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The Three-year-old’s Dilemma: The Search for Order Amidst Chaos

Plastered across the virtual pages of social media are parents’ laments of three-year-old behavior gone awry. Parents and caregivers across the globe are fighting to maintain normalcy at home. What was once a daunting task of balancing a routine of school, work and play has now doubled in complexity. Families are charged with the task of working full time and providing child care full time. Families are striving to create a structure and routine amidst the backdrop of a drastically changed society.

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Join the Wildflower Medical Masks Project

Our rapidly changing new world is uncovering new challenges every day – as well as new opportunities to help and support one another in our neighborhoods and communities.

Over the last week, it has become clear that we’re experiencing a shortage of protective gear for medical professionals across the country. Most health care institutions and hospitals are rationing the use of N95 masks and in some cases, are prioritizing the use of an N95 mask only for the most ill patients and/or sterile procedures (i.e. surgeries).

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Burning Toast is Learning

burnt toast in a bed of leaves with flowers

In homes around the world, parents are being asked to think about their children’s education in a new way – at home.  Parents, with plenty of other things to be stressed about, are feeling overwhelmed. On the home education front, a helpful shift could be to let go of the idea of recreating school and to instead think about what it means to hold space for learning at home.

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Notes from a Montessorian on Supporting Children & Families at Home

The following is a letter that was shared from Wildflower Schools Partner and long-time Montessorian, Castle O’Neill, to our school network.  The aim is to support parents and caregivers who may be home with children due to the spread of COVID-19. We are sharing this letter in full with hopes that it may be helpful to the broader community of parents and caregivers navigating these challenging times. For a curated library of home learning activities we’ve compiled for our network, click here and for our running list of resources that we’re finding helpful click here.

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Explore Wildflower’s Roots in Research

In January of 2014, Wildflower Montessori School opened its doors for the first time. Almost immediately, it was clear that something special had happened. Months later, a second Wildflower school sprouted, followed by a third. Today, there are over 20 schools in five states and Puerto Rico, with more in development each year.

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Deepening roots and sprouting new growth: Wildflower’s 2018 Year in Review

We’re excited to share with you this recap of our past year and fill you in on where Wildflower is headed. If you’re reading this note, you are likely already a member of our community in some way. As we approach the end of the year and this season of thanks, we want to extend our sincere gratitude to you for believing in authentic, teacher-led Montessori, and for continuing to support our journey to bring Wildflower schools to more children, families and communities.

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Tiger Lily Montessori: Bringing Southern Roots to New England

Half a mile from Brown University, in the center of Providence, Rhode Island, sits the first Wildflower school in Rhode Island. Founded by two Montessorians who migrated north from Alabama’s Gulf Coast, Tiger Lily currently enrolls students as young as 6 weeks, and up to 3 years. With its peaceful interior color palette, wide-paneled walls, and natural wooden accents, teacher-leaders Alexandra Theris and Brittney Powell say visitors often tell them the space looks like an “after” from the HGTV series “Fixer Upper.” The pair, who just completed their first year leading Tiger Lily, recently sat down to talk about how they got started on their Wildflower journey.

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Wildflower seeds spread to a Massachusetts school district’s classrooms

With a long history of Montessori in her own life, as a student, a teacher, and a parent, Lisa Kuh, director of early education for Somerville Public Schools, was always looking for ways to incorporate Montessori approaches to curriculum into professional development for the teachers she supports.

Two years ago, on her way to give a presentation in Philadelphia on the concept of beauty in Montessori, Lisa ended up on the same airplane flight as a group of teacher-leaders from Wildflower, and a budding partnership began. After hitting it off with the Wildflower team, Lisa observed in several Wildflower schools.

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