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San Francisco, CA
Calvary Nursery School

Parents at this school would recommend this school to other parents.

Review this preschool

neighborhood: Pacific Heights ·  Telephone: (415) 346-4715

• Summary
• General Info
• School Philosophy
  & Day-in-the-Life
• Curriculum &
  Teaching Approach
• Quality of
  Teaching
• Home/School
  Connection
• Discipline,
  Health & Safety
• Ages, Schedule
  & Tuition
• Application &
  Admissions
• Kindergarten
  Placement&Tips

General Approach to Learning

	Play-based
	Play-based with some structure
	Predominantly teacher-led instruction
	Montessori
	Waldorf
	Co-op
	Reggio-Emilia

source:

Social Skills & Work Habits

OVERALL RATING (5.0)
This school has increased my child's:
Ability to listen and follow directions
Ability to sit still for longer periods of time
Ability to be a part of a group of children
Self-sufficiency and independence
Awareness of others’ feelings
Cooperation with other children

source:

Curriculum and Teaching Approach

	PLAY-BASED	PLAY-BASED WITH SOME STRUCTURE	MOSTLY TEACHER LED	NOT FORMALLY IN CURRICULUM	CONDUCIVE ENVIRONMENT
Language					Yes
Oral language	-		-	-
Nursery rhymes, poems, songs	-		-	-
Storybook reading	-		-	-
Emerging literacy skills	-		-	-
Cognitive Development
Math and number sense	-		-	-	Yes
Time & space	-		-	-	Yes
Sci. reasoning/physical world	-		-	-	Yes
Music	-	-		-	Yes
Visual arts	-		-	-	Yes
Physical activity	-		-	-	Yes
Other subjects taught	Spiritual awareness - social responsibility - 'keeping friends safe' - manners and character development.

source:

Director's Comments

We introduce many concepts through teacher-led instruction and then set up the environment to allow children to apply and explore the concepts through play.

Parents' Comments

Parent #1
There is always a project going on in the room and at certain times during the day they can choose to partake (e.g.- in the morning), other times they are encouraged to join (e.g.- mom's creative snack cooking day)

Parent #2
While advertising itself as play based, Calvary does expose children to more structured learning through carefully selected projects and games.

Parent #3
While Calvary is play-based, there is appropriate teacher guidance and a small portion of the day - 15-20 minutes - where the students are in their little groups of ten being 'taught' something. Premath, prereading, manners, show and tell on Wednesdays which encourages oral and presentation skills. There is also music two or three times a week as well as art. Has a fabulous music teacher who is brought in from the outside. So much energy and enthusiasm.

Parent #4
The play-based philosophy of Calvary allows children room to explore. Each day the classroom is set up with thoughtfully arranged activities the children can choose. Each morning holds the promise of new learning opportunities, in a setting of free play.

Parent #5
Calvary has an excellent balance between free-play and structured activities. The children each come out with an underlying understanding of many areas, but are also free to choose the activities that are most interesting to them.

Parent #6
Our son's teacher had very fun and thoughtful projects that taught letters and numbers. My son learned letters and numbers and thought it was really fun. Calvary is a play-based preschool, but our teacher did an excellent job of teaching through play based activities. My son significantly increased his ability to focus on activities after going to preschool. He also learned excellent cooperative play with others. They had weekly show and tell which he looked forward to and really enjoyed.

Parent #7
Our director has always emphasized play-based learning. As a parent who has been at preschools where it was so curriculum based and worksheets came home daily, Calvary was a pleasant change. And, amazingly, the kids learn what they need to learn anyway. Calvary has made sure my kids were ready for kindergarten and most importantly has helped instill a love for learning attitude in my children.

Parent #8
Calvary is a play-based program. There is no formal instruction. All the kids go to music and are read to. They make their own creative snacks, play on the roof, and have lots of free-play time. They also do one 'activity' per day (though they are not forced to participate. Calvary's day, however, is structure, with the kids doing the same activities at the same time everyday. They are taught (very effectively) to be good friends and seem to be very happy at school. There is very little fighting. The kids seem to really love and respect one another.

Parent #9
Calvary is a play-based preschool. The teachers direct as needed and help out more with learning the basics.

Parent #10
Teacher led with plenty of time for free play. Not extremely academic but exposes the children to all of the above.

Parent #11
The school has teachers dedicated to music and art activities.