Starla Wheeler kneeling on grass in a park, holding a young girl in her arms, both smiling, with large sunlit trees behind them

"When a child slows down in nature, something deeper unfolds, curiosity opens, emotions settle, and resilience quietly takes root. That is wonder at work."

Starla Wheeler

Founder, The Salty Sunflower Nature Collaborative B.A. Psychology, focus in Child & Adolescent Development · University of Nevada, Las Vegas M.S. Child Development · San Diego State University

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Who I am

The story behind the work

I started Salty Sunflower with a psychology background, a graduate degree in child development, and a pretty stubborn belief that kids don't need four walls and a laminated schedule to actually learn. They need dirt, real weather, a little risk, and someone paying close attention. Turns out that's not just a nice idea, it's backed by a whole body of research on nervous system development, and I built my career (and this program) around it.

I'm the kind of person who reads a study on co-regulation for fun, and then also gets genuinely delighted watching a kid discover a rolly-polly for the hundredth time like it's the first. Both things are true at once, and honestly, that's the whole philosophy: take the science seriously, but never lose the wonder.

Everything I do here comes back to a few things: let the child lead, pay close attention to what they're actually telling you (even when it's not with words), and show up the same way, day after day, so they know exactly what to expect from the grown-ups around them.

And this isn't a drop-your-kid-off-and-see-you-at-pickup kind of place. Families are in it with me, out in the field, in the dirt, part of the actual learning, not just paying for it from the sidelines.

Grounded in research

The research behind Salty Sunflower

My degrees didn't happen in a vacuum. One built directly on the other, and both were chasing the same question: what do kids actually need to feel safe, curious, and like themselves?

B.A. Psychology · UNLV

Attachment in early childhood

My undergrad capstone looked at attachment theory in early childhood and how those early patterns follow us straight into adolescence and adulthood. This is the actual research behind why I care more about relationships than group size, and why I built the whole program around showing up consistently for these kids.

M.S. Child Development · SDSU

Nature, the nervous system, and wonder

My master's thesis looked at how time in nature shapes a young child's developing nervous system and their capacity for wonder. Hours in academic journals, plus real observation of real kids in real outdoor moments, drawing on thinkers like Richard Louv and sociobiologist Edward O. Wilson's Biophilia Hypothesis. This is why we're out here instead of in a classroom.

This isn't just stuff I read about once and liked. It's why every family in our community gets a real, written developmental report, not just cute photos, and why our adult-to-child ratio is way below what California even requires. That's not an accident. It's the whole point.

Our pedagogy

How it comes together

i.

Reggio Emilia

I trust kids to be capable and creative, and I let the environment do a lot of the teaching, too.

ii.

Waldorf rhythm

Story, rhythm, and a little ritual, so kids always know what's coming next, even outdoors.

iii.

STEM-integrated

Nature is basically one giant science experiment. We just follow it where it leads.

At the end of the day, I'm just trying to take real research and turn it into something that actually works for real families, kids who feel good in their bodies and their emotions, and a little more connection to the wild world around them.

Come see it for yourself

We're open for new families. Come check out our schedules, tuition, and what's currently enrolling.

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Our program is license-exempt under California regulations.