There’s a meaningful difference between a nanny who loves to teach and a private educator. Getting this distinction right changes everything about the search.

When families start exploring home-based education for their children, they often land on a version of the same phrase: “we want someone really educational.” It’s a reasonable thing to want. But it covers an enormous range — from a nanny who naturally turns a walk into a learning opportunity, all the way to a credentialed professional whose entire role is designing and delivering a formal education program.

Those are not the same hire. They don’t draw from the same candidate pool, they’re not evaluated the same way, and they set up very different dynamics in your home. The families who end up frustrated in this space almost always hired one when they needed the other.

Here’s how to figure out which one your family actually needs.

Two Distinct Roles, Two Distinct Professionals

The education-focused nanny

An education-focused nanny is, first and foremost, a nanny. Childcare is the foundation of the role. What distinguishes them from a general nanny is an authentic orientation toward learning — a natural instinct to engage children’s curiosity, introduce concepts through play, extend what’s happening into teachable moments, and bring intentionality to how children spend their time.

This person might have some formal educational training, though it’s not required. What they reliably have is genuine intellectual curiosity, comfort engaging children across developmental stages, and the warmth and attunement that makes a child want to learn alongside them. They are an exceptional childcare professional with an educational orientation — not an educator who also does childcare.

For many families, this is exactly what they need and don’t know how to ask for.

The private educator

A private educator is an education professional first. Their credential base is in teaching or child development — a teaching degree, a formal certification in an educational methodology (Montessori, Waldorf, Reggio Emilia, Charlotte Mason), or equivalent advanced training. Their primary function in your household is to design and deliver a real educational program. Not to support one the parents built. Not to supplement what school is doing. To lead the educational work as a professional.

They may also provide childcare — and in most home settings, that’s part of the role — but the frame is inverted from the education-focused nanny. They are an education professional working in a home context, not a childcare professional with educational skill.

This distinction matters enormously in practice. A private educator who is treated like a nanny will be underutilized and often frustrated. A nanny hired for a private educator role will be in over their head, even if they’re excellent at their actual job.

The Comparison That Actually Matters

What Private Educator Credentials Actually Mean

If you’ve decided a private educator is what your family needs, the credential landscape is worth understanding — it helps you evaluate candidates accurately and set the right expectations going in.

Teaching degrees

A Bachelor’s or Master’s in Education, Early Childhood Education, or a subject-specific teaching field is the most broadly applicable credential. It signals formal training in curriculum design, child development theory, differentiated instruction, and assessment — the full professional toolkit of a classroom teacher, applied in your home.

Montessori certification (AMI or AMS)

Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) and American Montessori Society (AMS) are the two most widely recognized Montessori credentialing bodies. AMI training is considered the more internationally rigorous; AMS is widely respected in the US and is the more common credential in domestic searches. Both require significant coursework, observed practice, and examination. A candidate who describes themselves as “Montessori-informed” without a credential is a different hire than one who holds an AMI or AMS diploma — that distinction matters if Montessori fidelity is important to your family.

Waldorf teaching certificate

Waldorf teacher training is offered through institutions affiliated with the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA). A Waldorf certificate involves deep training in Rudolf Steiner’s developmental philosophy, the arts, and specific pedagogical approaches across childhood stages. As with Montessori, there is a meaningful difference between a candidate who is philosophically aligned with Waldorf and one who has completed formal training.

Reggio Emilia and Charlotte Mason

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Neither Reggio Emilia nor Charlotte Mason has a centralized credentialing body in the way Montessori and Waldorf do. Expertise in these approaches is more commonly demonstrated through documented practice, professional development, and the depth of a candidate’s knowledge in interview. When these philosophies matter to your family, the evaluation relies more heavily on portfolio, references, and the quality of their thinking in conversation than on a specific certificate.

Child development credentials

A Child Development Associate (CDA) credential or a degree in Child Development or Developmental Psychology signals a strong foundation in how children learn across stages, even without a traditional teaching certificate. These are often held by candidates who have worked in early childhood education settings and bring rigorous developmental knowledge without a classroom teaching background.

The Question That Clarifies It

Most families can answer one question and know which direction they’re going: do you want someone who brings learning to life as part of how they engage with your children — or do you want someone whose job is to lead your children’s education as a professional?

The first is an education-focused nanny. The second is a private educator. Both are exceptional in the right context. Neither is better than the other. The mismatch between what a family needs and who they hire is what creates the friction — not the candidate.

Families who usually need an education-focused nanny

• Families whose children attend school and want enrichment, not a parallel curriculum
• Families who worldschool and want a caregiver who learns alongside their children and facilitates curiosity, not one who runs formal lessons
• Families with a clear educational vision they’re leading, who want a capable partner to execute and enrich it
• Families with young children (infants through early preschool) where developmental attunement and play-based engagement matter more than academic structure

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Families who usually need a private educator

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• Families who are homeschooling and want the educational program designed and led by a credentialed professional
• Families committed to a specific philosophy (Montessori, Waldorf, Reggio, Charlotte Mason) who want that philosophy delivered by someone formally trained in it
• Families building a micro-school or learning pod environment
• Families whose children have specific learning needs that benefit from formal differentiated instruction
• Families who travel extensively and want a structured, curriculum-based program to move with them

Why This Changes How the Search Works

The candidate pools for these two roles overlap less than families usually expect. Strong education-focused nannies are found through nanny networks, agency databases, and early childhood communities. What you’re evaluating is orientation, temperament, and the quality of their engagement with children.

Private educators are found through teaching networks, educational philosophy communities, and specialized search processes that cross between the education and childcare worlds. The credential verification is a baseline, not a differentiator. What separates a good private educator from an exceptional one is how they translate their training into individualized, adaptive teaching with real children — and that’s assessed differently than a standard nanny interview.

Getting the role definition right at the start of the search is the single most effective thing a family can do to shorten the timeline and improve the outcome. When the brief is wrong, the search produces the wrong candidates.

We help families work through this distinction before starting any search in this space — it’s one of the conversations worth having before you write a job description. Reach out at hello@adventurenannies.com to start the conversation, or visit our services page for details on both nanny and private educator placements.

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