Jean serves as a consultant to a wide variety of early childhood and elementary school programs and provides guidance to parents in both individual and group settings.
Jean serves as a consultant to a wide variety of early childhood and elementary school programs and provides guidance to parents in both individual and group settings.
Jean Schreiber does it all and knows it all – though of course she is too humble to tell you that herself! I have worked with Jean for a decade, and have consistently marveled at her extraordinarily deep reservoir of knowledge, wisdom, and insight, in all things related to child development, parenting and family relationships, classroom behavior and school structure. She regularly provides teachers and parents with helpful, actionable advice for a wide range of topics in each of those areas. Personally, Jean helped shape me first as a classroom teacher, then as a school director, and eventually as a parent myself. I know first-hand just how valuable time spent with Jean can be, with each of those “hats” on. I recommend Jean to anyone I can, for support and insight into children, families, and classrooms.
Sharing an office, and collaborating, with Jean Schreiber for five years was without question, one of the highlights of my career. Jean is insightful, a patient and intuitive listener, and is a wellspring of knowledge when it comes to child development and best practice in the early childhood classroom. She has helped countless families, teachers, and school administrators make sense of what can feel like the most difficult moments and hurdles of a young child’s experience. She does so with conviction, humor, grace, and care. Anyone that gets to work with Jean, anyone that receives her support, is incredibly, incredibly lucky.
Jean is my go-to advisor for all parenting questions and challenges. She is thoughtful, highly experienced and always compassionate in her advice. Jean is an active listener – she can quickly identify the core issue that we face – and she offers clear and practical solutions. In some cases, Jean offers several perspectives and is respectful in helping us to determine what works best for our family. Jean is so deeply passionate and joyful about our children, families, and community; her enthusiasm for navigating childhood is so contagious. Every time that I join one of Jean’s parenting sessions, I wish that we had more time, so I feel lucky that Jean always makes herself available for ad-hoc questions. We feel so fortunate to have Jean in our lives.
I first met Jean when I took her Bank street course, “How to Create an Effective Teaching Team”, the summer before I began my new position as director of early childhood. Jean provided great insight into what goes into creating a strong and cohesive teaching team through practical and hands on activities. After spending two days under Jean’s mentorship, I walked away feeling inspired and eager to implement what I had learned. Jean is an incredible teacher and the class was exactly what I needed before starting my journey as director.
Since that summer, I’ve called on Jean several times to help me through a few difficult challenges I faced as a new director. I often quote her to my staff so naturally they were excited when the opportunity to meet came about. Jean put together a presentation for one of our weekly staff meetings that focused on creating healthy partnerships with parents. After spending ninety minutes with Jean, the teachers left with a long list of strategies to put into practice. They are looking forward to future workshops with her as well. I am so proud to consider Jean a mentor, colleague and friend.
Whenever I have parenting questions, I’ll find myself asking: “what would Jean do?” And sometimes, I’ll actually hear Jean’s voice in my head guiding me; feeding me a line that I can use with my child- words that will be positive; explanations that will give just enough information without overload.
And when I have a parenting question and can’t seem to summon Jean’s voice, I email her (sometimes at an embarrassingly late/early hour) and I ask her: Jean, what would you do? And, she never fails to come through with the answer. That’s the best thing about Jean: she always responds and she always, always knows what to do. And I love her advice because it is rooted in compassion and pragmatism; it’s thoughtful and reasonable and just right.
Jean is a special person and I feel lucky that she’s in my life.
It has been a great pleasure working alongside Jean for seven years. Jean's expertise in child development and the classroom learning environment makes her an invaluable resource to parents and educators alike. In my experience, she brings informative and thought provoking concepts to every conversation. She shares a vast knowledge of child development and appropriate classroom experiences. As a 2s educator, I have worked closely with Jean in supporting parents in a range of early childhood development from separation and potty training to better supporting a child's learning experience in the classroom. Jean has been remarkably helpful to my own teaching practice by providing me with guidance, strategies, and endless support. Every meeting I've had with her has left me inspired.
I call Jean my "parent guru." She has answered questions ranging from sharing toys to sibling strife to anxiety (both my child's and mine!). Jean is an expert at listening and digging into situations to identify the root cause and then recommending actionable techniques that my family can easily implement at home. I have even written down language that Jean suggests and when the moment of opportunity arises, I pull out my notes and practice it. She has helped our family with all types of questions - none are too small - and I'm forever grateful!
Jean is the go-to parenting guru for all JCC Nursery School parents. I have sought her advice on everything from handling challenging behaviors in my children to preparing for admissions play dates to understanding sibling dynamics and more. She has spoken to a large audience of parents at my children's ongoing school about Social Emotional Learning and Kindness and shares not just knowledge and information, but practical advice on a wide range of parenting topics. Although my children have all graduated from the JCC Nursery School, I know I can always reach out to Jean for advice and support.
Jean is the most talented, professional and useful education consultant I have ever encountered.I first met Jean when my kids were in nursery school and, recognizing a need in our community, she started an adoption group for parents. Fast forward eight years, and our group is still together because of Jean. She imparts communication strategies that are as essential, relevant and insightful now as when our children were young. Jean’s talent of listening and responding with concrete and extremely helpful suggestions has had a profound impact on my life.
Jean creates a safe learning environment for adults to ask questions and explore their own memories of childhood learning and play, leading to engaging and productive conversation. Her workshop with our early childhood faculty members helped them explore the power of play, ask questions, and take risks, so that they then felt more comfortable and knowledgeable about incorporating open-ended play and block building into the school day with their students. Our teachers valued the time Jean spent visiting their classrooms, sharing her observations, and planning for next steps. She is both a wealth of knowledge and a compassionate listener; a wonderful combination of traits for helping teachers grow. Jean's parent workshop was informative, while also allowing parents to reflect on their own experiences with play in childhood. She made sure that everyone felt comfortable asking questions.
Jean has been my go-to mentor for years. When I was a teacher she encouraged me to become a director, and when I did she held my hand throughout my first year. She's an educator with strong philosophical convictions and the ability to look at every situation practically. More than anything, she's helped me learn to trust myself when I have to make even the most difficult decisions. I can't thank her enough!
I have worked with Jean for 3 years at the Saul and Carole Zabar Nursery School. Using her years of experience, she provides suggestions and support for teachers and parents working with children. She makes you feel comfortable when approaching different situations in the classroom and is an excellent partner when working with parents. When you work with Jean, she connects you with the best tools to succeed in the classroom. I feel very comfortable bouncing ideas off of and receiving feedback from her. She has helped me become a better teacher and parent communicator. I happily recommend working with Jean as a teacher and for any parents looking for support.
Jean is warm, approachable, and extremely knowledgeable. She is an active listener and provides thoughtful and judgement free advice. Jean serves as an incredible resource for teachers especially when navigating issues around teacher dynamics and classroom management.
We have been so fortunate to have Jean working with us at Children’s All Day School for the past few years. Jean has held workshops for our parents and teachers focused on children’s social and emotional domain. Jean’s wisdom has been an invaluable and now integral part of our program.
I can honestly say that over the last 6 years of working with her, I have many times been heard exclaiming, "I love Jean!" She is always welcome in my classroom and I always feel welcome in her office. Jean is a warm, heartfelt person who is ready to listen and offer you her full attention. Her years of experience working with families, teachers, and young children allow her to confidently offer advice in many areas, from social emotional challenges, to team dynamics and Professional Development, to block building. She is calm, rational and not at all an alarmist.