ABOUT
Katie Veatch
B.A., Psychology, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Infant and Toddler Course, North East Montessori Institute, Warren, Maine
Licensed Massage Therapist, Ashland Institute of Massage, Ashland, Oregon
Liddle Kidz Foundation coursework
Certified Infant Massage Teacher
Certified Pediatric Massage Therapist Course for Professionals
Touch Therapy for Liddle Kidz with Cancer
Touch Therapy for Liddle Kidz with Trauma
Touch Therapy for Liddle Kidz with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Touch Therapy for Liddle Kidz in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Yoga training
Sivananda Hatha Yoga Teacher Training
Yoga for the Special Child, The Sonja Sumar Method®
Birth Doula training:
Certified Birth Doula Training, Doula Organization of North America
Certified Lactation Training, Doula Organization of North America
CalmBirth® method of childbirth
BIO
Katie has been caring for young children for over twenty years in day care centers and home settings, and has been implementing the Montessori method via practice and personal research for almost fifteen years. In 2016, Katie officially trained in the Montessori method as a 0-3 infant/toddler specialist and has been supporting families and professional nannies in home environment practices since 2017. For the past two and a half years Katie has worked as a guide in a toddler Montessori classroom until being laid off due to the pandemic. Katie has also trained and worked as a birth doula, pediatric massage therapist, and yoga teacher, each a valuable contribution toward building a career based in peace and respect.
Katie is excited to be working again with parents and caregivers in the home environment. Katie strives to create an environment where each child is a respected member of the community, believing the path to cultivating peace is through empathy, kindness, and the utmost care for a developing sense of self-confidence and independence. She is committed to supporting each child, family, and caregiver with regard to their individual needs in the home and beyond.
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After graduating college in 2005, working as a nanny became a way to see and live in different parts of the country. In 2010, after being denied a job with an infant for “lack of experience,” Katie trained with the Liddle Kidz Foundation to learn to teach infant massage techniques to new parents. This serendipitous connection created a new professional spin off for many years.
After two trips to Vietnam as a volunteer teaching infant massage to caregivers in orphanages, Katie discovered a love of working with special populations and returned to the United States ready to provide massage therapy to children in need. Katie completed her massage therapy education and simultaneously trained to be a birth doula.
Katie worked for several years providing nurturing touch and massage therapy for children in palliative and hospice care, as well as attending births as a doula. She also trained as a yoga teacher and practiced teaching typically developing and differently-abled children, as well as adults.
After the birth of her first child in 2015, Katie was fortunate to be able to return to work as a nanny in Boston and Cambridge, bringing her baby along with her. During that time, Katie served as a Montessori home consultant providing child care as well as environmental design and education for families interested in the method. In 2016, Katie made her Montessori education official and attended the Infant and Toddler Course through North East Montessori Institute. In 2017, Katie began training Boston area nannies in Montessori home environment methods.
Katie has spent the past two and a half years working as a co-lead guide and assistant guide at a Montessori school and has been surrounded by inspired and thoughtful Montessorians. After a recent lay-off due to Covid-19, Katie is excited to now support families and caregivers remotely who want to bring Montessori practices into their home.
In addition to her work with children, Katie enjoys volunteering, social justice work, and travel. Outside of researching conscious caregiving practices, Katie can be found weeding the garden, practicing yoga, signing petitions, or hanging out in the woods with her husband and two children.