Clementine Early Childhood Community

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Libertyville, IL
Clementine Early Childhood Community

Clementine is a classroom in downtown Libertyville offering Montessori parent-child classes to children ages 0-3+.

Clementine is a space in downtown Libertyville offering Montessori parent-child classes for children ages 0-3. Parent (or other caregiver--grandparent, nanny) and child attend together. The children work & play in a prepared Montessori environment, and the adults observe, chat with each other, learn and talk about various parenting topics, and join their kids with the materials.

01/30/2026

You can probably guess that the second pitcher doesn’t go in the basket.

I happened to see a toddler put it here, and if you didn’t know better you’d say this isn’t “very Montessori”—but actually my heart swelled with delight and I left it in place, because it is, because:

> Order means understanding that things have a place, not that everything has to be immediately and rigidly in place all the time

> My job as the adult is to figure out when to step in and guide and when to pull back.

> The earnestness of a child always outweighs the adult’s urge for perfection.

This is following the child.

01/22/2026

This year (maybe more than most) we’ve had a few shifts such that our winter groups are a little different from fall—but this Wednesday toddler class has come together so beautifully that when two moms introduced themselves today, I was genuinely surprised that they hadn’t already known each other.

Today included:

🍊 friends supporting each other
🍊 big and important choices
🍊 the bravery to try new things
🍊 wonderful boldness at just the right moment
🍊 waiting for a turn and then getting it
🍊 trust and confidence

…plus a good-sport mom photographer (thank you!), wedding news, and taking turns holding the baby.

Perfect hour and a half.

01/20/2026

The simplest things sometimes make the biggest impact—and we don’t even know it until we really take the time to pay attention.

This is Montessori, and this is what we practice together every day in our parent-toddler classes.

01/17/2026

I loved welcoming this multi-age group this morning!

Our Saturday classes are a mix of new and returning families. It was great to see everyone settling into routines, with older kids taking ownership of their activities, new toddlers (all of a sudden!) ready for bigger work, and the baby fascinated by it all.

Setting the table was a group project…everyone loves mango!

Happiest January Saturday!

01/12/2026

Our infant class begins this Friday morning, and we have one spot left!

Clementine’s infant classes are a gentle, peaceful way to connect with your baby.

Just as important, they're a chance to add a weekly outing to your routine, where you can get to know the same group of families over time.

I love hearing about lunches & walks after class, and knowing that friendships last even after the session is finished.

Last session’s infant graduates moved up to crawler together!

We spend class on the rug, where the babies enjoy activities including Montessori’s beautiful visual mobile series and simple grasping, sensory, and language materials…or nap!

The adults discuss a new development topic each week, which is what really sets this class apart…our conversations will introduce you to a parenting approach that you might not have considered before.

From there, we chat about whatever is on our minds: sleep, feeding, gear, and other challenges, successes, and questions.

Of course, we spend plenty of time observing and enjoying the babies!

Honestly, this is exactly what I needed when my kids were first born, and I absolutely love sharing this experience with new parents at Clementine.

Interested in joining us? Message me or learn more on our website.

(Or please share with an infant mom you know!)

01/09/2026

It was a wonderful first winter Thursday! This group is a delightful mix of returning crawlers, infant class graduates, and a fourth-baby-I've-taught (maybe a milestone?...certainly exciting regardless!).

It was so much fun to see everyone after four or five weeks away (lots of changes in a short time at this age!),.

Everyone chatted away to reconnect or meet for the first time.

We talked about a baby's work--a real thing!--and there were first-ever steps!

Grandparents (and a dad!) joined us for songs--the first group music for a few of these babies--and as the last family left, I thought: This is the life!

01/08/2026

Funny story:

I wrote this post just about a year ago, and then for some reason didn't end up posting it right away, and then it didn't feel seasonal anymore, so I kept it in a folder for later.

My memory jogged when I had this exact conversation about this exact snowman this afternoon, just with a different dad.

The important things don't change!

***

Three of us together on the rug, and the adults both sat on our hands as he put the hat onto the empty post–a snowman with no body, no scarf, no head.

That didn’t look quite right to him, so he took off the hat and proceeded to build the complete snowman.

While he was working, we smiled at ourselves because we both really wanted to step in, and had a lovely conversation about independence instead.

Our classes are about the activities, but they’re about more than that, too.

01/05/2026

Flashing back to last winter...these kids are now full-on preschoolers!

If Clementine is one-of-a-kind, then our preschooler class is one-of-one-of-a-kind. I really don’t think I know of anything else like it!

If 2026 is the year that *your* child will start preschool, then our preschooler class could be just the thing for your family this session.

It’s an on-ramp to a first solo classroom experience: responsibility, ownership, routines, sounds and quantities, experimentation and negotiation and lots of scienc-y wows, sharing a community space, sitting with a group, taking turns with toys and questions, a trusted adult outside of your family (several, actually!), new foods, new and true friends—all of this, week after week until it’s time for the real deal.

(And if your child is already in preschool—but you’re missing some time together out and about—you might just love this too.)

We have two open spots in this wonderful group for winter, beginning on Wednesday: squeegee paintings together at the table, SB&J for lunch.

If you're interested in learning more about this one-of-a-kind experience, message me!

12/31/2025

It wasn’t easy to narrow down from 2200 photos to these 13, but I persevered.

My goal was to tell the whole story of the classroom, and I hope you can see it all unfold.

It was a wonderful year!

12/21/2025

(today, post 4 of 4)

Our fall session is our longest, but it still manages to go by in a flash! I love looking back at favorite moments from our mornings together in the classroom, and I hope you will too.

It’s a Clementine tradition to share one photo of each social-media-👍kid at the end of each session. Some are new and some you may have seen before; all together, they show how much fun we have!

Address

526 N Milwaukee
Libertyville, IL
60048

Website

http://clementinecommunity.com/

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