Child Development Specialist Joy Robertson (Teacher Joy) partners with parents, early childhood educators, and community members committed to raising a healthier, happier generation.

When motherhood surprised her, she was young and on her own to figure out and provide what her child needed to thrive. A little research and a few child development classes deepened her parenting joy and sparked a lifelong passion and profession. She attended Monterey Peninsula College and Hartnell College, where she was instructed by Jeannie Garcia and Pat Hendricks and mentored by Bev Bos and became a staff member and mentor teacher for student teachers at their child development center.

In 1998, she co-created her first early education center with Shannan Watkins in Seaside, California. Avondale is still thriving with the brilliant staff Shannan has led while expanding to more than a dozen centers throughout Northern California.

After moving to Wenatchee, Washington in 2000, Joy developed The Learning Curve Child Development Center with the financial support of Verm Smith, and transformed a struggling daycare into a high-quality child development center that grew to three locations and operated for ten years.

In 2016, she founded TEAMS Learning Center to provide a full experience of her How to Teach Joy philosophy, which included adult instruction as well as early learning. It made a major impact on the community and was recognized as the North Central Washington Chamber of Commerce’s Non-profit of the Year for 2023.

Over the course of her career, from every role imaginable in early education, she has helped families cultivate more joy in their relationships and surprise doctors with the astounding progress of neurodivergent children. She has trained hundreds of teachers in her proprietary philosophy and curriculum and rallied communities to support early childhood education. And she has codified her philosophy in a beautifully-illustrated instructional manual titled How to Teach Joy: A Simple Guide to Nurturing a Child’s Development.

In addition to speaking and facilitating, Joy now offers 1-on-1 parent mentoring as well as PLAY, a small support group for parents. An advocate for all children having equal rights and opportunity to high-quality education, she speaks to inspire and empower parents, students, and educators as well as activate civil and community leaders to improve early childhood education for children across the country.