Meet the Teachers
Anna Parker- ECE
I moved to Castlegar with my husband and two daughters in the fall of 2022.
I am a mother of three, and have had experience working with children for over 10 years. When my son was born in 2013, it became apparent shortly after his birth that he was showing signs of developmental delays and medical complexities. I spent several years attending therapies and medical appointments, managing funding contracts and organizing supports, being trained in providing complex medical care and therapeutic interventions, learning extensively about child development, and creating activities to help him achieve specific developmental goals. It was through this unique experience that I became fascinated by early childhood development and grew to be extremely passionate about providing care for children with that development in mind.
My son tragically passed away due to his complex medical condition in 2019. After taking some time to grieve as a family, I decided to formalize my knowledge and experience in Early Childhood Development, and completed my Early Childhood Educator program. My experiences have made me well-versed in many aspects of early childhood development, able to see the unique gifts and potentials of each and every individual child, and have offered me insight into the difficulties families face advocating for their children and the support they deserve from educators.
I am passionate about working with children and their families, developing meaningful and respectful relationships with the children in my care, and designing engaging activities for children with educational and developmental goals in mind. I love to work with families. I take great pride in our families knowing that they can feel confident to leave their children in my care where they will be provided with a loving environment, positive guidance, compassion, and support. As a mother, I know what a huge decision it can be to leave your children in care, and it is an honour whenever a parent trusts me with that responsibility.
I absolutely love watching the children grow and develop through exploring their environment and testing their theories about the world. It is so magical to experience children's innate wisdom and natural curiosity, and to get to watch them explore the world around them as they play, learn, and grow.
When I am not working with the children in my care, I enjoy spending time with my husband and daughters, hiking with our dog Luna, doing yoga, cooking, crafting, and pursing my other passion of interior design doing projects around my home. I am also a certified Reiki Practitioner and yoga enthusiast. Yoga, meditation, and simple breathwork practices are things I love to share with the children often as tools for rest and regulation, and they provide a wonderful time for connection.
Teaching Philosophy
I am committed to helping your child reach their full potential. Our program and environment is designed to foster creativity, exploration, having fun, and a love of learning. I believe that early childhood education should be holistic and experiential. I am committed to educating the whole-child by fostering a positive environment that sees every child both for their gifts, and as a gift. It is my view of children as being capable, valued, individual, and full of innate wonder that allows me the foundation to build meaningful and reciprocal relationships with the children that I work with. Through these relationships, I learn more about the individual needs of the child and am able to provide meaningful feedback and progress comments to build their self-esteem, and foster their sense of well-being and belonging. It also allows me to get to know the individual needs of the child and design activities catered to their interests and specific targeted developmental goals. I've chosen to create my own program that aligns with my philosophies so that I am able to deliver a respectful, comprehensive, and holistic education, and to better support the children and families in my care.
"In every seed, there is the promise of a forest." -Unknown
Analisa Stienstra- ECE
Analisa first joined Wee Folk for her ECE practicum in January 2024. Throughout her practicum, Analisa always offered a range of engaging activities all while developing really deep and meaningful bonds with the children. She graduated with her ECE and joined Wee Folk in September 2024. Ana grew up in Castlegar after spending time travelling abroad with her parents, including living in Japan for 6 years. Both of her parents are teachers in the community, so it is no surprise she has a passion for education. Ana has always had a deep love for animals, which she has carried into her adult life having two dogs, two cats, and a bearded dragon. Ana is always observing and finding all the animals and insects of the forest with the children, helping them to make habitats, bug hotels, and teaching the children how to walk gently and share the land with gentleness, care, and respect. In addition to loving animals, Ana has a deep love of rocks. She is always admiring and collecting the rocks we see on our adventures, and sharing that love with the children. The children all love Ana for her kind and gentle nature, and for her love of crafting. Whenever we set up an art activity, if nobody needs any help you can expect Miss Analisa to be doing the craft for herself. When it comes to teaching philosophy, Ana shares very similar philosophies and approaches which made her such a good fit to support the program. Ana really gets to know the children and families that she works with and does an amazing job supporting the children in her care.
When Ana is not at daycare, she is usually out walking her dogs, spending time with her husband, doing crafts or collecting more rocks.
