For ages 3–5 & their parents

Big feelings
have a way
through. Together.

Smidgeon Scholars is a weekly social-emotional learning curriculum for young children and their parents, built around a small grey pigeon who knows what it feels like to have a very big day.

Join on Patreon Weekly stories · Parent notes · Activities
Smidgeon the pigeon, happy
What is Smidgeon Scholars?

A curriculum that meets you exactly where you are.

You don't need to become a different parent. You need a few more tools, a character your child will recognize themselves in, and a weekly rhythm that makes hard emotional moments a little more navigable.

Smidgeon Scholars delivers all three to children ages 3 to 5 and the parents who love them, through weekly stories, parent notes, and simple activities designed to be done together.

"You don't have to fix it. You just have to be there for it. That's enough."

— Jennie, Smidgeon Scholars
What's inside every week

Everything you need. Nothing you don't.

Smidgeon excited

Smidgeon's Story

Each week, Smidgeon faces the same feeling your child is working through and finds his way through it imperfectly, then better. Children see themselves in him. That's the whole point.

Miss Jennie

A Note from Jennie

Sixteen years of classroom experience, distilled into one short, warm read for parents. Not a lecture. Not a research summary. Just the thing that actually helps, from someone who's seen it work over and over.

Play at home activity

Something to Do Together

A simple activity that brings the week's idea to life in your own home, at your own pace. No supplies, no prep, no pressure. Just a small moment that becomes something bigger.

Smidgeon, content and settled
Meet Smidgeon

A small pigeon. Very big feelings.

Pigeons are everywhere. Steady, unnoticed, always present. They don't demand attention. They just are. Smidgeon teaches exactly that: calm, grounded presence in the middle of daily life.

Smidgeon did not want to go. His feathers felt tight. The park looked too loud. He sat very still on the windowsill and watched the clouds until one looked like a pillow.

He breathed out slowly. The clouds kept moving.

So did he.

— from Smidgeon Scholars, Week 2
About Jennie

Built by a teacher who's seen what actually works.

I've spent 16 years as a head teacher in early childhood classrooms, including at 92NY Nursery School in NYC, watching what happens when young children hit emotional walls and how parents respond in those moments as they're trying their hardest with the tools they have.

Smidgeon Scholars is what parents have been asking for, organized into something families can use. Taking small moments and empowering you and your child with bite-sized tools for a lifetime of emotional well-being.

This isn't a therapy program. It isn't a parenting lecture. It's more like having a trusted friend who happens to know a lot about 3-year-olds, one who will never make you feel like you're doing it wrong.

16 years early childhood head teacher 92NY Nursery School, NYC SEL & co-regulation specialist
Smidgeon, proud

Ready to start?

Join Smidgeon Scholars on Patreon and get weekly stories, parent notes, and activities delivered to your inbox. Built for the real, ordinary, beautiful moments that shape who your child is becoming.

Join on Patreon Big growth from small moments.