Sweet Peas Preschool
at Flora’s Farm School
Growing with the Seasons: From Garden to Kitchen
A small, Montessori-inspired farm preschool where children ages 4-5 experience the changing seasons through meaningful work, creativity, gardening, cooking, baking, play, and daily life on a working farm.
Tuesday–Thursday • 9am–1pm • Sunflower Farm
Enrollment open for Fall 2026 • Just 6 spaces available
A Preschool Where the Seasons Create the Curriculum…
Autumn means harvesting from the garden, gathering colorful leaves and baking something warm in Flora’s Farm Bus Kitchen. Winter brings muddy boots, cozy projects around the table and celebrating the arrival of the first new lambs. Spring means planting tiny seeds and watching for new life. And as the weather warms, there are flowers to gather, bugs to welcome back, berries to taste, and the wonderful satisfaction of eating something you helped grow.
At Sweet Peas, the farm becomes an extension of our classroom—and the changing seasons help shape what we learn, make, grow and cook together.
Every day, rain or shine, we pull on our boots and head outside to explore and connect.
Sweet Peas: at a Glance
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Designed for ages 4–5
Children 3½+ may be considered based on developmental readiness
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Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
October 2026 through May 2027
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The sunroom of “The Palazzo” - the residence overlooking Sunflower Farm on Arpeggio Vineyard - houses our indoor classroom, while the farm as a whole, serves as our outdoor classroom.
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6 students
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Montessori-inspired • Seasonal • Experiential • Farm-to-Table
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All materials
Daily Snacks
Weekly “Bus-made” shared Lunch on Thursdays
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$565/month
all months include 4 weeks of instruction
Enrollment Deposit & Materials Fee: A $200 non-refundable enrollment deposit reserves your child’s space at Sweet Peas and also serves as their materials and supplies fee for the school year—helping stock our classroom, garden, and Farm Bus Kitchen with the many ingredients, art materials, gardening supplies, and other consumables we'll use as we learn, create, grow, and cook together.
Our Weekly Rhythm…
Tuesdays
Grow & Discover
Farm + Garden
We observe what's happening, care for our environment, plant, tend, harvest and do real work together.
Wednesdays
Create & Explore
Art + Handwork + Discovery
We follow Tuesday's discoveries into creative work, investigation and hands-on experiences inspired by the season.
Thursdays
Cook & Gather
Farm Bus Kitchen + Shared Table
We transform ingredients into food, practice practical-life skills, set our table and end our week sharing our homemade lunch together.
Montessori-Inspired, Farm-Grown
Our approach is deeply influenced by Maria Montessori’s belief that young children are naturally curious, capable, and eager to participate in the meaningful work happening around them.
At Sweet Peas, learning is everywhere—and early academics are naturally woven into the experiences of our days.
We count seeds and measure flour. Plant seedlings and care for the plants that grow from them. Learn the names of flowers, vegetables, insects, and animals. Compare the sizes of pumpkins and make predictions about what we observe. We harvest food and carry it into the kitchen, follow recipes, wash produce, measure ingredients, knead dough, and prepare meals together.
We listen to stories, ask questions, create art, arrange flowers, set the table, pour our own drinks, button our coats, take turns, clean up our work, and help care for the spaces we share.
Through these ordinary—and wonderfully meaningful—experiences, children naturally encounter early literacy, mathematics, science, language, art, fine and gross motor development, executive function, and social-emotional learning.
But the learning goes even deeper.
Real work develops concentration, coordination, problem-solving, cooperation, and independence. It allows children to experience the satisfaction of contributing to their community and discovering, little by little, just how much they can do for themselves.
Along the way, we’re sowing the seeds of confidence, curiosity, independence, and a genuine love of learning—the foundation for becoming enthusiastic, lifelong learners.
And woven through it all is a message we hope every Sweet Pea will come to know deeply:
You are capable. Your work matters. You have something valuable to contribute.
You are capable. Your work matters. You have something valuable to contribute.
Meet Michelle, your Sweet Peas Guide
Montessori philosophy has shaped my understanding of children—and my approach to education—for nearly my entire life.
I began attending Montessori school at age two and remained through third grade. My mother spent 45 years as the lead preschool teacher at Medford Montessori School, so principles like independence, respect for the child, and learning through purposeful, hands-on experiences were woven into my childhood long before they became part of my professional life.
Years later, my academic work brought me back to Montessori. While earning my Master’s degree in Education, my thesis explored Maria Montessori’s philosophy and its application to farm-based education, and those ideas have continued to influence the experiences I create for children.
Over the years, I’ve had the joy of welcoming hundreds of children to the farm for camps, field trips, cooking programs, and seasonal experiences. Sweet Peas feels like the natural next chapter for me as an educator—an opportunity to slow down, go deeper, and spend an entire school year with the same small group of children as we experience the full cycle of the farm together.
Sweet Peas is not a traditional Montessori classroom. Instead, it is something uniquely our own: a farm-based preschool deeply informed by Montessori principles—respect for the child, independence, freedom within thoughtful boundaries, hands-on learning, practical life, care for our environment, and the belief that young children are capable of meaningful work.
A Day at Sweet Peas…
Our days follow a gentle, predictable rhythm—giving children the comfort of knowing what comes next while leaving plenty of room for play, independence, curiosity, changing seasons, and unexpected discoveries along the way.
Morning Gathering
Our mornings begin slowly and intentionally. Children have time to arrive, connect with friends, and choose from opportunities for independent play, creative work, books, practical-life activities, and exploration.
A nourishing morning snack will be available during this time. Children are invited to listen to their bodies, serve themselves when they're hungry, and clean up when they're finished—which also serves as an important opportunity to practice independence and care for themselves and their environment.
Before heading out for our outdoor adventures, we'll come together for Morning Circle—a time for songs, stories, conversation, and connection. We’ll talk about the season and prepare for the day’s adventures down at the farm.
Outdoor Adventuring
After Circle, it’s time for adventuring! Rain or shine, we'll take our daily farm walk and spend the heart of our morning immersed in the farm, garden, and Farm Bus Kitchen.
What happens next will change with the day and the season. We might plant or harvest in the garden, visit the animals, investigate something fascinating we discover along the way, work on a seasonal project, or pile into Flora’s cozy Kitchen to chop, measure, mix, knead, and bake.
We’ll always head out with a plan — knowing that some days the farm may give us a better one!
Together Time
After our farm adventures, we'll head back to our classroom to clean up, change out of muddy clothes when needed, and settle back in before sharing lunch all together around the table.
On Thursdays, our shared meal becomes an especially meaningful part of our weekly rhythm as we enjoy food we've all helped prepare—often incorporating something we've grown or harvested ourselves.
After eating, children help care for our classroom before we ease into a quieter ending to the day. Afternoon Circle — with a story, quiet game, or reflection gives us time to reconnect and transition from our busy morning before families arrive for pickup.
Our daily rhythm provides a framework for the day, not a rigid schedule. There will always be room to linger over an interesting discovery, finish meaningful work, follow a child's question—or stop what we're doing to see what the farm has to show us.
Sweet Peas Might Be a Wonderful Fit If…
Your child loves being outside, creating, helping, cooking, digging, asking questions and discovering how things work.
Your family values hands-on learning, independence and meaningful experiences over highly structured academics.
Your child is comfortable participating in a small group and is primarily independent with toileting, eating, dressing and other self-care.
And you're okay with your child occasionally coming home muddy, floury, paint-covered—or all three.
If you answered YES! and are interested in one of our six Sweet Peas spots:
NOTE: Joining the interest list does not commit you to enrollment. Upon receiving your email, we’ll reach out to connect and answer any questions you have, and then you'll be the first to receive program details, open-house/tour dates and enrollment information.