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Berkeley, CA
Aquatic Park School

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

Review this preschool

neighborhood: Berkeley West ·  Telephone: (510) 843-2273  · Website: www.aquaticparkschool.com

• 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 (4.8)
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	-		-	-	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	We have an exciting music and movement room that allows children to explore instruments in an open environment.				n/a

source:

Director's Comments

Our approach is emergent. We allow children to discover what is interesting to them.

Parents' Comments

Parent #1
Child may pick a particular station to go to during station time. If the station quota is already filled, child can pick another place, or request that a teacher let him/her know when a vacancy is available.

Parent #2
They follow a Reggio Emilia approach, child-centered, lots of unstructured activity that are teacher-facilitated, child-led. The teachers facilitate interaction between children, conflict resolution, and work with kids who are having a hard day or are particularly advanced.

Parent #3
A play based curriculum that gets more 'rigorous' as children move up in levels. The school does a great job of encouraging children and helping them with kindergarten readiness.

Parent #4
A lot of these activities come in many forms where they are teacher led and also created in free play environments.

Parent #5
Again, I'm not sure your categories capture APS. Free play with structure is mainly the way instruction works at APS, but I feel that phrase suggests that there is not a lot of guidance within that method. There is much teacher-led instruction within the free-play and stations that students go to -- and there is also circle time at least once a day that incorporates specific instruction in numeracy and literacy. But there is still a lot of room for free play and exploration, which is great.

Parent #6
The curriculum is reggio-emilia meets free play with some structure.