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Programs and Age Groups

 
“Helping Children Make Sense of the World Through Play”
 
 
What We Teach in a Loving and Nurturing Environment
 
 
Because play holds such rich potential for promoting children’s cognitive, linguistic, social, and physical development, we view play as a key element in our curriculum. Children’s spontaneous play is a window into their ideas and feelings about the world. As such, we use these ideas to create an emergent, child directed curriculum. 
 
Our curriculum focuses on the whole child. Physical (fine/gross motor), Cognitive (vocabulary/number/basic concepts), Emotional (how to recognize and express feelings), Social (how to be with peers), Creative (express self through art/dramatic play/role playing), and a Positive Self-Concept (fostering a sense of self-worth).
 
One of our main focuses is Socialization. Teaching children how to be with others their own age, how to navigate in a social setting, how to negotiate, compromise, lead, and join a group of peers.
 
In our Toddler Program they are learning how to sit for lunch, how to feed themselves, how to sit for story time, how to clean up, how to explore the “world around them” including, sensory, music, language, art experiences, and science (caterpillars, ladybugs, and Roly polys in our garden).
 
Our Toddler Program includes children ages 18 months up to 36 months.

We have 2 classrooms each with 1 teacher for 6 children and an aide who helps out when needed.

In the Preschool Program we have our major potty-training class of 2 1/2-3+years, our 3’s-4’s potty-trained class, and our Pre-Kindergarten class of 4-6 years.
 
We spend a lot of time on our primary goal of socialization. How to identify, label, and express feelings appropriately, what it means to be respectful of others, and the importance of being kind to our friends, are just some of the skills we help to develop.
 
Though we are play-based we are also cognizant of kindergarten readiness. We follow developmentally appropriate practices as well as the California Department of Education’s Preschool Learning Foundations (which is primarily socialization) and try to make each day a joyful one. 
 
Our Preschool Program includes ages 2 1/2 to 6 years old. We have 3 classrooms with an approximate ratio of 1 teacher per 12 children with two aides who help out where needed.
 
Our new site, expected to open late 2023 will be double in size.