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Campbell, CA
Creative Habitat Children's Center

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

Review this preschool

Telephone: (408) 374-4442  · Website: www.creativehabitat.biz

• 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 (4.1)
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	"We offer several optional programs and services including: Little Movers(TM) A mobile sports physical education program that offers children a structured form of exercise and helps them develop better control of their large muscle groups, helps develop spatial awareness, and helps them develop respect for their bodies. At this time, this program is available for children who are a minimum of 2 years old, and it is currently offered on Monday mornings for an additional charge which is paid directly to Little Movers. Hair Cuts as a time saver to busy parents, a licensed cosmetologist comes to the school about every 6 weeks to cut hair. This service is offered on Tuesdays and the fee is paid directly to the cosmetologist Summer Program Academics are still taught during the summer but the focus is on play. Activities vary year to year but there are always field trips to Happy Hollow, the Discovery Museum, and other places of interest. We also schedule visitors like the fire department who introduce the children to a fire fighter wearing his gear and let them climb through the truck. We believe that signing with babies and toddlers is a very important aspect of their development. The image of teaching hearing babies sign language may seem strange, but babies have control of their hands long before they develop the fine motor skills required for speech. They also understand a considerable amount of what is being spoken before they themselves can speak. The primary benefit to signing, is that it allows for early communication and reduces much of the frustration for child, parent, and teacher in trying to figure out what the child needs or wants. We teach over 20 signs to our infants and toddlers. We use American Sign Language (ASL) because it is the standard in nonverbal communication. ASL, however, has its own structure as a language that is different from verbal English, so we are not teaching full ASL, but individual signs and phrases. Babies may learn to signs for 'milk' instead of 'water', or ' help', or 'more' many months before they can speak. One child, during a period of multiple ear infections signed that she had 'pain' in her 'left ear'. A trip to the pediatrician confirmed that she had an infection in the indicated ear. It is important to note that signing doesn't delay verbal language development. Signs are always accompanied by verbal input when they are taught. The amount of signing a child will do, and when they start depends on the individual. Some children are ready to sign before others, some use it a lot, others use it sparingly. Being taught in a group setting has the advantage of peer reinforcement. At mealtimes for example, a teacher might ask a child if they want 'more' and the whole table will sign back 'more'. Some studies have shown accelerated development in children who sign and other studies have indicated a significant increase in IQ. Not all experts agree about these benefits, but the primary benefit of early communication is quite clear. The first time your child spontaneously signs to you is a special moment." Extracted from www.creativehabitat.biz/school.html

source:

Director's Comments

"An August, 2005 Wall Street Journal article told of a preschool in Virginia that advised a mother her 3 year old was behind because he didn't know now to write his name. The school suggested remedial drilling with flash cards which she tried until she and her child were so frustrated that she stopped. Some years later, her child is doing quite well in elementary school. We at Creative Habitat Children's Center reject the cookie cutter philosophy of preschool education exemplified by this story. Children develop at different rates. Furthermore, preschool is about more than academics. Equally important are social and emotional development. That being said, however, every child needs to attain a certain level of academic development prior to kindergarten, and our purpose is to insure your child is fully prepared socially, emotionally,and academically to succeed and enjoy kindergarten when they leave us. If you haven't been exposed to kindergarten recently, you may be surprised. Children learn to read and write in kindergarten. They keep written journals and are expected to have rudimentary punctuation knowledge, such as the significance of periods, exclamation points and quotation marks. There is a heavy emphasis on phonetics to decipher words. In math, they learn addition and subtraction, and they are exposed to art, computers, history, science, and a variety of other subjects. Our academic program begins at the infant stage and progresses to our pre-k class. On a typical day at Creative Habitat, the children have outside play after breakfast, to burn off some energy prior to their classroom work. Midmorning is devoted to teacher directed academics. The afternoon typically has both teacher directed activities and child directed play. Every week has a theme to maintain continuity across all classes in the school. Themes are influenced by national theme weeks, holidays, events, and seasonal changes. We encompass a variety of activities both serious and simply fun. We also meet with local kindergarten teachers to understand what incoming students are required to know and what changes are expected in the future. The director and teachers are always available to discuss your child and his or her academic progress." Extracted from www.creativehabitat.biz/school.html

Parents' Comments

Parent #1
There is no curricular approach

Parent #2
The school focuses on free play to allow for the children to develop creativity and use their imagination. They also have teacher-led instruction where they learn all kinds of stuff from the alphabet to art to science to writing.

Parent #3
Not all the teachers seem to be planning a curriculum. On the website it said they teach sign language in all the classes & that teachers sign with the babies & kids- definately not true in our child's room& when checking with a couple other parents it doesn't seem like its happening in their's either.