Learning Seeds Boston

Sparking Positive Social Habits

We work one-on-one with preschoolers struggling with social and communication skills.

The preschool-age students we coach (2 to 5 years of age) have had limited success in community activities, group learning, and interacting with peers and teachers. Our team of Enlightened Shadows provide one-on-one support to these children as they engage with their environment, objects, and peers.

We guide children toward more positive social experiences than their behavior would elicit without support.

We help parents plan, understand, and respond.

We can help you observe challenging behavior through a lens of optimism and agency.

To learn more about the services on this page or to explore further how Learning Seeds can support your child, please reach out to schedule a call with us.

We coach our students at their preschools, camps, and playgrounds during unstructured play.

We do not work in isolation from other children at a clinic or other separated space. We guide a child’s engagement in their real-life inclusive settings, during play among peers.

The Learning Seeds Enlightened Shadow in your child’s school environment

The Learning Seeds Enlightened Shadow started by being very hands on in the classroom, shadowing my child closely and helping him initiate and sustain interactions with peers and teachers. As he learned was able to incorporate her strategies naturally into his day, she faded back and offered quieter, less direct support." -- Tara, parents

We partner with you to help your school successfully welcome diverse students into your inclusive community.

We partner with your teachers’ goals. We never work separately from your teaching staff. Learning Seeds does not have its own curriculum. We are the ushers to your school’s teachers, environment and activities. Our job is to quietly help our shared student find a place and marvel at all the wonderful moments that happen in your school’s setting.

We understand what it takes to run a classroom, and we understand how to lead students to your teaching environment, to your school’s content, and to creating connections with your educators and staff.

We help children engage in the unpredictable, exhilarating, challenging, scary, confusing, exhausting, joyous moments of free play.

Boston educator FAQs

Boston parent FAQs

Parent Testimonials

  • "Learning Seeds has the potential to revolutionize kindergarten readiness because of their focus on the individual child. The skills that my child developed during his time with Learning Seeds helped him to feel like a good friend, like somebody who could socialize and play and engage with the group."

    Becca, parent

  • "While some interventions tend to focus on one specific area such as OT or Speech and Language, Learning Seeds takes a more integrative approach. The Learning Seeds team has gotten to know my child as a whole, from many perspectives, as opposed to just one perspective."

    Sue, parent

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In-Person Play Sessions

One-on-one social skill coaching sessions between Learning Seeds education team members and children in need of support take place where children play among their typically-developing peers. Our Enlightened Shadows help students navigate transitions, use new language skills, join peer play, and deepen engagement with the activities, environment, adults, and peers around them.

The Learning Seeds team coordinates with parents, caregivers, teachers, and administrators at schools, camps, and day care programs to schedule ideal times and places for a regular schedule of support.

Learning Seeds offers a range of play coaching program options. Contact us to learn more.

Remote Services

In-person services for our Boston clients are commonly combined with our remote services that leverage virtual communication channels to reach children and parents at times and in places where we cannot meet them in person.

Learn more about remote services offered to children and parents here.

Learning Seeds Resource Library

We’re on a mission to help caring adults we won’t be able to meet transform the social trajectories of children we won’t personally teach.

Explore our Resource Library page, where you can learn how to observe a child’s social engagement through our Lens and approach teachable moments with optimism and agency.

Learn more about the unique Engagement Lens through which Learning Seeds observes, guides, and transforms a child’s social habits.

  • Our services are for children in preschool. Most of our students are between two-years-old and five-years-old.

  • Learning Seeds does not require any particular diagnosis to participate in our services. We work with two to five-year-olds with social and communication struggles. Our students benefit from play and social skills coaching to help them increase their social connections.

    We work with children who are sometimes perceived as struggling, shy, rambunctious, or hard to engage. We also have experience with children with a variety of social and communication diagnoses including Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Executive function disorder (EFD), Nonverbal learning disorder (NVLD), etc.

  • Because our philosophy is to support children in inclusive settings, we do not have a clinic and we do not offer social skills groups. We work with children in their local communities in settings where a child spends time, such as a neighborhood playground, school, afterschool program, or camp.

  • For parents with a concern about their child’s ability to engage socially and make friends, we offer a one-hour consultation to brainstorm priorities and solutions. Consultations are an opportunity to discuss the behaviors parents see at home and/or at school. The conversation will focus on strengths-based, motivational strategies for families to ‘try and see’ instead of ‘waiting and seeing’. Contact us to request a consultation.

  • Reach out to us as soon as possible because options are limited once expulsion is imminent.

    Learning Seeds has had success with averting preschool expulsions when there is enough time to implement a robust school program in which we can work with a child, their family, and the school staff. Contact us to request a consultation.

  • Learning Seeds specializes in working with children who withdraw or isolate from groups. We work with children to enable them to have positive social experiences, build more self-efficacy, and deepen their sense of identity within the context of a group. Reach out to us as soon as possible when your school lets you know your child is struggling because options are limited if expulsion becomes imminent.

    Contact us to request a consultation.

  • Reach out to us as soon as possible when your school lets you know your child is having conflicts. It’s better to reach out sooner because options are limited once expulsion becomes imminent. Learning Seeds works with children to enable them to have positive social experiences, build more self-efficacy, and deepen their sense of identity within the context of a group.

    Contact us to request a consultation.

  • Learning Seeds does not offer neuropsychological evaluations. We know psychologists in the Boston area that do conduct neuropsych evaluations and other testing. Contact us for information.

  • Families hire Learning Seeds to provide play support for their child. These playdates are part of our package of services. The child sometimes invites a peer to join in the playdate!

    Hosted by a parent of a Learning Seeds child, you and your child will simply get to enjoy a playdate that often has more giggles, more cooperation, and smoother transitions, thanks to the active support of our expert play coach.

    Find out more!

  • Send us a message and let us know a bit about your child.

  • We are a private pay company and do not accept insurance.

Parent FAQs

Educator FAQs

  • Have the family request a consultation, and we’ll follow up with them as soon as possible.

  • We believe the earlier the better for children to experience neutral and positive group play experiences. Please have the family send us a message.

  • Learning Seeds is eager to share our transformative approach with our educator colleagues, and we do offer professional development. Subscribe to our mailing list to receive updates or contact us for more information.

  • Our job-embedded coaching is personalized, actionable, tech-enabled professional development for early childhood staff. Subscribe to our mailing list to receive updates about our professional development, or contact us to find out more.

Note to Providers: If you are an Early Intervention Specialist, Developmental Pediatrician, or Neuropsychologist interested in being in our network of providers, please contact us. When a provider in our network refers a family to us, the family is eligible for a free consultation (guaranteed to be scheduled within eight weeks of the initial request). After the complimentary consultation, the family has zero obligation to sign up for Learning Seeds services.