Tom Hobson is known for his progressive, play-based curriculum and for writing 'Teacher Tom's Blog,' chronicling the life and times of a preschool in the United States. His books are compilations of the 'best bits' of his blog.
Teacher Tom is one of those rare beings who is able to really see and hear children for being the very ones that they are.Dr. Vanessa Lapointe, R. Psych, author of Discipline Without Damage & Parenting Right from the Start
Tom 'Teacher Tom' Hobson is a preschool teacher, writer, speaker, artist and author. He is best known, however, for his namesake 'Teacher Tom's
Blog,' where he has posted daily since 2009, chronicling the life and
times of his little preschool in the rain-soaked Pacific Northwest
corner of the United States.
For the better part of the past two decades, Teacher Tom has been the sole employee of the Woodland Park Cooperative School, a parent-owned and operated school, knit together by Teacher Tom's democratic, progressive play-based pedagogy. The children come to the school as 2-year-olds in diapers and leave as 'sophisticated' 6-year-olds ready for the larger world.
Teacher Tom came into teaching through the backdoor, so to speak, having enrolled his own child in a cooperative preschool, where he began working daily in his daughter's classroom as an assistant teacher under the tutelage of veteran teachers, although he'll be the first to tell you that most of what he learned came from the children themselves. When it was time for his daughter to move on, he 'stayed behind,' where he plans to remain for the rest of his life.
Tom is a sought-after public speaker, having travelled the globe from the US and Canada to Australia, New Zealand, China, and Europe.
“Tom’s book is soul
food for educators. It helps keep our focus on children—their needs,
rights and ensuring their voices can be heard loud and clear - be that
from the top of a slide or whispering in a homemade den.”
Juliet Robertson, author of Dirty Teaching, Scotland
Picking up where Teacher Tom’s First Book left off, Teacher Tom’s Second Book is
an insightful, sometimes breathtakingly eye-opening look into the
relationship between young children, learning, and the adults and
institutions in their lives.
Teacher Tom’s ability to find great
truth in small moments, coupled with his passionate defence of the
rights of children and his critique of common practice, comes together
to reveal a loving, child-centred world, one in which children are free
to learn and grow, unencumbered by the dogma and nonsense of our
culture’s ever narrowing view of childhood.
Authors
Celebrating some of our favourite outdoor-related books & their inspirational authors.
Child led play
At Muddy Faces we feel it is vitally important to consider a child-led approach when making activities available to your groups.
We asked Jan White, internationally-recognised consultant and speaker for outdoor provision in the early years, to explain.
Read More about Child led play
