Hi there,
My name is Shannon, and I've now lived in Greece for four years. I've spent much of that time living with and caring for three Greek boys and helping them improve their English, alongside other full-time work, and now I'm ready for my next adventure.
I've worked with kids my whole life - as a teacher, a camp counsellor, a nanny, a babysitter...and an aunt and older sister, too! I've experience as a live-in and live-out nanny, and I'd love to go back to childcare full time and bring all my experience to a whole new family.
I guess the most adventurous of my nannying experiences is when I spent a summer working in Georgia, USA, with a group of the most fantastic under-7s I've ever had the joy of meeting. I was part of a team given round-the-clock responsibility for around fifteen children between a year and six years old, creating and facilitating indoor and outdoor activities, scheduling, dealing with issues as they arose both with children and staff, and making quick decisions for the best interest of campers - and obviously keeping them safe! Unlike the older campers, the children in my group all had parents on-site, and that had the extra challenge of balancing camp activities and play time with the needs and wants of the parents, and the children being aware of their proximity. This involved a lot of working with the parents, and the kids, to find the best solution available to maximise their experience in the camp.
I've also experience with special needs children, including children with autism, trauma, and behavioural problems. For me, none of these are an issue - after all, childcare is about adapting to the child, not expecting a one-size-fits-all approach to work. Some kids need more attention or more patience, and it's important to work WITH the child (and their parents!) to deliver the best experience possible.
I have also taught (both formal work-experience in schools and informal tutoring) children of ages from five right up to seventeen year olds, and have sporadically undertaken casual and regular babysitting
jobs for friends and family members.
A little more about me outside of that: I love books of all sorts (hence the publishing degree!), and writing, too. I also like swimming, movies, and whatever wild adventure the kids dream up next!
Outside of my childcare experience and education, I've done a lot of office work, TESOL and ESOL examining jobs, and some retail work, both here and back in Scotland. While each was rewarding in its own way, I really want to go back to my roots and the most rewarding job of all; helping a family flourish.
I am ideally looking for a family who are open-minded, friendly, and ready to work with me to make the experience the best for all of us! I have no reservations regarding any sort of ethnic, religious, or other backgrounds, so please feel free to get in touch if you think I might be a good match. I am very excited to meet you, and thank you for reading!
P.S., my Greek is quite low level, though I've been consistently good at communicating with kids regardless of any language barriers. I want to improve, so maybe we can help each other out and learn together!