Incorporating rituals at home has been important to our family. While there’s nothing complicated or elegant about what we do, we’ve found a deeper meaning in our time together because of these little practices.

Humans are better able to focus on learning and playing freely when not worried about what might happen next. Equally important to learning is the experience of being surprised. Learning at Wonder is designed to be contained in a predictable environment along with strategic jolts of surprise moments that elevate and energize the group.

At Wonder, we push the power of most decision-making into the hands of children. Practicing this shift at home became a life lesson in listening and patience for me. It seemed much more efficient to deliver instructions and just tell my children what to do – often under the guise of giving advice.

At home we made a commitment to read aloud together every night at bedtime. What I soon learned was that this time together wasn’t about the book. And it wasn’t an intellectual pursuit. This was an experience in intimacy.

As parents when we see ourselves as learners, our children benefit immensely. Empathy grows and communication deepens around what’s working and not working in each other’s learning journeys. We ask better questions, listen without hidden agendas and encourage with more authenticity,