ABOUT
Kia ora, I’m Dagmar!
Guardian of children’s spirit and supporter of parents wellbeing.
Do you want to learn about the unique development of your child and how heart-centred and respectful care can help you create a partnership that will last a lifetime?
My small group courses are taught in my home and garden in sunny Marlborough, New Zealand and I care about making personal connections with every one of my clients to help navigate individual challenges and changes.
Let me help make your parenthood more joyful.
Soon-to-be-parent, just had your baby, parent of a toddler or even a school aged child?
Let’s work together!
What is respectful parenting?
To me, I'm being respectful when I match my care to my child's biological motor, brain and emotional development as best I can, instead of working against their design.
That way, my child can build trust in me and create a secure attachment, which is the foundation for their holistic development.
This way of thinking requires us to honour that all children are sentient human beings, whole and complete in their design (don’t need fixing!) and will unfold in their own time, and are therefore deserving of our respect and tender care.
By taking the principles of respectful care, both child and parent can find a way that works for them.
Respectful care acknowledges that everyone is unique, so there's no one right way!
The latest brain research is now able to confirm the effect of this kind of care on the developing brain and the positive long term outcomes. Something Dr. Emmi Pikler knew before she could prove it.
“It’s not about technique but who we are with ourselves.”
- Dr. Emmi Pikler
Ako (teaching and learning)
My first priority in teaching is that the group is a safe space for everyone to feel heard, understood and valued. My teaching style is engaging and easy to understand and delivered in bite-sized pieces so you get the most out of your learning. You'll get to come to your own conclusions on the principles and concepts we learn about, instead of me just telling you what to do!
We always start the session with a treasured ritual of homemade baking and a cup of tea, as a time to connect with each other and as a buffer if you’re running late (because sh*t happens!).
The Before Baby, Baby and Toddler courses I teach are created by Pennie Brownlee and based on the teachings of Dr Emmi Pikler. The Baby Massage Course is created by the International Association of Infant Massage. The Garden Play and Nature Play Groups came from my love of being outdoors with children and as a way to provide more community for local families.
My Training
Heart Dancing for Parent-Infant Class Facilitators 2016
Heart Dancing for Parent-Toddler Class Facilitators 2017
Certified Infant Massage Instructor Training 2018
Dance with me in the Heart • Level One 2016
Dance with me in the Heart • Level Two 2016
The road that lead me here.
I was born right here in Marlborough New Zealand, only a few years after my parents moved from The Netherlands. The sun soaked valley drew them in, and I’m very grateful to have grown up in such a beautiful place. I’ve been lucky enough to spend part of my upbringing visiting family in The Netherlands and seeing many areas of Europe, but New Zealand will always be home to me.
Since I was young, I’ve had an affinity with children. Their openness and genuine love of life seemed so beautiful while also fragile. I felt some need to protect and nurture this within them without taking away their opportunity to explore, test, trial and error in the world around them.
In 2014 I started working as a nanny. I cared for my goddaughter, who was just one year old at the time. Her mum, Tania, showed me how she interacted with her daughter, which became my example. Together my goddaughter and I loved to walk around our neighbourhood, explore her lush home garden, bake with homegrown produce and listen to music while playing and reading books in front of the warm fire.
One of our weekly activities was attending a local parenting course. I loved the group of like minded people, they were so welcoming to us. The course taught me the importance of the first three years of a child's life and how respectful care creates a partnership between parent (or carer, in my case) and child by working with the child's natural unfolding and development.
These were Pennie Brownlee’s ‘Dance with Me in the Heart’ classes, which are based on the teachings of Dr Emmi Pikler. (Spoiler alert: these are the courses I now teach!)
What I learned at the courses made such a positive impact on me and the next two years of daily child-raising challenges. The overwhelming feeling of “What the heck am I doing?!”, which you might be familiar with, slowly faded away as I learned about my goddaughter’s development and started to trust our partnership.
So when I was deciding what the next step was in my career, I chose to undergo the training to teach the same respectful parenting courses that had helped me so much.
From 2016 onwards I’ve been teaching the Baby and Toddler Courses, while also working as a nanny for a few of local families. Many of them appear in the photos throughout this website and remain very dear to me.
The first few years of teaching I had an extremely supportive mentor who gave me the framework for running successful classes I still use today. Along the way I also became a Certified Infant Massage Instructor and started running outdoor play groups, all of which is now my very fulfilling full time work and play.
I used to feel heavy with my deep care for children’s wellbeing. Heavy because I personally couldn’t look after all of them and give them what I thought they deserved - but their parents could. And so, my purpose was defined (it wasn’t really that clear cut but for the sake of the story…): to support parents in creating a partnership with their little ones that will last a lifetime.
That looks like parents building trust in themselves, setting boundaries, taking care of their own wellbeing, learning about their child’s holistic development and caring for them in a way that supports their natural unfolding. And hopefully the ripple effect of respectful relationships will emanate into their wider community and create a more peaceful world!
Outside of my work, I play by creating food, learning to sew and do pottery, spending time in nature, dancing like no one’s watching at live music, enjoying local theatre, practising yoga and experiencing life with my friends and family.