Alternatives to Schooling

Thinking Ahead

mariawest — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:03:09 +0000

Winter 2012

We are currently interviewing families for fall 2012. We have several children going off to kindergarten or other homeschooling programs in September. Prospective families are invited to come to visit the program and interview with Maria Thursday mornings from 9 to 1o am. We hope to settle schedules and contracts by early March. While we are open to enrolling home schoolers, we will be primarily a program for children from one to five years old in the morning, with school age children added to the mix in the afternoons.

We are also beginning to schedule current children and returning alumni or friends for summer 2012. During the summer we have slightly smaller groups, a wider range of ages, and a summer camp feel, with projects, play, lots of time outdoors, and wonderful water play at the park. It isn’t the best time to start new young children, but occasionally, if the fit is right, we do. Please inquire if you are interested.

Winter 2010

From January 19, 2010

We are currently interviewing families for fall 2010. We expect to take one or two new children in the after school program (ages 5 to 13) and two or three new children in the morning only or full day program (ages 1 to 5 Monday through Thursday and ages 1 through 10 on Friday during the school year). Most likely the morning/full day openings would be two or three days per week, although it is possible for a homeschooler to join us for just one day. If you leave a comment below, Maria will contact you via e-mail to arrange a visit.

Gathering a Group for Fall 2009

mariawest — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:39:06 +0000

We have visited and talked with several families of school age children who have expressed interest in our program for fall of 2009. At this point, we need to figure out if there is enough interest to put together a group of three or four 5 to 10 year olds to join our large family day care group of ten children. We currently have one 7 year old homeschooler with us one day a week and would love to expand our work with this age group, as it has added so much to our program and has worked so well for the homeschooler. We hope that by early to mid-April we will know if we have enough interest to do this next year. If not, there are several families of younger children, older toddlers and preschoolers, who have expressed interest in the family day care program with the hopes that their children might continue on with us after age five. This would be another way to explore the expansion of our work with older children. We hope to visit with those families in late March and early April and then to establish our fall enrollment by the end of April. Then on to the end of the year with our many soon to be kindergarten lovelies, summer with our mixed age group of one to fourteen year olds, and then fall of who knows what!

So, if you are reading this and interested in our program for your 5 to 10 year old, please contact us ASAP so we can explore the possibility!

Program Information

mariawest — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:14:43 +0000

In addition to providing full and part time care for toddlers and preschoolers (8:30 to 1:30 or 8:30 to 5:00, Monday through Friday), our family day care program has worked with three homeschoolers, and many school age kids after school and in our summer program. In this way, we currently serve kids from one to thirteen. Our program is play and project based with a focus on relationships. We currently have three caregiver/teachers, all with many years of experience, two who were formerly certified early childhood and elementary teachers. Our group has ten children and two caregivers/teachers at a time.

If you are looking for a small group setting for your child, where your child will be known and able to follow his/her interests, develop at his/her own pace, and be with children of all ages in a relaxed, nurturing, creative environment, we would love to meet you. We offer a healthy vegetarian breakfast, lunch, and snack, a balance of child and teacher directed experiences, lots of outdoor time, and a warm and cozy environment. We have lots of books, building materials, art, science, and cooking supplies, games, puzzles, and writing materials for children of all ages. We are convenient to public transportation, a short walk to several great parks, and near enough to swimming pools, libraries, and museums that we sometimes take our older kids on periodic adventures.