Nursery school tour.
Oct. 5th, 2006 11:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivkaWe had our nursery school tour today. And more than that: upon hearing that there were only two spaces left for the class that starts in May, we signed Alex up and put down a deposit.
*gulp*
All three of us really liked it, though.
It's a small school tucked into the second-floor Sunday School rooms at a Presbyterian church. (No religious affiliation, the director was quick to tell me.) Three classrooms, each with twelve kids. About half the kids stay for the morning nursery school only, and half stay on for daycare in the afternoon. There are three teachers in the morning - a 1:4 ratio, which is way higher than state requirements. I think they manage that by supplementing the full-time staff with interns from the art college down the street. Several of the full-time teachers are art school graduates.
The classrooms are kind of small. They're well-supplied with toys, art supplies, and child-sized furniture. Little nooks are blocked off with bookshelves, so that there are some smaller playspaces and some wider-open areas. Each class has a big stack of cots for afternoon nap. The two-year-olds have a reasonably large courtyard to play in, and some outdoor toys. They also go for walks. Three- and four-year-olds walk one block down the alley to the Bolton Hill Swim and Tennis Club for outdoor play (there's a nice playground and lots of grass for running) and, in the summer, swimming. When it's too hot or too rainy to go outside, they put outdoor/large motor toys in the church parish hall and let the kids run around there.
There's what looks like a fairly loose schedule. The two-year-olds had a calendar on the wall with their weekly themes: this week is the five senses, next week they'll be talking about pets, the week after they'll learn about fall. It looks like there's a lot of art. Three- and four-year-olds go on a lot more field trips in the neighborhood than the two-year-olds do - one thing she mentioned is "Tiny Tots" concerts at the symphony hall, which is just a few blocks away.
The staff works with kids to solve their own social clashes, unless someone is in imminent danger of being hurt. They seem to use modeling, distraction, and environmental changes to solve most discipline issues. I saw a lot of cuddling and hugs in the two-year-old room. For potty training, "tell us exactly what you want us to do, and we'll do it." There's no requirement that kids be trained at a certain age - certainly most of the two-year-olds seemed to be in diapers. Naptime is a full two hours, which is nice, and kids who don't want to nap can look at books or do other quiet activities on their cots. The director said that the kids really seem to need a long rest, and don't fuss about it.
They provide morning and afternoon snacks, and we can buy a hot lunch for $2.75 a day. The menu looks varied, kid-friendly, and reasonably healthy: spaghetti, empanadas, tacos, stir fry, pizza, rice and beans, "breakfast for lunch," broiled fish, lots of veggies. They're not peanut-free, so we'd have to pack a lunch on the occasional PB&J days. Otherwise, $2.75 a day sounds totally worth it to not have to deal with packing a lunchbox.
The kids seemed busy, happy, and friendly, and they were eager to show us things. The director clearly knows all of the kids, which is nice. Kids made social overtures towards Alex right away. She clung to Michael for the first few minutes, but by the time the two-year-olds started singing she picked up the hand motions and went right along with them. Each time we left a classroom, she'd reach back and ask us to "open door," so obviously she saw plenty of things she liked. Out-of-home care will be an adjustment for her, I know, but I think she'll really like it there.
But it's a good thing we have seven months to get used to the idea.
*gulp*
All three of us really liked it, though.
It's a small school tucked into the second-floor Sunday School rooms at a Presbyterian church. (No religious affiliation, the director was quick to tell me.) Three classrooms, each with twelve kids. About half the kids stay for the morning nursery school only, and half stay on for daycare in the afternoon. There are three teachers in the morning - a 1:4 ratio, which is way higher than state requirements. I think they manage that by supplementing the full-time staff with interns from the art college down the street. Several of the full-time teachers are art school graduates.
The classrooms are kind of small. They're well-supplied with toys, art supplies, and child-sized furniture. Little nooks are blocked off with bookshelves, so that there are some smaller playspaces and some wider-open areas. Each class has a big stack of cots for afternoon nap. The two-year-olds have a reasonably large courtyard to play in, and some outdoor toys. They also go for walks. Three- and four-year-olds walk one block down the alley to the Bolton Hill Swim and Tennis Club for outdoor play (there's a nice playground and lots of grass for running) and, in the summer, swimming. When it's too hot or too rainy to go outside, they put outdoor/large motor toys in the church parish hall and let the kids run around there.
There's what looks like a fairly loose schedule. The two-year-olds had a calendar on the wall with their weekly themes: this week is the five senses, next week they'll be talking about pets, the week after they'll learn about fall. It looks like there's a lot of art. Three- and four-year-olds go on a lot more field trips in the neighborhood than the two-year-olds do - one thing she mentioned is "Tiny Tots" concerts at the symphony hall, which is just a few blocks away.
The staff works with kids to solve their own social clashes, unless someone is in imminent danger of being hurt. They seem to use modeling, distraction, and environmental changes to solve most discipline issues. I saw a lot of cuddling and hugs in the two-year-old room. For potty training, "tell us exactly what you want us to do, and we'll do it." There's no requirement that kids be trained at a certain age - certainly most of the two-year-olds seemed to be in diapers. Naptime is a full two hours, which is nice, and kids who don't want to nap can look at books or do other quiet activities on their cots. The director said that the kids really seem to need a long rest, and don't fuss about it.
They provide morning and afternoon snacks, and we can buy a hot lunch for $2.75 a day. The menu looks varied, kid-friendly, and reasonably healthy: spaghetti, empanadas, tacos, stir fry, pizza, rice and beans, "breakfast for lunch," broiled fish, lots of veggies. They're not peanut-free, so we'd have to pack a lunch on the occasional PB&J days. Otherwise, $2.75 a day sounds totally worth it to not have to deal with packing a lunchbox.
The kids seemed busy, happy, and friendly, and they were eager to show us things. The director clearly knows all of the kids, which is nice. Kids made social overtures towards Alex right away. She clung to Michael for the first few minutes, but by the time the two-year-olds started singing she picked up the hand motions and went right along with them. Each time we left a classroom, she'd reach back and ask us to "open door," so obviously she saw plenty of things she liked. Out-of-home care will be an adjustment for her, I know, but I think she'll really like it there.
But it's a good thing we have seven months to get used to the idea.
