Moulding little lives: Meet Janet McCormack

Every week, I will be profiling an extraordinary human being who lives in our community. If you know someone who is doing something interesting with their life, I want to hear about it. Send me an email at [email protected].

Janet McCormack never underestimates kids.

“They’re just amazing, little people,” says Janet, a certified Early Childhood Educator and resource teacher who owns a consulting business for children, teens and their families.

She’s got a whole lot of love and appreciation for kids big and small, but it’s those with special needs that are really her forte. Watch her in action and you will probably be blown away. Listen to some of the selfless things she’s done for kids and you will be totally inspired. She’s a compassionate, determined, mindful, caring person who believes children are far brighter than we give them credit for.

For 20 years she worked in the public sector as a resource teacher before branching off on her own and taking a huge leap of faith. Five years ago, she opened her own child consulting business and she’s been giving back in handfuls, paying it forward selflessly and helping children reach for the stars ever since. That’s been one of the perks since she left her supervisor role. She was losing out on the ability to be hands-on with the kids. But she’s rekindled that in a big way.

“Kids are just little people and I think most people tend to forget that,” says Janet. “They see kids in the role as you need to just do what I’m saying. I see a kid as a huge ball of energy. They need the opportunity to be seen as adults who are waiting to be adults. What continues to blow me away is how smart kids are and how they open up to fun. There’s so many worries on kids’ minds with peer pressure and the stuff they see on television that’s not good for their brain… they need the fun and joy of laughing and teasing and having a good time.”

In her unique Huntsville home, Janet has built a beautiful, intimate space for children of all ages to thrive in. (Yeah, she even knows how to handle those moody teenagers.) A few steps downstairs and any parent will be in awe. It’s comfy and cozy and full of brain food. She’s got a light room, loads of books and toys, cute and cuddly animals, and piles of paper, pencils and markers. Behind a small curtain is a neat spot where a kid can feel like they’re hiding out. There’s a cute little kitchen area, a ladder leading to a spy cave, a tent for kids to have a moment to regain their composure in, hammocks hanging from the ceiling, and dozens and dozens of board games placed neatly in handmade shelves in the ceiling. A bunk bed poses as a play zone on top and below is the ball pit. Every nook and cranny is filled with something sure to stimulate any little boy or girl.

Janet often works with special needs children one-on-one, but parents are always welcome to be involved in the sessions. She offers a variety of interactive programs – specifically clubs – which she runs three times a week for five-week periods before introducing “a new batch”. The clubs are all designed to bring children together in a social atmosphere while actively engaging their minds.

Right now, I’m doing a take-apart club where the kids wear safety glasses and go to work on taking apart old electronics. They think they’re just having fun but I’m working on group skills and fine motor skills. I’m also running a sensory play, where the kids make all kinds of dough and clay – stuff their parents might not want to do themselves – and I build in a component of paying it forward. Every week we make two batches of something and they think about who they want to give it to and then we come back and talk about how it felt to do that.

The third club Janet is offering is geared toward kids who are already involved in the service system, meaning they are seeking treatment from doctors and therapists. She gets each of them to create a booklet that ultimately gives them a voice about what they’re experiencing in their life right now.

Her approach to childhood learning is one of a kind. She uses line drawings to convey messages to kids in a way that they can understand. Janet is also big on teaching how the brain works and has devised a simple diagram that she uses to encourage children to express themselves and understand what is going on in relation to the behaviour they are exhibiting.

Janet is all about the brain. This is the diagram she created that allows kids to scale what’s going on in their brain.

Over the years she’s worked with hundreds of local kids who have developmental problems like autism, and social and behavioural challenges. She’s turned kids right around, even ones that parents were on the brink of losing hope in.

“One of the things I’m able to offer is respite care. So if a family needs time to regroup during the day, they can drop their kid off at my home. I’ve also had kids come for a night. At one point I had a mom and a kid living with me. The mom needed support, so I said, ‘Let’s do it here. I have everything we need.’ So we did.”

And Janet would never turn a parent down who comes to her for help; there’s an important reason for her door always being open. When she and her son “adopted each other” when he was seven, he came with a lot of baggage. His behaviour was out of control and Janet couldn’t find the help she needed.

I struggled through it on my own with not always good results. I’m now determined that no parent I know is going to face that alone again. If there’s a kid in crisis, they’re coming here. That’s what I want to do for families. Because I know what it’s like to feel like there’s no hope.

For about 10 years, Janet and her son have helped serve thousands of breakfasts at Huntsville Public School’s breakfast club. It’s all about giving back and, of course, she thoroughly enjoys interacting with the kids. She also volunteers to make a meal at the Table Soup Kitchen once a month.

A couple of years ago, she received funding through the District of Muskoka’s Pay it Forward initiative and used the money to teach the children she works with how to bring joy to others by doing selfless acts.

I’m big on paying it forward. Maybe the clerk at the store needs a smile this week so the kid’s job is to go out and give five random smiles this week. When you start to teach kids about helping other people, it makes their lives better because that person smiles back at them. I teach them that’s a big deal. If there’s a way to make their day better and to make that child’s life more enriched, then that’s what I want to do. But I want to do it by teaching them the skills that they need and the kindness that they need.

Last year, instead of receiving gifts for her 50^th birthday, Janet asked friends and family to give her items that could go into Brain Break Buckets. The buckets are large containers filled with seeds, rice or corn kernels and little cups and other small, plastic items that are used as a tool to shift a child’s thinking in moments when they are upset or having difficulty focusing. She had already made some up for a class at Huntsville Public School and they proved to be a huge success. She was able to make 100 Brain Break Buckets for various schools in the area and to date 142 buckets are being actively used. For a small donation of $5, Janet will make up a Brain Break Bucket for anyone who is interested.

Emrys was pretty intrigued by the Brain Break Bucket. He got to take one home, which has already been used a few times.

Janet lives a very fulfilled life simply because kids are part of it. To get down to a child’s level, that just comes naturally to her. Not only does she appreciate them, but she has a deep understanding that these little beings are like sponges, so why wouldn’t she help mould them to be the best that they can be? She has a pretty incredible job.

“I just have fun. The thing that makes me happy is laughing and giving people hope. And there’s no better way to do that than with kids.”

To learn more about the programs Janet offers go to her Affinity Consulting page on Facebook or call 705-787-1217.

A big thank you to Mark Henderson who suggested Janet McCormack as an extraordinary person.

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