Parent & Child Sunflower Programs

Striving to counteract the fast-paced mentality of today, our Parent & Child Sunflower Program supports parents in creating a nurturing, rhythmical environment for their children.

Based on age and developmental stages, three separate classes meet in nurturing settings where support and friendship grow out of weekly conversations with other parents and a facilitating teacher, while the babies and toddlers explore their world.

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.

For more information and to apply, please send an email to administration@mountainlaurel.org or call us at 845-255-0033.

Sunflower Seedlings – Parent & Infant Classes

Spring Session
8 Mondays: 1:30pm – 2:45pm
Apr 8 through June 10
$240

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.

Sunflower Garden – Parent & Toddler Play Group

Spring Session
(12-18 months)
8 Mondays: 9 am – 11 am
Apr 8 through June 10
$280

Spring Session
(18 months – 3 yrs)
8 Fridays: 9 am – 11:30 am
Apr 12 through June 7
$320

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 Play Garden – Nursery Aged Children

The Sunflower Sprouts Play Garden – a bridge program designed for children who are ready to transition in a gentle way to a morning nursery program without their parents – welcomes young nursery 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 & Toddler Play Group 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.