4 to 5 years, 1 teacher to 8 children
Pre-K: ready without the worksheets.
Kindergarten teachers do not ask us if kids can trace letters. They ask if kids can wait a turn, open their own lunch and say when something is wrong. So that is what this year is for.
Kindergarten readiness, in plain words
The sticker chart we actually use.
This is the list we review with you at the spring conference. No scores. Just where your kid is and what we are working on next.
Pre-K tuition runs $535 to $2,150 a month, two to five days.
- Hands up, mouth closedWaits for a turn in a group of eight without melting down.
- Lunch on their ownOpens the box, the yogurt and the tricky water bottle.
- Says the problemUses words to tell a friend or a teacher what went wrong.
- Knows their name in printSpots it on a cubby, a list or a birthday card.
- Counts real thingsSets out six plates for six friends and checks the count.
- Sticks with itStays on a hard puzzle or build for ten minutes or so.
Projects
One big idea, a few weeks at a time.
Pre-K picks a topic together and digs in until they run out of questions. Last year's list, in the kids' own words:
The bean race
Six bean plants, three kinds of dirt, one daily measuring stick. Winner was the windowsill bean by a lot.
Our town
A cardboard Los Gatos Blvd with a bakery, a fire station and a very tall library. Walk to the real ones included.
The class book
Every child dictated one page. We printed it and it lives on the shelf. It is mostly about dogs.
1 to 8Sixteen kids, two teachers, one assistant at lunch and nap.
Early letters and numbers
Reading starts with signs on the block tower.
Kids write the menu for the play cafe. They make "do not knock down" signs for their buildings. They count the snails in the garden and argue about it. That is literacy and maths at four, and it sticks because they wanted to do it.
Children who are ready to read get books at their level. Nobody is pushed.
Come see a real morning.
Tours run Tuesday and Thursday at 9:30am. Twenty minutes, kids welcome, no sales pitch.