What we do...

Playing Together Being Together is a company that brings play, loose parts, nature exploration, art, music, and reading to families as a means to connect and support
social-emotional growth.

Here Children Will...

• explore
  
• get messy
  
• take things from other children
  
• cry
  
• push and hit              
  

Here Parents Will...

• be active observers
• describe the sensation
• take a deep breath and teach new skill
  
• comfort and model deep breaths
• learn to see this as a missing skill and will then respond rather than react

Founder

Melissa began her career in education as an elementary school music teacher. After 6 years in the public schools, she realized that her passion was working with children and learning about child development. She shifted her focus to early childhood education where she specialized in infant/toddler education/care for 10 years. During this time she worked as a teacher, a

mentor to her colleagues, and as school Director. It was also during this time that she was exposed to and inspired by the work of Dr. Becky Bailey and Conscious Discipline, Loris Malaguzzi and his schools in Reggio Emilia, Italy, Kelly Mahler and the Interoception Curriculum, Forest Schools, the use of nature and loose parts to inspire, and of course play, play, play. During the summers of 2015 and 2019, she attended the Conscious Discipline Summer Institute. Over the last three years Melissa has had the opportunity to spend her days with her son James and his friends.