Ms. Rachel and the Special Surprise: Encouraging Speech and Learning Through Play and Music

MS. RACHEL is a passionate educator who creates research-based videos to help toddlers and their families learn, bond, and thrive. Her videos infuse songs, games, and nursery rhymes with strategies from experts to help children reach key milestones in the crucial early years of learning. Rachel believes all children are capable, brilliant, and important. She loves learning from them and being around their contagious joy and wonder. Rachel holds dual master’s degrees in early childhood development and music education. She is an advocate for children’s rights and works to ensure that all kids have access to high-quality early childhood education. Her wonderful little boy inspired the show and continues to inspire her work everyday! Her husband and creative partner for the show is Mr. Aron, aka HERBIE! MONIQUE DONG loved drawing, imagining and creating as a child. At age 19, she headed off to the beautiful city of Cape Town, South Africa, where she studied animation at City Varsity and discovered the magic of storytelling! She has worked on animation for the Disney channel, including the project Florrie’s Dragons. Today, Monique is a freelance illustrator and her passion is creating images that encompass light, life, warmth, and color.