Oakland, CA
Monte Tavor Infant, Toddler and Preschool Program

General Approach to Learning

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

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Director's Comments

Activities are balanced for children led and teacher directed. Every morning children lead and conitnue with half hour to an hour (older children) of teacher directed activities. Teachers choose between two three activities daily for example: One activity can be when children are given a journal with crayons, markers or oil pastels to draw about what they did over the weekend or any story they want to tell their friends.

OR The teacher may read a book first and ask children to draw about what happened in the story and tell about their pictures. We document their ideas, words, sentences on their journals. This is part of the language development and as pages are filled with lines and representational drawings we are able to see the progress in language as well as story telling and creation.

Another activity can be science where children are being presented with materials and the teachers will ask questions of what is being observed or created. A third activity can be art where children may be presented with materials and a teacher is there to assist when help is necessary to talk about the drawings being made and what they may represent to a child.

OR another activity can be story telling with music and movement using instruments or dancing.

Activities can be exploration of the outdoors for example looking for bugs and drawing and talking about each bug from where they live to what they do and eat.

Activityies can be just listening to each other when telling a story or expressing how they feel.

OR it can be a messy activity creating mix of ingredients, exploring with mud, playing with flour and water, pouring and measuring activites with corn meal, seeds, and water this last activity can be part of their free choice activity.

Savvy Source's Comments

Activities are balanced for children led and teacher directed. Every morning children lead and conitnue with half hour to an hour (older children) of teacher directed activities. Teachers choose between two three activities daily for example: One activity can be when children are given a journal with crayons, markers or oil pastels to draw about what they did over the weekend or any story they want to tell their friends.

OR The teacher may read a book first and ask children to draw about what happened in the story and tell about their pictures. We document their ideas, words, sentences on their journals. This is part of the language development and as pages are filled with lines and representational drawings we are able to see the progress in language as well as story telling and creation.

Another activity can be science where children are being presented with materials and the teachers will ask questions of what is being observed or created. A third activity can be art where children may be presented with materials and a teacher is there to assist when help is necessary to talk about the drawings being made and what they may represent to a child.

OR another activity can be story telling with music and movement using instruments or dancing.

Activities can be exploration of the outdoors for example looking for bugs and drawing and talking about each bug from where they live to what they do and eat.

Activityies can be just listening to each other when telling a story or expressing how they feel.

OR it can be a messy activity creating mix of ingredients, exploring with mud, playing with flour and water, pouring and measuring activites with corn meal, seeds, and water this last activity can be part of their free choice activity.

Social Skills & Work Habits

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Curriculum and Teaching Approach

OVERALL RATING (3.0)
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

	PLAY-BASED	PLAY-BASED WITH SOME STRUCTURE	MOSTLY TEACHER LED	NOT FORMALLY IN CURRICULUM	CONDUCIVE ENVIRONMENT
Language					Yes
Oral language	-		-	-	n/a
Nursery rhymes, poems, songs	-			-	n/a
Storybook reading				-	n/a
Emerging literacy skills				-	n/a
Cognitive Development					n/a
Math and number sense	-			-	Yes
Time & space	-			-	Yes
Sci. reasoning/physical world	-			-	Yes
Music	-			-	Yes
Visual arts			-	-	Yes
Physical activity			-	-	Yes
Other subjects taught	Children are being immersed into the Spanish language naturally by speaking to them and since the majority start our porgram with some knowledge or when they are infants; they get to grow with the language naturally. The earlier they enter our program the better, usually 18 months to 2 1/2 years is the best time for older children or as infants as young as 2-3 months to gain both languages from the start and to enter our program without fully being aware of language. Also, We are huge in music and movement as it becomes part of expressing themselves freely in Spanish or English when creating and singing songs and where twice a year children participate in a performing dance show where the children dance, play instruments and older children learn choreoghaps of African, Brazilian and Latin American music as well as ballet, jazz, and pop music.				n/a

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