Welcome

There is nothing more hopeful than planting a seed! Your donation to Sow Well Tots is a seed that will grow with us, shoring up our resilience, and Inclusion Scholarship Program. We hope you will follow our journey as we “sow the seeds for well beings” through holistic education, land stewardship, farm-to-table foods, and an Afro-folk perspective on artful living and purposeful work. We can’t do it alone! You can donate online or avoid Paypal fees by mailing a check through our fiscal sponsor, Vermont Wilderness School, to: VWS, PO Box 2582, Brattleboro, VT 05303 with “Sow Well Tots” in the memo. 100% of your donation will go to SWT.

Sow Well Tots is on a mission to sow the seeds of well beings through nurturing, nature-based early childhood education for children of all backgrounds, ensuring that our school is a place where the cultural wholeness of children is seen and embraced. 

Sow Well Tots is an intimate, home-based, alternative, early childhood program in Bernardston, Massachusetts. Our regular school year runs from Sept.-June. Our hours are Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. We serve wholesome, organic, home-cooked, vegetarian meals (morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack) and offer natural, open-ended toys, and provide infants with plenty of floor time for self-initiated development.

Sow Well Tots provides high quality care in a safe, nurturing environment with a child-driven rhythm. This means we will never interrupt the natural imaginative flow in order to force our own agenda. We tailor our daily routine to fit the developmental needs of all the children. We believe a well nurtured child will be better able to thrive as a student when the time for structured learning presents itself. The SWT home-based program offers a holistic rhythm with a nurturing, seasonal curriculum that includes daily outdoor play in the forest and garden, handwork and crafts, songs, finger plays, stories and puppetry.

Please note: if you are looking for a highly academic-driven curriculum for your child Sow Well Tots is not the place for you and your family. Our focus will be to prolong a vivid, imaginary, child-like way of being.

I wanted you and any potential Sow Well Tots families to know what a difference you made in the life of Thomas. Thomas was 18 months old when he came to you. He had never spent more than a few hours away from me and my going back to work was going to be a BIG transition for him. From the very first day he trusted that you would take care of him. You rocked him and sang to him and showed so much love and care of him. He loved coming to “Bessie’s House.” It was a second home to him. You taught him to share, to use gentle hands, and to self-regulate. The projects he did were authentic and beautiful. He was always so proud of them. Today, he is a happy, curious, lively and awesome five year old. And we thank you for giving him such a wonderful foundation at Sow Well Tots.

Margaret Betts and Raymond Neal

Bessie is the most loving, knowledgeable, and creative child care provider I have ever had the privilege of encountering. Our daughter entered her care when she was just 5 months old, and at Sow Well Tots she has flourished into a confident, kind, fun, vegetable-loving toddler. I feel so fortunate to have joined the Sow Well Tots community. Leaving my daughter to go back to work was the most difficult challenge of my life, but knowing she has been in the care of such skilled and compassionate caregivers has given me tremendous peace. I cannot recommend Sow Well Tots more highly.

Susanna Thompson