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About Teacher Tom

Tom “Teacher Tom” Hobson is an early childhood educator, international speaker, education consultant, teacher of teachers, parent educator, and author. He is best known, however, for his namesake blog 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 USA.

 

For nearly two decades, Teacher Tom was 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. 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 educators, 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.”

 

Today, Teacher Tom shares his play-based pedagogy through online courses for early childhood educators; produces online early childhood conferences; consults with organizations about his "Family Schools" program; and inspires early years audiences around the world (Greece, UK, Iceland, Australia, China, Vietnam, New Zealand, Canada, and across the US) both virtually and in-person with his engaging views on early childhood education, play, and pedagogy; hosts Teacher Tom's Podcast.

 

He was pressured by his blog readers into authoring his first book, aptly named Teacher Tom’s First Book, and is thrilled about the recent release of Teacher Tom’s Second Book.

What Others Say 

"Tom has a rare and valuable gift. It is an ability to perceive life through the innocent lens of his charges . . . Informed by sensitive observation and immersion in their culture, Tom is uniquely in tune with the authentic hearts, minds and motivations of the children with whom he interacts . . . In this delightful, insightful collection of essays, Tom shares his experience and unique observations as a teacher and grand master of shenanigans . . ."

JANET LANSBURY

Author of Elevating Child Care and No Bad Kids

Early childhood educator and R.I.E Specialist

"Teacher Tom sees little children with his eyes wide open and helps us see them as fully formed, fascinating, thinking human beings worthy of our respect. He knows and shows that children teach themselves and that the job of educators is to provide the kinds of communities in which children can do that best. I recommend this book to everyone concerned with children and the future of humanity."

PETER GRAY, Ph.D.,

Research Professor of Psychology at Boston College, and author of bestselling Free to Learn 

See What Teacher Tom's Been Up To

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