Circle Time with Ms. Monica goes platinum in Black households. Hosted by educator Monica Sutton, the YouTube channel has grown into a cultural juggernaut, with over 1.1 million subscribers and their littles tuning in for her engaging lessons, warmth that emanates through the screen, and the “Freeze Dance,” of course.
With her background teaching in New York City public schools, Sutton brings both expertise and heart to the screen. But what makes Circle Time truly special is representation. For many Black children, seeing a warm, confident woman who looks like their mom, auntie, or nana leading the classroom builds a sense of trust and reminds them that education belongs to them, too.
Sutton’s videos help prepare toddlers for life’s little firsts, from visiting the zoo to starting preschool. Through cheerful songs, structured teachings, and a kind, welcoming presence, she’s helping children embrace early education to get started on the right foot — and make sense of their world.
We caught up with Sutton to talk about what’s next for Circle Time, what it’s like being recognized in restaurants and even at Disneyland, and her commitment to being the representation she needed as a child in nursery school.
ESSENCE: You offer representation to the children who watch your videos. You’re somebody who looks like their moms and their aunties. What does that mean to you that people can see themselves in you and your learning tools?
Monica Sutton: It means the world to me, because when I was three years old, I really needed a Ms. Monica, someone who looked like me in education. My first nursery school experience, that’s what they called preschool back then, it wasn’t the most positive experience, but if I had that representation, I think it would have made a world of a difference. If I was able to see a teacher that reminded me of my mother or my sisters, it would have probably given me that comfort and also the confidence to be able to express myself and speak up and maybe not be so shy, but it means the world.
I know what three-year-old Monica needed is still needed today. It is always needed. Representation makes a huge, huge difference.
Were you thinking about that when you started your YouTube channel in 2009?
My focus was just giving the parents of my students some resources, something they can use at home. Parents would always ask, “Well, what do I do at home?” and say, “Okay, they learn this in school, but what do I do at home? I don’t know what to do with my child at home.”
So that was really the intention behind me starting in 2009. I needed the parents to have something that they can count on. As time went on, I definitely saw the need and realized, in the YouTube space, there was a lack of representation. So yes, now it is definitely at the forefront of what I do.
How often are you recognized in public by children?
It’s here and there. It really depends on where I am. If I’m at a store, it depends on what neighborhood and what city. I could never plan it, put it that way. But I would say, probably, I don’t know 50% of the time that I go shopping, I may be recognized.
What happens with children is usually they start staring at me. If I catch them staring really long, I’m just like, Ohhhh, I think they’re making a connection. That recently happened, actually. I was in a Cava on the line, and there was a little boy sitting with his dad, eating lunch, and he just kept staring at me while I was on the line the whole time. Then, when I finished, and I was about to leave, Dad and I made eye contact, and he’s just like, “Are you?” And I’m like, “I knew your son knew who I was!” [laughs]
What is the most unexpected place that you’ve been spotted by a child?
Disneyland. I was just in California. I did not think it would happen with so many people at Disneyland. You’re just so overwhelmed and literally just walking down that little Main Street, and there was a mother. The mom spotted me first, and then her daughter saw me once mom started saying “Ms. Monica!” That was so random. That was the furthest thing from my mind that someone would spot me in Disneyland.
You thought they were going to be so distracted by the characters that they wouldn’t notice you?
Exactly! I’m like, Mickey’s here and Minnie, you know, Donald, all the characters. So, I really was just like, wow, you recognized this ‘Ms. Monica’ out here in this sea of people. That was special.
How can screen-based learning be reinforced through offline activities?
I always tell families that watch my show, after you watch the show take the learning offline. Take the learning into your daily life. If you see your child gravitating towards something on the show, then you take that learning off the laptop or the tablet and into your real life, their real life, their everyday.
You can point to different things. It’s really learning with what they have. You don’t have to go out and buy anything! You can really just use what you have. So if we’re counting to 10 this week on the show, then they can count to 10 at home. They can count objects. You can write one through 10 on a piece of paper in their notebook or drawing pad. It’s really just taking what they gravitate towards, what are they engaged in on the show and trying to bring that into daily life.
You previously stated that we should listen to children more. How can we get better at that?
I think, for adults, and this is myself included, it’s just really slowing down and being observant. Because even if a child is not verbally expressing, maybe what they’re feeling or what’s happening or what they want, you can kind of pick up on signs just by watching: watching them play, watching their reactions towards you.
If it’s time for story time, or you’re trying to transition into something, and they don’t seem to be responding to you, take a moment. Really slow down, and just figure out if it’s that they just don’t want to do it, or if it’s that they were in the middle of putting that last puzzle piece in. That is also a form of listening, observing and watching and understanding. If you can, put yourself in their shoes and see what is really happening. What is going on? So, for us as adults, grown-ups in their lives, it’s really just slowing down and just being more observant, and that is also a part of listening.
What’s next for you? Where do you want to take your channel?
I want to keep growing, and I want to build a community, because that is my foundation. I want to do animation. I see movies in the future, children’s movies, and family movies. I see that in my future.
When it comes to expanding my education empire of early childhood learning, I want to be able to provide even more resources, so when families feel their children have mastered the Circle Time skills, they have something else they can go to. If they’re looking for some digital activities, they can find it there. If they’re looking for information on child development, they can find it there. I plan to expand that in the form of digital resources for caregivers and families. That is just a part of this education expansion.
And I will continue introducing new material informed by learning lessons and skills, so we’ll keep building upon that. I want to do more with the community engaged. This season coming up was really all about what the community kept asking for. It’s new audiences, and then, creating new shows for myself. It’s creating new educational shows that go beyond Circle Time with Ms. Monica, so I’m excited to see where that takes me.