A
Parent
Joy
About Us
A Parent Joy is your go to family friendly resource for parents and their babies bringing evidence-based information and strategies to enhance both your child's development and your daily activities at home, in a manner that feels just right for you.
A Parent Joy can meet in your home giving you personal attention with your family goals. If community outings with your child leave you all in tears, there is help there too. Lastly, A Parent Joy strives to create communities of parents to support each other, problem solve, share and gather in their journey into parenthood. The goal of every interaction, is to remind us that we are competent and capable parents and of the privelege and
joy of parenthood!
More about me
Tamara "Joy" Harper
Founder, Owner and Developmental Specialist
I have been partnering with parents and their children ages birth to three for more than 15 years. My goal has always been to bring current research in child development into homes and then strategize with parents to create the best fit for each family's needs.
I began work as a developmental specialist in 2003 with the California Early Start Program, serving families with children with varying delays in their development, including behavior management. Under the Special Start Training Program (a grant originating from Boston Children's Hospital) I gained more knowledge of newborns, specifically graduates of the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs). I understand the unique and sensitive care of bringing home infants from their hospital stays. In 2011, I worked with the New York City Bureau of Early Intervention. I had the opportunity to collaborate with some of the top Early Intervention Specialist in our field; mentoring other pediatric professionals to address the developmental needs of a child with the goals, routines and priorities of the family at the heart of services. I am currently completing a certification for Post Partum Doula with the Childbirth & Post Partum Association (CAPPA) and will become certified in April 2015.
I am a recent migrant to Somerville and finding ways to connect to our local early childhood community. I am also a mother of a curious and busy toddler, so I am in love. These days I find myself strategizing and re-strategizing the balance of parenthood, marriage and career. My personal goals are again evolving, as I find the place where my personal joy, family and life's work live cohesively, since they are all one in the same now.