12 Better Beginnings
Kids blooming at Little
Photo Ricardo Ibarra It's time to learn Spanish at Little Wildflowers, singing!
Photo Ricardo Ibarra A child plays with his “claw.”
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, a recordshattering 8,500 child care sites have closed throughout California. In Sonoma County, the mass shutdown of early education programs was only compounded by the chaos of climate change disasters: wildfires, toxic air derived from dense smoke, power outages, home evacuations and flooding — all inciting instability in the fragile development of the county’s young children. Last year, Little Wildflowers Preschool in Santa Rosa, a Montessori child care facility, unknowingly became a lifesaver for children whose care had been unexpectedly disrupted. They opened their doors on March 16, 2020, the same day six Bay Area counties established their shelterin-place order, restricting all residents to their homes. Sonoma County followed the next day. “Children are so resilient and
adaptable,” said Maria Jasso, codirector of Little Wildflowers Preschool. “Parents reach out to us because they see the need for their children to socialize. Some of our students don’t have siblings and it’s been very hard for them during the pandemic to not be around other kids their age. Children have to socialize, develop language skills and other skills to interact with their peers,” says Jasso, 34, originally from Michoacán, Mexico, and mother of Scarlett, 7. This past May, Little Wildflowers completed a year of operations, serving a population of 24, nearly half its total capacity of 55 children. Currently, there’s a waitlist of over 20 families. "It's unfortunate, but this is the norm for these kids today," says Jasso. "We follow the Montessori philosophy, where each child learns our program differently Continued on next page ...
