The Sunflower Garden Program
Our Sunflower Program, geared towards our very littlest ones, is growing! The program now consists of the Sunflower Seedlings (Parent & Infant Classes), the Sunflower Garden (Parent & Toddler Classes) and the new Sunflower Sprouts Playgarden which is a bridge program for our youngest ones who are transitioning in a gentle way to a morning Nursery program without their parents.
The Sunflower Garden meets in a nurturing setting where support and friendship grow out of weekly conversations with other parents and a facilitating teacher, while the babies and toddlers explore their world.
Striving to counteract the fast paced mentality of today, our parent and child classes support parents in creating a nurturing, rhythmical environment for their children.
Through quiet observation, parents deepen their own intuitive knowledge and discover new ways of being with and loving their children. Special attention is given to support the unfolding of children’s interests, motor abilities, social interactions, and problem solving skills.
The classes also cover topics such as care and protection of the senses, rhythms and routines, sleep, health and nutrition. Many of the difficult questions which face parents today are explored in a spirit of inquiry and mutual respect.
Sunflower Seedlings Baby Class
Based on the respectful caregiving approach of early childhood pioneers Emmi Pickler and Magda Gerber, this class will support families through the first year of the child’s life. Parents and babies will meet once a week with tea and a nourishing snack.
2023/2024 Class Sessions
Sunflower Seedlings Baby Class
Fall Session
8 Mondays: 1:30pm – 2:45pm
Oct 16 through Dec 4
$240
Sunflower Garden Parent & Toddler Play Group
Fall Session 1
5 Fridays: 9am – 11:30am
Sep 15 through Oct 13
$200
Fall Session 2
8 Mondays: 9am – 11:30am
Oct 16 through Dec 4
$320
Sunflower Sprouts Playgarden
Yearlong program starting on Oct 10, 2023
Tue, Wed, Thu: 9:00am – 12noon
$7200 (+ applicable fees)
To apply, please send us an email to administration@mountainlaurel.org or call 845-255-0033.
Sunflower Garden Parent & Toddler Play Group
Our weekly teacher-led play group is held in a warm inviting Early Childhood classroom. Parents are welcomed with tea and handwork while the children enjoy free play, climbing, crawling and socializing. Each rhythmic morning includes bread baking, singing, a warm organic snack, puppetry and outdoor play.
Sunflower Sprouts Playgarden
The Sunflower Sprouts Playgarden welcomes our youngest children into a warm home like environment. Our daily rhythm encourages freedom of movement with outdoor play each morning, a welcome circle with seasonal songs and puppet plays, and a warm organic snack, all under a model of reverential care and respect for the children and the environment. A gentle and slow transition into this new play garden may be achieved with our Sunflower Garden Parent and Child classes where parent and child come together for 5 Fridays beginning September 15th.
Meet the Sunflower Garden Program Teacher
Alexa Mossbrucker, affectionately known as Mrs. Moss, found her calling in Waldorf education six years ago. She was instantly captivated with Rudolf Steiner’s teachings, which led her to self-educate on Waldorf philosophies and reverent homemaking.
Alexa still remembers aspiring to be a mother since she was a little girl and presently as a mother of three children, she feels her guardian angel helping to weave her destiny with love and tender care. This enlightenment has brought her family and herself to the Hudson Valley where there is a thriving Waldorf community.
She recently graduated from the Waldorf teacher training program at the Alkion Center at Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School. Alexa worked as an assistant teacher at Mountaintop Waldorf School before continuing on to Primrose Hill School where she led Parent/Child classes and taught the second grade for a period of time. Mrs. Moss’s interests are anthroposophical studies, simplicity parenting philosophies, reading, sewing, painting, gardening, baking, singing and flute playing, horse-back riding, canoeing, hiking, camping with her family, and doting upon her darling puppy.
