Sheri Louis
I am a dreamer and an explorer. Though our cultures and experiences are so different, as humans we all want the best for ourselves and our families. I am constantly looking for ways to bring out the strength and confidence of every parent, caregiver and child I teach.
At its core, my practice over the years has been to focus on strengthening whole family dynamics. My work is about empowering children to find their assertive voice, deal with conflict both inside and outside of their families and regulate their emotions so their behavior is beneficial to their relationships. It is about empowering their parents to reflect on their own upbringing, to be mindful about how they speak to and engage their children, to model positive behavior in their day-to-day interactions and to become effective advocates for their children. And soon it will be about empowering educators to bring emotional regulation—an approach that focuses on student responsibility for their actions within the classroom setting to facilitate learning—into their teaching.
I am credentialed in Special Education and Elementary Education, and spent 13 years in K-12 schools in Quito, Ecuador and Maine. For the past six years, as I started my own family I grew a successful parent education practice here in Portland. I am on a life-long journey of continuous education, constantly researching and exploring best practices in early education, parenting education and the cognitive and learning sciences. I have worked with hundreds of parents and love seeing them integrate into their families the skills and tools taught in class. But no judgment: I know all too well that everyone is human, and I always encourage my students to find the one or two things that really resonate with them and make them real in their lives.
I am a New Englander through and through. Born and raised in Massachusetts, I traveled and studied abroad extensively before landing in Portland. Portland, Maine, that is—I lived and worked in the “other” Portland for nine years before finding my way to Portland, Oregon. I embody that scrappy New England spirit yet relish the laid-back Pacific Northwest.
I believe everyone has the capacity to change, to learn and to grow. No one is pigeon-holed into who they think they are or need to be or who others think they are or need to be. Everyone is extraordinary, and I infuse this core idea into my teaching and my parenting. When I am not helping adults be magical care takers, I can be found hiking and running throughout Portland with my husband and two kiddos.