Nanny in Vancouver, British Columbia

Silvia Garcia is a very dedicated and resourceful teacher. She knows how to adapt to different personalities and styles. Her enthusiasm and warmth are contagious to the children she cares for. I have worked with her under very stressed situations and she always demostrates professionalism and flexibility.

This to recommend Silvia, who has worked as a nanny for our 2y-old daughter Victoria since Jan-17 until Dec-17. Silvia has been the best nanny we could wish for, and we cannot recommend her highly enough. Background For background, Silvia has taken care of our daughter Victoria, who is now 2 years and 2 months old (born Aug 2015). Silvia’s hours were 7.30am until 4pm (2pm on Fridays), with occasional help during the evenings/weekends. Selection process We moved to the bay area from London in fall 2016. Victoria is our first and only child and we were very focused on finding the best possible care for her. We also wanted to make sure she would get well-rounded development for her age, which would prepare her well for selective admission process at UK nursery/preparatory schools upon our return to the UK. During our selection process, we interviewed ~30 nannies, with half of them in person. We used multiple online websites, and also retained two nanny agencies. Our aim was to find someone who would combine (i) love/passion for children, (ii) children education experience/background, and (iii) maturity/responsibility (which often comes with age/having brought up own children). We wanted to find someone, who considered being a nanny as a passion and professional career, in which they wanted to continuously grow and develop, rather than a job to earn extra income. We found everything and more in Silvia. Silvia’s qualities Silvia is an extremely professional and loving care-giver, who became Victoria’s best friend and our trusted partner and advisor for the development of our daughter. Some of her qualities include: - Knowledgeable about child development and needs. Silvia has worked as a nanny and nursery teacher for many years. She has taken multiple courses on children development, and continues to educate herself . When we had a question about certain health or behavior situations, Silvia was able to advise – and if she didn’t know, she made research and summarized for us her and expert views. - Loving and kind personality. Silvia has won the heart of Victoria as well as ours from the very beginning. Victoria is always very happy to see Silvia in the mornings, and is asking about ‘Sisa’ during the weekends. They have lot of fun, laughs, and hugs together during the day. - Professional and responsible. Silvia has always been extremely professional in all her communication and behavior. Silvia always arrived on time every single day of her ~10 months with us. We always knew that Victoria was safe and well taken care when with Silvia. - Proactive, energetic, and organized. Silvia matched Victoria’s personality perfectly – with lot of energy and ideas what to do during the day. Silvia attended classes/activities with Victoria every day (swimming, gym, music, arts, story time), organized trips for her (including train rides, bus rides, going to museums, going to zoo), and play dates (Victoria made lot of new friends). Given Silvia’s experience and also her teaching role at Wunderkid (indoor play-center in Palo Alto), she was always seen as natural authority by other nannies/moms in the area, who were keen to join Victoria+Silvia for playdates and activities. For every day, we had a schedule of Victoria’s activities on the fridge, and we got a daily written report (in a daily journal) of Victoria’s activities and progress during the day (including what she ate, when she slept, what new words she learned, etc). Every night, we then got a selection of nice pictures from the day that we (and Victoria’s grandparents) greatly appreciated! - Helpful and flexible. Our primary task for Silvia has always been to take care of Victoria as the first and most important priority. At the same time, Silvia was very happy to help us and be flexible in every way she could – whether it was helping us go buy some shoes for Victoria, dropping Victoria/Laura somewhere, letting cleaners/handyman in, or at times adjusting her hours (and holiday days) to suit our needs. Silvia is also a wonderful cook. She would always prepare home made lunch for Victoria and would give her only healthy snacks during the day, not only perfectly following our preferences but also being extremely intuitive about what Victoria likes and what is good for her at the same time. We also had the opportunity to meet Silvia’s family, and even organized a few playdates/joint trips for Victoria with Silvia’s children (age 8, 12, 14). We were pleased to see (albeit not surprised), how friendly, mature, and responsible Silvia’s kids were – the best possible testament to Silvia’s skills as a mom and a nanny. After nearly one year of spending time with Silvia, Victoria has grown into an independent, content toddler, who has developed an interest in many different areas such as arts, music, trains! Victoria has enriched her vocabulary, loves books, made many friends and we are extremely pleased how happy and confident she is around other children and adults as well. As a result of Silvia's guidance, we just got accepted to a highly selective nursery in London. Summary We cannot recommend Silvia highly enough for a nanny role. We wish she would find a family that would truly value her contributions and would develop a strong bond with her, as we have certainly done. Please do not hesitate to call either of us for a personal reference or answer any questions you may have. We are very grateful to Silvia for all she has done for Victoria and our family, and would like to help her as much as we can to find the best possible family for her next role.