[3] In preparation for entry to Wellesley College, she studied at Chauncy-Hall School, in Boston, where she became an excellent classical and German scholar, and a writer of both prose and verse.

Instead, she took a thorough course of instruction at the Kindergarten Training School conducted by Ella Frances Snelling Hatch, receiving her diploma in 1879 from Elizabeth Peabody.

[5] Wheelock began to teach in the recently established kindergarten of the Chauncy-Hall School, remaining in that role for about 10 years.

Her work made her a successful exponent and advocate of the system of Friedrich Fröbel, which she was often called upon to expound before educational institutes and conventions.

[2] Her interest in young children led her into Sunday school work, and she soon became superintendent of a large primary class connected with the Berkeley Temple, in Boston.

Her success in that work won her a reputation, and she became a favorite speaker in Sunday school institutes and gatherings, as well as those for general educational purposes in New England, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St Louis, Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Montreal.