Monica J Sutton Built Circle Time With Ms. Monica for Her Students. Now, 1.2 Million Families Show Up Every Week.

Monica J Sutton didn’t set out to build an empire. She set out to show up for her students. What happened next changed early childhood education online forever.

When the world shut down in March 2020, most creators scrambled to figure out what to post. Monica J Sutton already knew. Her students needed her. So she showed up, Monday through Friday, inside a laptop screen, with the same calm and intentionality she brought to her physical classroom every single day for more than two decades.

That decision, to turn her YouTube channel into a full classroom rather than a content hub, became the foundation of one of the most trusted children’s educational spaces on the internet. Today, Circle Time with Ms. Monica reaches over 1.2 million families worldwide. And the educator behind it has never lost sight of what she built it for.

A Classroom Without Walls

Sutton is not a creator who stumbled into education. She is an educator who understood the power of digital media before most institutions were willing to take it seriously. With 23 years in early childhood education and a master’s degree in the field, she has spent her entire career rooted in how young children actually grow, not what performs well on an algorithm.

That foundation is visible in every episode. Sutton still plans her Circle Time episodes the way she planned her classroom lessons: she outlines the learning objectives, builds the episode structure, and then scripts it, because, as she puts it, every moment has a purpose.

“Children’s brains are developing rapidly, and the way you present information, the language, the emotional tone, all of it matters deeply.”

The show films inside an actual classroom. Virtual now, but a classroom nonetheless. A place, she says, where children come to connect, learn, and feel safe. That foundation, she is clear, does not bend based on what is trending.

The Weight of Being Seen

Children’s media has long had a representation problem. The faces leading the most visible early learning content have rarely reflected the full range of children watching. Sutton’s presence in that space is not accidental. It is a daily, active choice.

Every time a child anywhere in the world sits down to watch Circle Time with Ms. Monica, they are in the presence of an educator with 23 years of experience who built her platform with intention. Sutton has been deliberate about ensuring the children she reaches see themselves in the spaces where they learn. That is not a byproduct of her work. It is a design decision.

“Representation isn’t a checkbox for me. It’s woven into who I am and how I show up.”

Sutton also recognizes the door her work opens for others. Children’s media, she believes, needs more teachers at the table. More diverse voices who understand child development and can build content that genuinely serves all children, not just the ones who have always been centered.

From the Classroom to the C-Suite

Sutton resigned from her classroom teaching career in August 2020. That was the moment, she says, she went all in. But the entrepreneurial instinct was already there. She founded her first media company in 2009, was blogging, creating content, and building a digital presence long before Circle Time ever existed.

What she did not plan for was scale. Over a million subscribers. Distribution deals. Brand partnerships with Crayola, Disney Jr., Educational Insights, Adobe, Verizon, Disneyland, and the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center Foundation. A product line. Live educational experiences.

All of it now lives under her company, Preschool Explorers. And all of it, she is intentional to point out, exists to make sure the business matches the mission.

The Families Who Kept Her Going

Ask Sutton what keeps her going, and she will point to two things: the children, who are always her why, and the parents who write to tell her what her channel has meant inside their homes.

The messages she receives are not casual compliments. They are stories. A child who was struggling to learn her colors and finally got there. A child who needed something familiar and safe during an impossible stretch of time. Out of everything available on the internet, families chose her.

“I feel that deeply, and I honor it. It keeps me grounded in what actually matters to families versus what might just perform well.”

That feedback has shaped how she creates. It is a constant reminder that she is not making content. She is showing up in someone’s home, for someone’s child. That responsibility, she says, drives everything.

Connect with Ms. Monica: Instagram: @monicajsutton  |  YouTube: Monica J Sutton  |  Circle Time Club: skool.com/circletimeclub