Karla Lee Kuester, Child Development Specialist
Karla Lee Kuester has worked with young children, families, educators, and caregivers since 1977 in relationship-based methodologies. Over the course of her career, she has served as a Certified Montessori Preschool Teacher and supervising teacher, RIE® Associate, infant specialist, program coordinator, early interventionist, social skills interventionist, behavior interventionist, field supervisor, teacher trainer, consultant, and private tutor.
Karla holds degrees in Early Childhood Education, Developmental Psychology, and Fine Art. She worked as a certified Montessori preschool teacher and supervising teacher from 1977 to 1995 and has been a Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE®) Associate since 1989. From 2000 to 2004, she served as an Infant Specialist and Program Coordinator in a program at The Growing Place in Santa Monica, California informed by both the Reggio Emilia and RIE approaches.
From 2000 through 2024, Karla worked with the Step By Step EDU-Thera Play Child Development Program in Santa Monica, California. During her time there, she served as an Early Interventionist for children from birth to age 3, a Social Skills and Behavior Interventionist for children ages 3 to 10, an Early Intervention Field Supervisor, and a Teacher Trainer. From 2017 through 2024, she was also a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT), credentialed by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB).
Karla also served as the in-house Child Development Specialist at the UCLA Krieger Center on the Westside of Los Angeles from 2009 through 2015.
Teaching and Professional Training
Since 2003, Karla has taught Infants & Toddlers: A Class for Caregivers annually through UC Irvine. In the summer of 2012, she was invited to teach this specialized coursework as a foundational component of the IMPACT: Urban Teacher Residency Program through the UCLA Graduate School of Education.
That same year, Karla completed the initial pilot program of Inner Kids Mindful Awareness Training at UCLA, taught by the program’s founder, Susan Kaiser Greenland.
Consulting, Writing, and Leadership
Karla is a published author, presenter, consultant, and educator for teacher-training programs. Her work uses an engaged coaching and critical-thinking approach to explore child development, developmental patterns, observation, respectful caregiving and intervention practices, special needs, parenting concerns, educational methodologies, and related topics.
In 2017, Karla was invited to join the Executive Committee of the Association of Child Development Specialists–Los Angeles (ACDS–LA), where she currently serves as Secretary of the Executive Committee.
Individualized Learning Support
Since 1988, Karla has also worked as a private tutor with learners ranging from kindergarten through adulthood. Her individualized work may incorporate academic enrichment, remediation, mindfulness, and strategies tailored to each learner’s developmental profile, strengths, and needs.
Karla lives and works in West Los Angeles, California.
Ms. Kuester can be reached at:
Cell: 310-579-7614 karla.kuester@gmail.com www.karlakuester.com
Photo by M.Rosen
Methodologies, Systems, and Practices
For more than forty years, Karla Lee Kuester has worked professionally with schools, teacher-training programs, families, and children. Throughout her career, she has studied and drawn upon a wide range of educational, developmental, behavioral, sensory, and mindfulness-based approaches.
Her training and credentials include:
- American Montessori Society Pre-Primary Credential, taught by Joy and Charles Turner
- Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE®) Associate training, taught by RIE founder Magda Gerber
- Reggio Emilia coursework, taught by Elyse Schaeffer and Trisha Hunter McGrath
- Inner Kids Mindful Awareness Training, taught by program founder Susan Kaiser Greenland
- Sensory integration and self-regulation theory, informed by the work of A. Jean Ayres, PhD, and G. Gordon Williamson, PhD
- Brain Gym® and Educational Kinesiology, developed by Paul Dennison through the Educational Kinesiology Foundation/Brain Gym International
- Registered Behavior Technician (RBT), credentialed by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB)
These disciplines strengthened Karla’s understanding of human development, sensory processing, communication, behavior, mindfulness, and the conditions that support self-regulation. They also cultivated the attentive observation, adaptability, and respect for individual differences that she now brings to her Child Development Specialist practice.
Teaching, Writing, and Professional Leadership
Karla has taught college-level Child Development courses for adult learners through UCLA and UCI, as well as through the University Montessori Teacher Training Program and the Montessori Western Teacher Training Program.
She has also written articles for the RIE® Educaring® newsletter. Selected pieces can be found in the Articles section of this website.
In addition to her work in education and child development, Karla is a member of the Los Angeles Poets & Writers Collective and has studied with author and writing teacher Jack Grapes from 2009 to the present.
Since 2017, Karla has served on the Executive Committee of the Association of Child Development Specialists–Los Angeles (ACDS–LA), where she currently serves as Secretary.
“I have known Karla Lee Kuester since she was a very young child. She is the daughter of two dedicated and talented master teachers, who helped influence me to become an educator myself and to become a life-long learner. An enthusiasm for students and teaching was imbued in Karla who, in becoming an educator herself, is dedicated to understanding how children best learn and implementing the methods for achieving that learning. For many years, Karla has devoted her personal research and creative thinking to the topic of Early Intervention. I was able to hear one of her lectures on Special Needs and was impressed with her ability to make her insights concrete, with illustrations from her personal, classroom and intervention experiences. In sum, Karla is a cutting edge teacher and practitioner of new ideas in educational theories. I recommend her as a teacher, interventionist, consultant, lecturer, panelist, or in any other capacity of Early Childhood Education or corresponding fields.”
— D. J. ROSS, ED.D, PROFESSOR/ADMINISTRATOR, COLLEGE OF DUPAGE, WEST CHICAGO, IL.
“Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein