TeacherCare of Chicago

“Karen has been caring for our two boys, Jack and CJ since the early fall of 2005. Our oldest was 20 months at the time we interviewed Karen and absolutely would not go to a stranger. He would often become hysterical if someone new even came into the room, let alone near him. Imagine our amazement when Karen walked in for her interview and Jack insisted on sitting in her lap the whole time. Then he insisted on walking with her to her car to say good-bye. From the first moment, Jack instinctively knew that Karen was the best person in the world to care for him and his newborn brother CJ when mommy and daddy were not there.

Karen is in a class by herself. She is part of our family and goes way above and beyond in everything she does for the kids. And honestly, she does the same for us.Karen is priceless. One of the most heart-warming things about Karen is that she doesnt stop thinking about the boys, even when shes not with them. She is always alerting us to local events that she thinks the boys would like and she has even joined us on the weekend to see firsthand how they enjoyed them. Or, she may bake something at home to bring over for the boys to tempt them into trying new things. CJ especially loves these treats.

Karen creates a great balance of home-based and extra-curricular activities for the children. We consider ourselves very blessed to have such a kind, intelligent and loving person taking care of our two boys as if they were her own.

I will close on one last example. Last spring, Karen chose Jack to be the ring bearer at her wedding. Throughout the event, I think Karen was more focused on whether Jack was happy and having a good time than with making sure that everything worked like clockwork. When Jack ran past the flower girl during the ceremony calling for Karen, she patiently hugged him and explained to him that he needed to go back. And I think she held him more than we did throughout the day, letting him touch her hair and the beadwork on her dress, play with her jewelry, etc. The fact that she could be so selfless on one of the most important days of her life speaks volumes to her character and her genuine love for our children.

Karen is extraordinary in every way and our boys love her dearly.”

Karen is a certified teacher and graduated in the top 10% of all DePaul students — not just education majors. She was also a member of NSCS and Golden Key.

Past experience:

Teaching instructor, elementary teacher, student teacher, nanny, long-term babysitting, Sunday school teacher, coach, and short-term babysitting.

Our child is autistic and can have some very challenging behaviors. Monica has done a remarkable job with him. Monica has worked with autistic children for several years and her background is in behavioral intervention. We have seen considerable improvement in Carter’s problematic behaviors and I think it is directly attributable to her one-on-one support of him. Monica also watches our 3 year old on nights when we can’t be home in time to get him from preschool. She is a fantastic addition to our household and I am far less stressed over whether a caregiver can “handle” Carter. We are thrilled to have found TeacherCare to fulfill our very specific caregiver requirements and we couldn’t be happier.

We couldn’t be happier with the care Oliver is receiving. Maddy is very attentive, conscientious, and caring to our son Oliver. She is great about communicating with us what Oliver is up to and what skills he’s developing… She plans out lessons (activities) and she’s always “teaching” talking through everything. Oliver is always excited to see her.

Noelle was fantastic and served wonderfully as both a teacher and a nurturer for our son. Noelle helped us through a very difficult time and, because of the outstanding job she did, Henry is very successful in school now.