Who is the Travel Nanny?

My Background

My name is Chelsea Novakowski and I am a passionate, caring, curious nanny with an adventurous streak! I was born in the Fraser Valley, in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. I am the oldest of three children, and we have a close knit family that gets together often. I grew up singing in my school’s choir, being the captain of the cheerleading team in high school and competing as a figure skater. After graduating from high school, I studied at my local university with the end goal of receiving a Bachelors degree in Global Development, which I achieved in December 2018. I most recently completed my Masters degree in Development Studies from the University of Sussex in January 2022. 
Along the way, I was fortunate enough to care for children around the world, and this has led me to the ski slopes of Montreal, sailboats in the Aegean Sea, safaris in Africa, summer camps in Ontario, the oceanside in Spain, and the suburbs of Australia, among other places. Most recently, I spent six months as a consultant at the United Nations in Laos. These experiences have really helped me to learn flexibility, problem-solving, and creativity as they have all been very unique and put me in new environments and cultures.  
My first experience nannying began in September 2012, when I moved to Uganda to work as a homeschooling teacher with a Canadian family. I really enjoyed being a part of a family and focusing on providing quality education and so I took another homeschooling position in Afghanistan in 2017. I have also spent three months living as a resident assistant at a boarding school in Africa and as a live in and live out nanny in Australia and Canada. Throughout these positions, I have worked with children of all ages, and have a good grasp on expectations and abilities as they vary through a child’s development. Currently, I work as an on-call nanny with an agency in Canada.
I am passionate about children’s education and socio-emotional development, and while completing my undergraduate degree I worked on two academic research projects examining best practices in education. During my degree I also studied early childhood education and became a certified early childhood education assistant. I recently completed a certificate in Children’s Mental Health in March 2020 and have found this program to be very helpful in informing my practice with children.
All these practical and academic experiences have led me to continue providing excellent childcare to all the children and families I work with. I centre my childcare practice around encouraging curiosity in children and providing them with empathetic and consistent care.