Alanna Gallo Title: Founder + CEO Play. Learn. Thrive. & Growing up Gallo Education: University of Connecticut (BA Communications), University of Southern California MA Teaching Location: Ridgefield, CT Expertise: Education, Parenting Alanna Gallo is a mother to four young children, a former teacher, and the founder of Play. Learn. Thrive., and Growing up Gallo.Play. Learn. Thrive. is dedicated to helping reduce parental burnout by giving parents the tools they need to raise confident and independent children. The brand focuses on providing education around open-ended play, developmentally appropriate toys, and activities, incorporating Montessori principles into their daily parenting life, and encouraging parents to do less in order to give their children more. Through PLT Alanna offers digital courses, play space and educational consulting, corporate workshops, blog, and social media content creation.Growing Up Gallo was recently launched as a personal lifestyle brand that follows the Gallo family as they begin to travel full-time with four young children. The website and social media focus are on providing tips for traveling + exploring with children, parenting on the go, alternative styles of education that are available to families who choose to live a less mainstream (more nomadic) lifestyle (eg. Worldschooling, Wildschooling, Montessori, IB, Unschooling), and how hands-on learning experiences help children grow.Alanna, her husband Matthew, and their four children are currently slow-traveling abroad and world schooling while documenting their adventures on YouTube and through social media. Experience Alanna’s background in education gives her a unique perspective on raising children independent, self-motivated and happy children. Her goal is to change lives by giving parents and caregivers the information and support they need to provide authentic and intentional learning experiences for children. Family means supporting someone in their own personal journey—even if it doesn't look like your own personal journey. About Parents Parents, a Dotdash Meredith Brand, is an award-winning online resource for trustworthy, empathetic, and supportive information and inspiration for your families. We reach 9 million readers a month. Our content is written by experienced journalists, fact checked, and reviewed by our Expert Review Board for accuracy. Learn more about us and our editorial guidelines.