Chrissy Norvell

This best known as a “Montessori” climber or Pikler Triangle Climber.  We are constantly asked if we are a Montessori School/Learning Center.  The simple answer is No.  We are not full blown anything.  We are taking an eclectic approach with our focus on play based and an outdoor natural environment learning experience.

Is Montessori the best?  Is Reggio Emilia the best?  Is High Scope the best? We believe that children learn in all different types of environments.  But what we KNOW is that children learn best while playing and experiencing something natural! 

Have you ever realized building with blocks is engineering, mathematical calculations, gross motor skills, counting, balancing and all other kinds of learning?  Ever thought about how when mixing all types of colors while “making a mess with paint” is teaching them chemistry?  It is! 

We love this climber at our house.  So much we have 3 going to the center to be rotated between all the classrooms.  They can learn balance, gravity, climbing, pushing, pulling, building, colors, and counting to name a few all while PLAYING!  The half moon converts to a seesaw!

Amina is working on making Ameera balance while she is trying to coordinate dropping something on her to roll down to her feet.  I think it is a baby shark, that clearly won’t work, but let them figure it out on their own. Trial and Error.

Events like this, playing like this is some of what your children will experience at LBFA.  And that is exactly what makes us so excited!

Who loves a field trip?  We do!  Anyone been to the New “Cookie Publix”.  Our girls have been calling Publix “Cookie Publix” since they started speaking. We had new one open on Yellow Bluff Road a few weeks ago.  We live in walking distance to the one on Duval Station, but lately we have been driving out of or way to see the progress of this one.   We have been talking about it for months and today we decided it was Field Trip time!  The girls were so excited they wanted to take a photo. Ha!

Moments like this, seeing our girls so excited over the SMALLEST of things reminds me they are just tiny humans.  They will react to whatever I bring into their life. Good and bad.  To the older man walking in behind us today who chuckled at them screaming about the balloons, thank you.  Your words of encouragement to cherish these moments spoke to my heart.  How excited he was telling me how much his children who are grown now would always enjoy small things he and his wife did for them made me think we were doing a decent job today as parents.

Mystery Man, thank you! 

We are looking forward to letting children explore so many “little things” at LBFA.  We might not be able to take them on a field trip to “Cookie Publix” but we sure can set up a grocery store and bring in cookies from the bakery!  Who doesn’t love those chocolate chip cookies or sprinkle cookies?! 

And for anyone who works at Publix in the corporate side, yes, your marketing with free cookies works.  I have experienced my fair share of meltdowns over not stopping at Publix and the missed opportunity for these 100 calories, magical child pleasers. During covid when you stopped giving out cookie, we were still the annoying parents who would ask to only buy 2 small ones.  Again, it is the small things in life they will cherish.

Now let’s get going so we can build those grocery Check-Out lines in the classrooms!

So much imagination, so much energy.  Children LOVE to climb these big machines and it is so fun to watch our girls enjoy it.  Building a building from the ground up in their eyes is about as much fun as Easter.  No, not Christmas, Easter. HA!  They get pretty excited every time we drive by now and want to see all the machines.  

Who loves to play in the dirt?  WE DO!   Welcome to the dirtiest two girls in Jacksonville.  Let’s just say everything went into the dumpster besides two little humans. HA!  It is amazing how much children love to play in the dirt.  

We are excited to be offering a large sand pit in the playground area.  If you think your child will be “beelining” straight two Seated Diggers we have for the children to play with, please don’t send them with a nice outfit on. Remember, you are paying for them to have the best experience in Jax and we will be letting that happen on a daily basis!   We love to make sure they are clean, but we love to let them explore and play.

How awesome to bury bones and have a dinosaur dig? A really BIG DINOSAUR?  Can we learn by burying letter or numbers and let them search in ABC order?  So many dirty opportunities!  I am an OCD mom about being clean.  I vacuum our house 3 times a day, but when it comes to my girls, I take deep breath and remember, they LOVE to get dirt in their nails. Ugh. But they are only children once, let them, right?

We will be having “Indoor Shoes” and “Outdoor Shoes” required for each child. If you are planning on checking out our center please be prepared, they will ruin the outdoor ones.

They are starting to prep for the foundation.  While I am preparing for BLACK FRIDAY SALES!  I am not a person that loves to shop.  I find myself always thinking twice before spending money.  I am the lady who puts it in the cart, walks around and then puts it back after thinking I really don’t need it.  I am TJMaxx’s worst customer!

When I started to think about this idea almost two years ago, I was dead set on making the classrooms look as much like a house as possible.  I know it won’t be totally possible to recreate this, but I am determined to try my best.  The classrooms will be a soft relaxing color, not much on the walls besides what the children create and much of what you can see in your own home, but with a lot of children in the room. LOL.  

When we walked into the last “franchise” childcare center that we attended, it screamed, “you are not at home”.   I want a different experience this time around for the families that wish to attend our school.   So, starting with the Black Friday deals, we now have so many rugs sitting in our playroom and walk area at our home it is insane.  The girls are loving the idea of playing “Hot Lava” for hours or using them as a balance beam.  But when push came to shove, Amina loves the exercise of carrying in the rugs, Ameera, she is game for about 3. HA! 

Well 3 acres is huge! Holy cow. I was WRONG. It is big. There is so much land. I can not wait to see this idea be built from literally the ground up. I have built some houses before, but never a commercial building. This should be a great life lesson and one Carlos and I look forward to sharing with our girls. Amina and Ameera only see 3 acres of dirty to dig in. To be a kid again…

We got our final permit and finally after waiting for what seems like forever, we are pushing down trees this week. We are so excited to see what the property looks like without trees and brush. We don’t even know what to think. It looks so small from the road, but our perception and our reality is probably so different!

Let’s see what the next few months brings, and how involved we can get on moving this building along. It is time to get built and welcoming families!