Hi, I’m Kristine - your child’s online preschool teacher
I was supposed to go into medicine.
That's what my family did, growing up in the Philippines. It's what you did if you were serious about your future. So I did the sensible thing and took a babysitting job, and then I did the extremely unsensible thing of falling completely in love with it.
Not "this is nice" love. The kind where you notice you've spent forty minutes helping a two-year-old figure out a zipper and you're not bored, you're invested. I went and got a degree in early childhood education. My family took it well, mostly.
The classroom years 🎨
I spent years in preschool classrooms — the loud, sticky, gloriously chaotic kind. I taught. Later I ran things as a director. I got to know hundreds of families and every age of small human there is.
Somewhere in there I picked up a nickname: the baby whisperer.
I'd like to tell you I earned it through advanced pedagogical technique. Honestly, I think babies just knew I liked them. There was never one I couldn't get to laugh, or eat, or finally, mercifully, sleep. I had, and still have, that “magic connection” with the babies!
Then I left ✈️
After years of it, I wanted a new challenge. So I did something completely different — I went into another industry entirely. Grown-up job. Grown-up coworkers. Predictable hours. Nobody asked me why the sky is blue, not even once.
I learned a lot. I grew professionally. It was a genuinely good chapter.
And I missed the children so much it surprised me.
I missed the noise. I missed the questions — the relentless, unanswerable, "but why" questions. I missed a small person running across a room to show me a rock. I missed the moment when something finally clicks and their entire face changes, and they look up at you to see if you saw it.
Turns out I hadn't wanted a break from teaching. I'd wanted a break from everything around teaching.
Why I built Little Turtles 💻
I came back — but I built it my way this time.
Little Turtles is small on purpose. One-on-one, or mini groups of two to four. No roster of thirty. No child who's just a name on a list because there weren't enough hours in the day to actually know them.
Over 15 years of working with preschool-age children taught me what matters at this age, and it isn't worksheets. It's whether a child feels safe enough to be silly. Whether they trust you enough to try the thing they might get wrong. Whether someone noticed when they got it right.
So that's what I do. I follow your child's curiosity — dinosaurs, mermaids, space, counting, made-up songs about the dog — and I build real skills into wherever it leads. Every lesson is shaped around who your child actually is, not who a developmental chart says a four-year-old should be.
And when they do something they couldn't do last week? We make a big deal out of it. Because it is one.
The part that isn't about teaching 🌤️
When I'm not in class, I'm usually outside — sunshine, beach volleyball, wandering around in nature. I make things. I thrift, probably too much. I'm happiest with music or a podcast going, and I'll disappear into a good book given the slightest opportunity.
I mention it because I think you should know who's on the other side of the screen. I'm not a platform or a curriculum company. It's just me, and I'll be the same person every single class.
What families say
"She was always very professional and communicated very clearly. She was very kind and adapted to my son's learning style and experience. He improved SO much under her teaching and we recommend Ms. K to everyone looking to improve their child's phonics and reading skills. We will definitely be on the lookout for more classes with her in the future as long as she continues teaching."
"Kristine is a very nice and patient teacher. She always finds the best way to teach my son. My son loves her class and learns a lot from her. My son can recognize all alphabet letters now. Kristine's class is very fun to join in. There are lots of interesting activities involved. It helps my son a lot."
Come say hi 👋
The best way to know if we're a fit is to just meet. It's free, it's casual, and there's nothing to sign.
Bring your little one if they're in the mood — I'd love to meet them. And if they hide behind you the entire time, that's completely fine. I've met a lot of shy ones. We get there.
Classes run mornings, Eastern time.