Big Wonder Child Care

We need to raise $1,500 to supply scholarships to families striving to offer their children nurturing child care while working to provide stability and development for themselves and their loved ones. 

Our Mission

We honor the unique rights of children, families, and teachers to create a just and harmonious community. Big Wonder is committed to equity and race consciousness. We serve families of different races, family structures, religious beliefs, and social-economic backgrounds. We are inspired by Reggio Emilia, Montessori, and spiritual inquiry frameworks to provide high-quality education for our youngest learners. We create and model innovative methods to find sustainable solutions to improve early childhood education.

Big Wonder is distinct in our philosophy and methods. We model real solutions for early childhood to make quality care accessible to families, a rewarding profession for teachers, and a magical place of learning for children.

Equitable childcare makes gender equity and wealth mobility possible, especially for those who are the most underserved in our communities. 

We provide alternative solutions through 3 unique methods:

1. Accessible to Families of Diverse Incomes - We do this through tuition scholarships on a sliding scale fee model.

2. Innovative Frameworks - We blend Montessori and Reggio Emilia pedagogies. When mindfully wedded, the two create a brilliant landscape for children to grow and thrive in an atmosphere best suited to individual temperaments and learning needs.

3. Teachers are Professionals - We provide livable wages and benefits that allow teachers to make early childhood education a lifelong profession. Teachers are action researchers - engaging in collaborative action, documentation, reflection, and innovationOur Learning Frameworks:
   

• Inspired by Montessori and Reggio Pedagogies 
• Anti-Bias education has 4 fundamental goals: 
  • Positive Identity (I like me)
  • Diversity and Inclusion (I like you)
  • Justice (that is not fair)
  • Empowerment (we can make a difference) 
• Spiritual Inquiry - What does a child’s spirit need to feel joyful, healthy, and secure? We encourage all questions related to the human experience to be asked.
• Race Consciousness—Through collaboration with community members, we create safe spaces for early childhood educators and administrators to grow professionally, develop anti-racist policies, and discuss race with parents and children.

We know that’s a lot of text. The point is, we are not just a childcare center. We are transforming society to be more equitable and safer today and tomorrow—one parent at a time, one child at a time, one teacher at a time.

First-Year Achievements: 

1. We have grown from 2 to 32 kiddos in our care!

2. We expanded from one room to three.

3. We advocated for better (and more!) childcare across Minnesota and in Saint Paul.

4. We give our four incredible teachers a living wage, a health care stipend, and retirement.

5. 10% of our children receive government funding or Big Wonder Scholarships to make exceptional early childhood care accessible to all families. A donation today will enable us to increase our capacity to offer scholarships to more families. 

6. We got the Saint Paul Parks and Rec Department on board with our crazy idea to create a nature play area in a nearby public park - more to come in the Spring! .

7. Our Executive Director has been sharing what we’ve learned by giving professional development training to regional teachers, centers, and private schools.

8. We’re still here! First years are full of learning, both for infants turning one and for ground-breaking nonprofits like us. 

We would love your support our work and appreciate your generous donation. .