Part-time Programs for Pre-K boys who like to play!
We've just moved to Berkeley from the East Coast (hooray!) and would love some insight on program/school/care options for preschoolers. My boys (age 3 & 5) are home with me during the day. I would LOVE maybe 2/3 mornings a week to drop them somewhere where they can play with other kids. The boys are bright and very energetic, and we would strongly prefer that they spend this time socializing/playing/being outside rather than sitting/working on pre-academic skills. We'd love your insight. Thank you!
Sep 9, 2019
Parent Replies
Check out the East Bay Waldorf in El Sobrante. The kids work on social skills and spend a ton of time outdoors. It was a good fit for my high energy little ones.
Albany Preschool, it is a parent coop. Depending on the numbers of mornings a parent would need to participate weekly or biweekly. Just north of Berkeley. I am sure there are such places in Berkeley as well.
Check Albany Preschool's afternoon program, they may still have open slots. This is a parent cooperative, but the PM program doesn't require participation.
You should definitely look at Step One School. They just opened a new classroom this year and so I believe there are still nursery school spots available for part-time. It's a wonderful play-based program with gorgeous outdoor space, including a hillside nature trail where kids can build, dig, play in a little stream, etc. (I almost cried when we went up to the hillside when I went on tour). My child really thrived there and the teachers are just amazing: they build the kids' social-emotional skills and intellectual/artistic curiosity - and they make it look easy. Classrooms have a Reggio-based curriculum that follows student interests and there's a ton of free play that's scaffolding the kids' curiosity...the teachers get to know each child really well and the environment gives them so much to investigate. My child never sat and did a worksheet at Step One but is doing great in kindergarten academically and socially, loves science, and most importantly, is a kind person. It's really a special, magical place.