What began as a pandemic tutoring pod has evolved into a new Montessori school for teacher Nadia Lannder.
She is the owner and head teacher at Regalo Montessori. The private school just opened its first official location at 45 Millard Ave. W in Newmarket.
After graduating from teacher's college, she began teaching at a private school. It wasn't until it was time for her own son to start school that she was introduced to the Montessori system.
“It was phenomenal. It changed our lives,” she said.
After enrolling in Montessori school, Lannder's son was more calm, kind and compassionate, she said. Seeing that change, she knew she wanted to become a Montessori teacher.
Lannder left her job at a private school to go do a course in Montessori teaching, a program that she said was "“a lot harder than teacher’s college." After that, she worked at other Montessori schools, including Queensville Montessori. Then the pandemic hit and she found herself out of a job.
She then got a call from one of the families from her school asking if she could tutor their children. That was the start of the pandemic pod. Over time it evolved into teaching from her house.
“Our entire first floor was a school,” she said.
As more families were added, they brought on another teacher and expanded to a second pod in one of the family's homes. However, Lannder knew then that based on all the materials they acquired and the space they were taking up, they needed to find a more permanent home.
Space became available at 45 Millard Ave. W, in a unit rented by Crosslands Church. After a number of renovations to make two separate classrooms in the space, Lannder realized her dream of opening her own Montessori school.
“I feel like it happened to me more than I created it. I always wanted this, I just didn’t think I had enough knowledge or experience or anything like that to actually get there. So it’s been a huge push from parents and it feels good that they would trust me with that,” she said.
Regalo has a casa class for kids aged three to six and an elementary class for kids aged six to 12. Each class has room for 15 students.
The Montessori system is much more individualized than a traditional school model, Lannder said.
"We meet kids exactly where they are at,” she said.
By having mixed ages in the classes, it allows children to work on skills they need to work on, either spending more time on something they need extra time with or moving ahead to another level, Lannder said. It also eliminates competition.
“We know as teachers where they’re supposed to be at but we kind of protect kids from that feeling of insecurity by having peers that are older, younger that they can work with,” she said.
It's also very hands-on with activities and experiments associated with every lesson, Lannder said.
Another goal with her particular school is to get the students out in the community, going to the library, community centre or even learning about public transit.
Lannder teaches in the younger class, along with another teacher. There is another teacher in the elementary class, assistive staff, and part-time gym and French teachers who are brought in. On top of making a good environment for the students, she said she also wanted it to be a good space to teach in.
“I tried to create a place that works really well for teachers because I’ve been on the other side of it,” she said.
Despite her years of experience in teaching, running her own school is new to Lannder.
"The biggest thing I’ve had to learn is managing staff and families. But it’s been great. I feel like we’ve had such lovely families and staff,” she said.
On top of the administrative tasks, Lannder has been juggling opening a school with raising a newborn, her almost six-month-old son.
“It’s been really challenging,” she said. “They’re two things that are so important to me and I want to help both of them grow and so trying to balance the two is just challenging.”
However, she credits husband Taylor Walker with being so supportive and helping both at home and with the school. While he knew nothing about Montessori before she started doing it, he has now become a big supporter of the system and helps a lot with the business side of things despite also working full time in the tech industry.
Regalo is a full family affair with Lannder's older son, who is nine years old, enrolled in the elementary class. The school is about half full currently with more spots open for students to join in both age groups. Lannder invites prospective parents to reach out and book a tour to learn what it's all about.
