My Why 

In early spring of 2015, I began homeschooling my stepsons to bridge their transition from a Waldorf to a Montessori school. While both educational approaches nurture the whole child, they differ significantly from each other in teaching methods. The shift was particularly challenging for my oldest, a first grader, who was accustomed to the slower academic pace at Waldorf and needed to catch up for Montessori.

My primary focus was not only to help him read but was also committed to letting them find wonder in real-world learning and learn more about themselves. Recognizing the profound impact of these formative years, my goal was to ensure my stepsons fully experienced life's wonders while preparing academically for their new schooling environment.

When I was first in college writing curriculum to teach in my practicums and then later in my student teaching all I had for reference was the teacher’s manual, whatever small curriculum books I could find at the library and my mind to create the curriculum. These days there is TeachersPayTeachers, Etsy a plethora of websites dedicated to sharing curriculum and ideas, Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook full of ideas and pictures to give inspiration. I found myself spending more hours looking and sorting through the almost infinite amount of ideas on the web, than actually teaching my stepsons. Once I thought I had a good lesson created, I would see another idea that I thought was better, and so it continued on. Sorting through and finding the “perfect” curriculum was problematic.

Working with children with special needs I learned a lot about personal sensitivities to light, sound, and energy. If possible, my classrooms always had alternative lightning (from lamps), candle warmers (with no artificial smells) or diffusers, and calm music playing as the children walked in or when I felt it was needed and minimal decorating. Then personally walking into the classroom at the Waldorf school my stepsons attended, full of calm pastel colors, natural adobe walls, and wooden toys and manipulatives I couldn’t help but feel welcomed and grounded. So creating that same environment for my homeschool was high on my list. Not trying to compete with the bright flashy colors of TV and video games they played, I wanted to create a reverent spot for them to learn. Somewhere where they felt cozy, warm, settled. How could I create that space in my house and what materials did I need to buy? 

I had all these concerns and I WAS A TEACHER. Add to it all my third child, a 7-month-old who wanted my attention, and working part-time writing curriculum for an online homeschool company, I could feel the overwhelm creeping in.

I knew how many other parents were in my situation, and I had a desire to create a curriculum that was not only deep and real but also academically sound. I wanted something for parents to be able to pick up and know they are getting some of the best activities out there. Something that would not only help with “school”, but also how to help set up the environment that was the most conducive to learning for their child. And last, but certainly not least, support for the parent.

Fast forward exactly 3 years, my stepsons were at the Montessori school, I was back teaching full time in an elementary classroom and my youngest son was an in-home preschool of my dreams. I had never let go of my dream I decided while homeschooling of creating an Early Childhood curriculum. I was always writing down ideas, pinning all sorts of things on Pinterest, and creating Excel sheets full of themes, year flows, etc. Then we found out that my youngest son’s preschool teacher was closing her school and I had to find another preschool for my son. I spent a few days looking for a replacement preschool, but deep down I knew this was my time to build the preschool I wanted. I left my teaching job at the end of the school year. My husband created some magic and added on to our house in 3 months to create a space for an in-home preschool of my own that fall.

Wonder Garden was born.

All of the things I had been creating and thinking were coming to fruition and I got to work through my ideas and see what was really possible, and what activities resonated with the students.

Through my 18 years of teaching children preschool through Jr High, children with special needs, working at a mind/body yoga studio, creating curriculum and teaching kids, teachers, and parents the mind/body principles all over the world, homeschooling and generally always being intrigued in Early Childhood philosophies I have created a unicorn of a curriculum that I have been looking for for years and one I feel our world desperately needs.

A curriculum about completion, of being whole, not competition. A curriculum that moves with the rhythms and celebrations of the year, has themes based around nature, and is a complete curriculum, but open-ended enough to differentiate and add in elements of your child’s personal interests at the time, if you choose. A curriculum that is stylistically beautiful, clear and easy to digest, academically rich but in a very authentic way, full of practical social and emotional skills, and wholistically based on principles of how a strong healthy body, leads to control over emotions and boundaries which in turns leads to a child full of imagination, and empathy for the Earth and everyone and everything living on it. A curriculum to help your child be fully immersed in what it means to be a human – smelling leaves in the fall and warm bread baking in the oven, smelling the herbs they have grown or find in the wild, watching the world around them change throughout the year on their sit spot, listening to the sounds of nature and how that makes their body feel, tasting the food that they have created, touching, playing and manipulating natural materials, learning to feel, sit with and deal with all the wonderful crazy emotions we feel as humans.