Blog

Welcome to the Way to Grow blog! Here you’ll find parenting tips, early childhood resources, and stories from home visits across the Twin Cities. We believe parents are their child’s first and most important teacher, and our home visiting model is built around that: bringing tools, activities, and encouragement right into the home. Browse for book recommendations, everyday learning ideas, program updates, and family stories from across our community.

#BeerForBetter: Join Us For A Night Out! 2400 1256 Angelique McDonald

#BeerForBetter: Join Us For A Night Out!

Way to Grow is excited to announce our partnership with Lakes & Legends Brewing Company as their February #BeerForBetter campaign recipients! On February 27, Lakes & Legends will be donating $1 of every beer sold from two of their specialty taps from 5:00–10:00pm. Stop by after work for happy hour or after dinner for a…

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New Underwater Friends 756 506 Maren Nelson

New Underwater Friends

Our Preschool Pals teacher, Mr. Eka, is always looking for ways to engage his students in new ways. Sometimes that involves painting with interesting materials and other times it means sharing opportunities that the kids otherwise may not be able to experience. Last week, our preschoolers took a field trip to SeaQuest in Roseville for…

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A Look Back at 2019 851 568 Angelique McDonald

A Look Back at 2019

It has been quite a 30th Anniversary Year at Way to Grow! In 2019, we took a leap and moved into our new home on Irving Avenue North, and we’ve already hosted Cooking Matters courses, Dream Tracks groups, and several staff potlucks. This summer, we even got the help of Little & Company when they…

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Cookie Hunt! 1152 864 Angelique McDonald

Cookie Hunt!

Our preschool is on winter break, but last week they celebrated the end of 2019 with a cookie hunt! From Mr. Eka: “We’ve been reading The Gingerbread Cowboy by Janet Squires so we decided to make a gingerbread cowboy of our own. The children had lots of fun watching Ms. Alanna carve the dough into…

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Adopt-A-Family 600 250 Angelique McDonald

Adopt-A-Family

What a month! We cannot thank our supporters enough for making Adopt-A-Family a huge success. From individual families to entire departments at Allina Health, hundreds of community members helped make this season bright. Due to this incredible generosity, this year Way to Grow was able to provide gifts for 60 families! Way to Grow’s Adopt-A-Family…

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Shine Celebration 2019 1800 1200 Angelique McDonald

Shine Celebration 2019

Our 30th Anniversary Shine Celebration on October 26, 2019 was an enormous success! Thanks to the support of our generous donors and our extraordinary volunteers and staff, Way to Grow raised over $400,000! The 2019 Shine Celebration was a bedazzled evening of spectacular moments. The stars were out that night, with incredible performances by Jamecia…

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Book-O-Ween 1008 756 Angelique McDonald

Book-O-Ween

This October, our Preschool Pals celebrated Book-O-Ween! This special holiday is when our very special friends get to dress up as one of their favorite book characters and have a party in the classroom. This year, they feasted upon spooky snacks like ghost & bat chips, monster strawberries and bananas, and washed it all down…

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7 Back to School Tips for You and Your Family! 2560 1709 Angelique McDonald

7 Back to School Tips for You and Your Family!

The start of a new year can bring challenges as well as excitement. We found this great resource from PBS to help you and your family get ready for the new school year. Here are just a few ways that you can get involved without getting overwhelmed! Click through to read more: Meet the teacher…

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Preschool Pals Has Begun! 756 549 Angelique McDonald

Preschool Pals Has Begun!

This September, our preschool in North Minneapolis, Preschool Pals, held their first Parent-Child class for the school year. Preschool Pals hosts Parent-Child classes throughout the year, with near-perfect attendance by families. Each class centers around a theme that impacts families every day. This class focused on nutrition. Lead by our preschool staff, the class was…

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Living Generously: Joyful Giving 2560 1977 Jessica Waller

Living Generously: Joyful Giving

We all feel it. With school back in session, calendars are filling with autumn activities, sports events, social gatherings as well as charity galas. The pace of life is speeding up and it seems impossible to fit everything in! In all the hustle and bustle, we hope you’ll take advantage of those opportunities and moments that speak…

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Festival of Fathers 1143 751 Angelique McDonald

Festival of Fathers

We believe every caregiver should be supported in their journey of raising a child. In a show of support for dads in our community, Way to Grow participated in Festival of Fathers at North Commons Park in North Minneapolis this past August. The annual Festival of Fathers is a community sponsored event that seeks to…

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Backpacks are back! 960 720 Angelique McDonald

Backpacks are back!

An annual tradition was back again this year. On August 14, Way to Grow staff, in partnership with the Greater Twin Cities United Way and SPS Commerce, packed 1,200 backpacks in 30 minutes! Each backpack was filled with school supplies and distributed to families across the Twin Cities. Thanks to our community partners, we filled…

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