Once Upon A Learning Tree

At first glance, it looks like simple play, look closer 🫣 lifelong connections are happening here!

When children peel and place the stickers they are:
🖐️ Strengthening the small muscles in their hands
👀 Building hand-eye coordination
🔤 Learning letter shapes and early letter recognition
➡️ Practicing directionality (left to right, top to bottom)
💛 Gaining confidence without pressure or frustration

Before children can write, their hands and brains need to be ready. These simple activities lay the foundation for handwriting and reading in a way that feels safe, fun, and developmentally appropriate.

At this age, learning should feel joyful, not forced. Play is the work. 📚✨

We take turning the page very seriously around here 😜📖

Books don’t require perfect posture. Hearing stories, seeing pages, and engaging in their own way is how little learners grow.

Fill their days with sound and stories!!

Read often. Speak life.

Every sound is a seed. Every word is a branch. Watch literacy grow. 🌳📚

Language is one of my favorite living things 🌱 There’s a myriad of words we can gather to share our thoughts, and the way we speak can change day by day as our journey unfolds.

I love reading to the children—using big words, silly voices, and just the right amount of animation (as much as they’ll tolerate 😄). Words have rhythm. Words have magic.

That’s why I want to share one of my favorite musicians we play at the center: Billy Jonas 🎶 His music is packed with playful wordplay, curiosity, and joy—it invites little ears to listen closely and big imaginations to wander.

Add him to your kiddo’s playlist and let the words dance ✨

As our friends arrived today they were all eager to go out and look for the moon 🌘
No moon in sight, but that didn’t stop our friends from observing the peaceful sky and the bright, glowing sun. Sometimes looking for one thing helps us discover so many others ✨

Good morning from Once Upon A Learning Tree 🌳🌙
Before the day fully wakes up, the moon, in Its Waning Gibbous phase is still hanging out in the sky, saying hello to us.

🌙

The theme of January is Moon Exploration in honor of the Mini-Moon that will orbit Earths atmosphere this year!! We will venture outside to look for the moon, discuss where it may be if not visible and ask what conditions are present that affect the Moons appearance on any given day! Some days we see the moon, some days we don’t — and that’s part of the lesson. Learning to wonder, imagine, and ask questions even when the answers aren’t visible 🌙✨ #MoonWatchers #CuriousMinds #LearningThroughWonder #OnceUponALearningTree

Good morning & happy Friday from Once Upon a Learning Tree 🌙🌳

We’re ending the week with curious minds, busy hands, and hearts full of wonder. Thank you for trusting us to grow, explore, and learn alongside your little ones every day.

Wishing everyone a gentle, joy-filled Friday ✨

What’s one small moment from this week that made you smile? 💛 ✨