🌼🐝 A Garden Gnome, a Bumblebee & a Little Joy in Bloom 🌼🐝

Why do I dress up?

To make a student smile. To invite a little laughter. To remind the children who come to My Learning Farm that there is room in our days for silliness, imagination, and FUN.

And when you have a dog as cute as Stella… I mean, I HAVE to share the cuteness!!! So here we are: me, a garden gnome, and Stella, my sweet little bumblebee. Just doing our part to spread a little joy around the garden. 🌱

There is so much hard work that happens here. Students practice skills that don’t always come easily. They work through tricky words, organize their thoughts, try a new strategy, and find the courage to try again. I am incredibly proud of that effort.

I also want them to enjoy being here. I want there to be laughter between the hard parts. Something unexpected to smile about. A reminder that the grown-up cheering them on is perfectly happy to put on a gnome hat and be a little ridiculous.

Growing takes tending—and I want joy to be something I tend here, too.

Alongside reading, writing, spelling, and math, I hope my students carry another little lesson with them: enjoy your life. Notice the wonderful things. Laugh when something is funny. Make room for play. You don’t have to outgrow delight.

That’s a lesson I’m happy to model myself—with a very cute, four-legged assistant.

A costume won’t make a tricky word easier to read, but it can give us a shared smile before we get back to trying. Those little moments matter to me. They are part of the relationships I treasure and the place I put my heart into creating.

Here at My Learning Farm, I love watching skills take root and confidence blossom. And if a garden gnome and a bumblebee can help a little happiness bloom along the way?

Well, Stella and I are happy to bee of service. 🐝💛