Harmony Family Network

Our Teachers

KRISTINA JARENO - PROGRAM DIRECTOR

After touring 25+ preschools and progressive schools throughout LA and OC counties; attending group classes & private sessions with various thought leaders in RIE®, Parent Effectiveness Training, Self-Directed Education, and Psychology; and enduring over a dozen nanny interviews; Kristina set out to create a system that would address many shared pain points she began hearing repeatedly from other moms in these specialized communities:

1. Affordable help with Alternative Educators/Nannies

2. Help finding compatible families and a weekly collaboration system that reduces emotional/psychological harm between children, parents, and caregivers

3. How to encourage incompatible spouses, grandparents, or other family members to get more involved in parent/caregiver education.

“I toured everything from RIE®, Reggio, Montessori, Waldorf, Humanistic, Pluralistic, Parent Participation Co-ops, Private schools, etc. I didn’t realize what I was searching for at the time: a place that provided emotional safety in a way that was unparalleled. A place that would not only provide a space for my daughter to make safe attachment relationships, but also catalyze me to truly grow in my craft as a parent.”

Kristina began her educaring journey as a volunteer in her church nursery during tween years, as a TA and Substitute Teacher in her teens, and finally as Faculty running an independent music school during college years. Her background is in entertainment and also includes teaching for Yamaha Music School, interning for Universal Music Publishing Group, and attending the Musician’s Institute in Hollywood and the Songwriting School of Los Angeles.

​ LEAD FACILITATOR

We are currently in the process of securing a RIE-Trained Lead Facilitator, whose role will be to offer perspective as an objective party and partner to parents, build secure attachment with each child as a primary attachment figure, and facilitate a space for parents and children to all practice and grow together in our MWF group co-op days.

Philosophy

Our Approach is play-based, favoring RIE/PET/SDE, taking what we feel are the best pieces of Reggio, Montessori, Waldorf, etc., but always centering each child’s intrinsic interests.

*The purpose for our parent participation co-op arrangement is to practice our skills/technique as primary caregivers, to foster emotionally safe relationships with our children, and to build trust and partnership with an objective facilitator that would lead our co-op and serve our families privately part-time. The emphasis is not just in finding help for childcare, but to become better parents/caregivers ourselves. If teachers/nannies are always disproportionately more trained than parents, it puts us parents at a loss… because it us us who spend the most time “in the arena” or “on the field” with our children. And it is us who make the biggest impact on them.

*The purpose of our bi-monthly family conferences is to address the inevitable challenges we will share as we grow together as parents, and as our children grow in space together. This is the forum to resolve issues that weren’t resolved during weekly facilitator check-in’s, and collaborate under the guidance of a seasoned RIE Associate/PET Instructor and SDE Advocate.

Location

Harmony Family Network is Located in a quiet residential neighborhood in North Long Beach, CA. Convenient access to the 91, 710, 605, and 110 fwys. Although we prioritize the internal house we build for our children psychologically and emotionally, our home-based preschool hybrid offers a wide range of external features that are vital for whole child well-being. Filled with light, warmth, and color, we strive to provide a space where children can be grounded by nature, art, love, and play:

Indoor/Outdoor Play Space: More than 1537 sq ft of play space, with a large patio sliding door and windows for proper air flow.

Playground: Our cedar play set comes with swings, a rock climbing wall, sandbox, and clubhouse fort. From imaginary pirate ships to castles, the possibilities are endless!

Organic Garden: What better way to engage the senses than sun, water, fruits, vegetables, flowers, herbs, and other wild life habitats.

Mud Kitchen: Kids can be so resourceful when creating their master chef dishes - collecting a wide array of ingredients from chalk to tree berries and rosemary from our garden.

Dress Up & Music Station: A large victorian mirror, musical instruments, and costume rack set the stage for fantastic performances.

Art & Science Station: Although art, science, and all other learning can happen anywhere at anytime, it is great to have a designated place for supplies. Crayon melting, slime making, and masterpiece building - explorations galore!

Communal Library​: We welcome our village to donate books that are not only full of wonder and adventure, but also gives language to emotional and relational landscapes. From classics like “The Hungry Caterpillar,” to books teaching about body consent such as “No Means No!” Even at this age, children are fully capable of fulfilling dialogues about diversity, integrity, peace, and resilience.

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About our program

At the heart of our program, what we most desire is to decrease emotional and psychological harm. By doing this, we decrease pain and suffering in our relationships together and make room for what makes life feel most fulfilling: building connection, safety, peace, joy, freedom, bravery, and belonging.

By preventing and rehabilitating early attachment injuries; and providing resources and collaboration systems for parents to hone practical skills such as attunement, active/reflective listening, empathy, collaborative problem solving, conflict resolution, and repair; we can create a forum for parents and caregivers to give this sacred job the respect it deserves.

Our full program breakdown is as follows:

• Weekly Co-Op Days
• Primary attachment building (private one-on-one care with Lead Facilitator): 4 hrs, 1 day per week
• Weekly Collaboration Check-in with Lead Facilitator: 30-min, 1 day per week
• Bi-Monthly Parent Conferences with RIE Associate/PET Instructor: 90min-2hrs, every 2 weeks
• Monthly Mixed-Age Events
• Yearly conferences with experts in the fields of Self-Directed Education, Trauma, and Attachment

What happens after age 6?

Because we are passionate about attachment and self-directed education, our homeschool co-op program is designed to support our children long-term. There is no “graduation” or breaking of attachments because it’s “Kindergarten Time,” which means it’s time to leave whether you consent or not. As each child in our village turns 6, all is needed is a simple Private School Affidavit (PSA) filing to continue our journey together.

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What is R.I.E., P.E.T., and S.D.E.?

Quick Video Links:

Resources for Infant Educarers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M4aCm7l9jY

Parent Effectiveness Training: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X2Gp_7naP4

Self-Directed Education: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbKQGNE1nUo

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Psychotherapeutic Resources/Influences:

Kelly McDaniel - Clinician, Researcher, and Author of “Mother Hunger: How Adult Daughters Can Understand and Heal from Lost Nurturance, Protection, and Guidance” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CliX1Im0wk

Bettina Schultz-Jobe - pioneering Clinician and Co-founder of Natural Lifemanship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgpEpvRf6w8

Admissions

Tours

For virtual meet & greets and private tours, please contact Kristina directly at [email protected]

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Enrollment

Our first month of enrollment will include a 2-week trial period with parents, children, and staff to make sure we are all a fit.  This also allows for proper attachment building. 

Following that, our next 8 weeks of enrollment will include a weekly 75-min P.E.T. Book Club class taught by Michelle Cescatti.

Finally, we will continue bi-monthly conferences with Michelle Cescatti and attend semi-annual workshops with Akilah Richards - host of “Fare Of The Free Child” podcast, Author of “Raising Free People,” and previous founding board member of the Alliance for Self-Directed Education.

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COVID-19 Measures & Guidelines

A note from our Director: “We are living in a unique time in history.  The way we’ve chosen to approach our Covid-19 Measures & Guidelines takes into consideration the very real need to reduce and manage risk, to honor those who have experienced grief and suffering (by not treating this pandemic as if it is not real, thus gaslighting those who have suffered at the hands of it), and to meet children’s vital emotional needs for the full range of co-regulation (including facial cues, eye contact, nurturing touch, etc).  It is not effective to have an approach that holds the motto of merely “doing the best we can” or “it’s good enough.”  Our approach to everything in our program has always been “do least harm, find a way.”

​With that said, here is a detailed layout of how our co-op plans to respond to COVID-19:​

RISK ASSESSMENT

• We cannot have a conversation about risk without a conversation about consent.  We kindly ask all families to read the following article as it pertains to consent and creating a pandemic pod together:
  • https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_form_a_pandemic_pod
• Creating Risk Profiles for each family so everyone is conscious of the risk they are bringing to the table and the risk they are receiving, as well as any other details needed to make decisions with informed consent. (i.e. exposure to elderly loved ones, job exposure, practices outside of the pod, risk tolerance level).  Detailed docs for Pod Agreements and Risk Profiles will be sent upon enrollment.  Please refer to the following two charts regarding Risk Tolerance and Risk Calculation:
  • https://theapna.org/web2019/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/APNA-copy-COVID-Risk-Tolerance-Scale-768x994.png
  • https://cdn.abcotvs.com/dip/images/6300204_risk-chart.jpg

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RISK MANAGEMENT​

• Compliance with guidelines set forth by the California Department of Public Health and Centers for Disease Control
• Temperature checks, social distancing, and hand sanitizer upon arrival
• Mask Wearing:  We kindly ask Parents & Facilitators to wear transparent masks during group co-op days (MWF 9-1) and bring transparent masks for their children.  Through Active Listening, I-Messages, and Collaborative Problem Solving, our goal is to facilitate risk management as much as possible without the use of coercion, manipulation, or abuse of adult privilege/power.   This can look like preparing ahead of time by having conversations with children about the risks and giving them a chance to collaborate on their mask-wearing experience, honoring body consent, attuning and checking in to re-confirm how they are feeling, allowing for tender co-regulation and space if a “break” is needed from mask wearing, and remaining flexible to collaborate on solutions on a moment-to-moment basis regarding other compatible solutions that the children might come up with themselves.
  • Your curriculum and supply fees include our mask of choice (includes upgrade options for self-sanitizing and air-sterilizing features based on Risk Tolerance level): https://www.leaf.healthcare/compare-products
• Hand Washing
• Sanitizing surfaces, toys, etc.
• Social Distancing & Test Reporting:  Since our co-op is designed to be a group shelter-in-place hybrid program, we ask that Parents & Facilitators practice social distancing, mask wearing, and hand washing at all times outside of our pod/exposure network.  We will also ask for Covid-19 testing on a regular 2-week and situational basis such as after post-travel quarantining, after possible exposure to someone diagnosed at work or within family, etc.

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RESOURCES

• Dependent Care Plans: “Many employers offer a payroll option that allows their employees to set aside some of their wages to pay for child care expenses, without the money being taxed. These plans are called dependent care plans, flexible spending account, cafeteria plans, salary reductions plans, or pre-tax spending accounts. Parents who participate in these plans can save hundreds of dollars in taxes by setting aside a maximum of $5,000 per year, per family. “ - Tom Copeland, The Nation’s Leading Expert On The Business of Childcare
• Child and Dependent Care Credit: “The Child and Dependent Care Credit is a tax break designed to “give back” some of the money you spend on caring for a child — or someone else in your household who cannot care for themselves — while you work. Here is a breakdown of how the credit works and what the requirements the IRS uses to qualify this care.” - more on Wonderschool’s blog: https://www.wonderschool.com/p/parent-resources/child-dependent-care-credit/
• Financial Aid - Please check out the following links for a variety of financial assistance programs offered by the state of California:
  • https://www.wonderschool.com/p/parent-resources/child-care-financial-assistance-california/
  • https://www.chs-ca.org/child-care-payment-program