About

Meet Abbi Kruse

Do You Remember “The Lorax” Who Spoke for the Trees?

Abbi says, “I want to speak for the young children – and for the parents and teachers who are doing their absolute best in nearly impossible situations.”

After more than three decades of early education experience, Abbi believes that our systems are broken. Children, teachers, and parents are stressed and deserve better!

Kruse for Kids is dedicated to advocating for children, parents, and teachers.
Any parent of a young child or any teacher can confirm that the pressures are increasing. Yet, it seems that those who aren’t directly impacted remain unaware or uninterested.

Through this site and through her other roles, Abbi wants to bring issues forward in a relatable way and start the big conversations about how we can be better support young children, their caregivers and their families.

Contact Abbi

Founder of The Playing Field

The Playing Field is an innovative model for early care and education. Founding The Playing Field has allowed Abbi and her team to consider and address many issues.

Disparity

High quality early education programs are typically out of reach for low income families. Through grant funding and donations, we assure all families have access to our program.

Access

The Playing Field break barriers to access including cost, transportation, and high rates of preschool expulsions.

Segregation

70% of US preschools are segregated. With our unique enrollment pattern, The Playing Field cares for a diverse group of children.

Early Trauma

Our School Family includes children impacted by homelessness and other forms of early adversity. To support the needs of children, our staff receive extensive training. Our classrooms provide small group size and low ratios.

Teacher Support

The Playing Field believes that caring for children begins with caring for teachers. We provide extensive support to our teachers. In addition, we invest over 85% of our revenue into staff salaries and benefits.

Learn more about our efforts to expand in Madison. We are partnering with local agencies to offer quality child care, affordable housing and career training in a coordinated effort!

The Playing Field

Conscious Discipline® Certified Instructor

In starting The Playing Field, Abbi wasn’t sure if it was possible to care for children impacted by homelessness alongside those from advantaged families. However, Dr. Bailey’s book “Creating the School Family” gave her the belief that it could be done.

Conscious Discipline® has been key to the success of The Playing Field in serving children impacted by early trauma.

In response to adversity, children often develop big behaviors and those behaviors can be difficult to manage in traditional classroom settings. This results in high rates of suspensions and expulsions for young children.

There are many reasons for high rates of preschool expulsions. One of those reasons is that teachers and administrators often don’t know what to do when presented with challenging behaviors. Abbi is passionate about bringing the skills of Conscious Discipline® to early educators.

Invite Abbi to speak on Conscious Discipline®

Invite Abbi