Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Leto and Shawn Krumholz.
Hi Maria and Shawn, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
We met in college and have stayed close friends despite years living on opposite ends of the country; Shawn Krumholz is an LA-based pediatric speech therapist, and Maria Leto is a Montessori mom of 2 and children’s book author. At the start of the pandemic, while parents were scrambling to find resources to keep their kids engaged, we noticed a gap in high-quality educational content. Leveraging our backgrounds and the talent of Maria’s 8-year-old daughter, Chloe – an artist and published illustrator – we set out to create engaging and effective learning materials for young children. This led to Class with Chloe!
We created Class with Chloe as a way to build preschool skills in a developmentally-appropriate, play-based way, so that learning is fun and pressure-free. While playfully introducing young children to key preschool concepts, this platform was thoughtfully designed to foster development of essential skills like communication, pre-literacy, early math, problem solving and more. It’s the perfect way to set the stage for preschool skill development or to supplement classroom learning!
Class with Chloe is a women-owned, leading enrichment platform offering educational videos and activities designed for preschoolers. Our unique, creative approach fosters early development through fun, interactive learning experiences. Our platform delivers high-quality, slow-paced, and guilt-free screen time for a low-cost subscription.
Chloe is the shining star of our business! Chloe illustrated 5 published children’s books and became a business owner (co-owner of Class with Chloe) by the age of 6! Chloe drew and created all of the images used in our educational material and is also the host of Class with Chloe. Chloe’s imaginative and relatable teaching style creates an inspiring ‘big sister’ experience that children love and truly connect with.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We have loved working together on this project! It has allowed us to access our creative sides and combine our shared passion for early childhood education; however, starting a small business, while exciting and fun to have a creative outlet that has a goal of helping others, has naturally been challenging. We have realized that organic growth takes time, and we have had to put a lot of work into researching how to market and build a business! Plus, we have the added difficulty of juggling the work we’re putting into Class with Chloe alongside full-time jobs.
We’ve been impressed with Class with Chloe LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Unlike other educational companies for preschoolers, our lessons are hosted by a child, offering a unique, peer-led experience that creates an engaging, nurturing space for learning. We believe in learning through exposure, repetition, and fun! Exposing your child to interactive, playful educational content without pressure or expectation fosters a love for learning, and encourages curiosity, creativity, and future exploration. The best part about Class with Chloe is that your child will WANT to learn (again and again!) because they’ll be having FUN.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
We actually created Class with Chloe during the pandemic. Maria, like so many other parents, became a “homeschool teacher” during the pandemic and really focused on creating engaging play-based activities for her kids to do while inside their New York City apartment. She incorporated her children’s interests and favorite activities into lessons and games so that they were learning and thriving but they had no idea- to them, it was just play time! We wanted to be able to share these engaging ideas and activities with as many families as possible, while also realizing that not everyone has time to curate their own at-home preschool curriculum. At the same time, while living in Los Angeles, Shawn was providing virtual speech therapy to many preschool-aged children, passionate about connecting with their families and sharing easy ways to support early childhood development. After joining forces and combining our individual strengths, Class with Chloe was born!
Pricing:
- Monthly Subscription: $10/month (www.classwithchloe.com)
- Annual Subscription: $100/year ($25 off with special launch code: READYTOLEARN, www.classwithchloe.com/signup)
- Our FREE Preschool Materials + Resources can be found here: www.classwithchloe.com/freebies
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.classwithchloe.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/classwithchloe
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/classwithchloe
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@classwithchloe
