Jennie Monness began her career in early childhood 12 years ago after receiving her Master's from Teachers college, Columbia University. Her first job was teaching English to 18-24 month old native Mandarin speaking children, helping to prepare them for entrance to the most prestigious schools in NYC. She then became the Educational Director of several early childhood centers for 8 years, creating programs that used research-based best practices. About two years ago, Jennie decided to take a decade’s worth of knowledge in early childhood education, and share her learnings with new parents to educate and empower them through her blog Mo' Mommies. She teaches classes, speaks at events, and uses social media, to provide timely information about her own parenting and toy recommendations that new parents deeply need and desire. Her aim has been for moms to connect, support and empower one another, and to learn how to allow their children to play in the most enriching way. She has co-founded a play space, Union Square Play, to bring these ideas to life through developmental, sensory, music and creative classes in addition to a thoughtful open play space. Her methods center around open-ended play materials and objects, so that babies can be engaged rather than entertained, creating their own "curriculum" and learning in the most natural, innate way. Due to COVID-19, she has launched USP Online to focus energy where parents need it most and now leads various virtual mom groups weekly. Learn more about Jennie and Mo'Mommies here: https://momommies.com/.