. 

I set out to turn my pain, loss and struggle into rich soil, and to cultivate beauty and life from it. To plant my little seeds in this compost and care for them. This is my daily practice for myself and my loved ones, and also my service in the world. 

As a teenager, creativity and art lived alongside my longing to live an earth-kind, nature-connected life. I was quite a hippy in the sweetest sense. By nineteen, after finishing high school with A’s and distinctions in art and design, my hopes to study fine art crumbled when my father lost everything, and nearly his life, too. 

Motherhood

I ended up moving to an eco-village called Thlolego, just outside of Rustenberg, in the North West province of South Africa. I volunteered, living and learning and figuring out my next steps alone into adulthood. This experience, combined with the self-development work I was doing in order to try to make sense of my past and heal, led me to want to learn more about childhood and teaching.  I longed to be a mother and did not want to repeat the mistakes of my parents with my own children one day. I would never have known then that it would take more than qualification to achieve this. Soon after, at the age of twenty, I moved to Cape Town.  I began my studies in Early Childhood Development and Waldorf Education at the Centre for Creative Education. 

In my mid-20s, soon after becoming a teacher,  I became a mother. That new role cracked me wide open — old hurts and patterns surfaced, and so did postnatal depression, followed by a difficult separation, the challenges of single parenting and tricky co-parenting, and the financial struggles that come with being a teacher in South Africa (a sad reality that they are poorly paid). Yet the love I felt for my son deepened my determination to learn, heal, and grow, not only for him but for myself.

Teaching

When Luca just turned two years old, I started a little community school in our home that I ran for a number of years. It grew into its own space, and many, many children had their schooling start there.  Later on, I homeschooled twelve children for five years from kindergarten into primary school, with my son joining the group. Several other experiences like these followed and grew into a love and support for conscious alternative schooling, small community initiatives, and homeschooling. 

At one point, I took a break from school teaching for five years and moved into teaching children, teens, and adults how to live with less consumerism, less waste, and less toxic chemicals. I started a small business called Low Impact Living, and then I opened a Waste-Free Grocery Store and Cafe. My creativity, to this day, always found outlets through crafting, home making, DIY home and body products, drawing and painting. 


Now

Today, Luca has grown into a young man, and I have moved from working with children to also working with the adults around children. The work I do helps parents and helps me as a parent. Things are never perfect, and that’s not the goal. My son and I share an ever-evolving relationship of trust, communication, and connection.  I am so proud of us. We live with our little dog Juniper in a home surrounded by nature, with a lemon tree and a vegetable garden, nestled between the mountains and the sea on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa. I continue to live a life of healing, wellness, creativity,  and connection while offering a deeply fulfilling service that bridges working with children and families locally and internationally. My work truly does empower parents, elevate childcare, and enrich childhood.

I hope you find something here that brings you and your children the peace, joy, and connection you need and deserve. 

I look forward to walking with you. 

With love,

Career Milestones

    • Waldorf Education - Certified Waldorf Kindergarten teacher through the Centre for Creative Education, Cape Town, South Africa - 2004

    • Early Childhood Development Practitioner - Certified through the Centre for Creative Education, Cape Town, South Africa - 2004

    • Teacher for Sunflower Kindergarten, then left for 2024-2025 

    • Founder and lead teacher of Rosy Cave - Waldorf community school for playgroup and Kindergarten - this school, which started in my home and grew into its own space,  successfully operated from 2007 to 2019

    • Home School group teacher for 5 years, taking a group of 12 children from kindergarten years to the end of class 3.

    • Home school teacher for a private family in the UAE - 3 years.

    • Relief teaching in Waldorf schools when needed.

    • Kids' creative holiday clubs have been ongoing for two decades. 

    • Certified through the Jai Parenting Institute 2024

    • Coaching: Working with parents throughout my teaching career, and coaching parents online and in person. 

    • Parent Education: Talks, workshops and running the Empowered (Transformational) Parenting Programme - 1:1 or in groups 

    • Simplicity Parenting Group Leader - Certified through the Simplicity Parenting Institute and the Centre for Social Sustainability.

    • The Holistic Nanny Course - creator & facilitator, offered in South Africa, the UAE and more recently online. 

    • Nanny Mentoring & 1:1 customised training and support. 

    • Holistic Au Pair course - development in progress 

    • Teachers: Monitoring and education for teachers and assistants in Waldorf schools or homeschool groups.

    • Homeschooling Parents: Mentoring and guiding families on their homeschooling journey.

    • Your homeschooling teacher: Helping to find the perfect fit Waldorf teacher for your homeschool or little school.

    • Professional Artist focusing on oils, portraiture, and illustration.

    • Designer of products that align with my values.

    • Avid and ever-curious crafter, home maker and acquirer of new skills.

    • Teacher of art and craft to adults and children.

    • Founder of Low Impact Living - an eco-living education company, waste-free grocery store, and café. 

    • Founder of Earth-Champs - an outdoor nature and skills club for kids, 2014 

    • Tree planting leader - with Greenpop Tree Planting Organisation - annual volunteer for 13 years, planting team facilitator and family planting team leader. 

    • Eco-Village volunteer and Permaculture training certificate

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