San Francisco, CA
Circle of Friends

Discipline

OVERALL RATING (4.3)

Parents at this school, on average, believe that conflicts between children:
...are handled extraordinarily well in a way that not only gives me confidence in the safety of my child but also reassures me that my child (and his/her peers) are learning the early skills needed to socialize effectively with one another

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Director's Description to School's Approach to Discipline

We discuss the issue in an open, nurturing environment where children can trust their teachers and are free to express their feelings and needs. We communicate with both parents and child if there is a recurring issue.

Director's Response to a Sample Discipline Scenario

Description of how teachers handle the following scenario: Child A and Child B are good friends and usually play together. One day, Child A decides to play with Child C and tells Child B, 'I don't want to play with you today. I'm playing with Child C instead.'


If this is a problem for Child C, we would then have all the children: A,B and C come together. Our approach would be to find out what the problem is by having them tell us (if possible). We would then address child A and B and ask: 'How would you feel if you couldn't play with your friend today?' 'How do you think that makes child C feel about not playing with you today?' 'What can you do so your friend, child C will feel better?' Address child C and ask: 'Does that sound good to you?' The issue may be resolved or it may require more discussion.

Parents' Notes on Discipline, Health and Safety

Parent #1
Outdoor Play: Extremely limited outside play area / equipment. Discipline: Circle of Friends provides reasonable and fair discipline with gentle guidance that helps the children understand boundaries and build respect for themselves and others. Time-outs are used effectively to teach right and wrong (1.what did you do wrong? 2.ok, now go and sit in the blue chair 3.again, why were you in the blue chair?).

Parent #2
The school is very small and the outside play area is a contained area. I would like it to be larger, however since it is contained, the children can play either inside or outside and still be watched by the teachers.

Parent #3
This is a small school. The children are there for 3-3 1/2 hours 2-3 days a week. There is a small outdoor area but really outdoor time is not why you are at this school, there is plenty of time for the park later. There is Acrosports (gymnastics) once a week for the 3 and 4 yr olds. I think discipline at the school is strict but very good and encourages the children to work things out themselves with out the atmosphere being frenetic. These kids sit down to eat their snacks at the table, sing a song, and then eat with spoons and forks, say please and thank you with no fuss etc.

Parent #4
Since the staff consists of only 2 teachers and occasionally parents for a special project, I'm not sure of the procedures for screening them. One owns the school and the other is well-known in the Bay Area for working at a couple of different schools.

Parent #5
Discipline is handled with the time-out method at Circle of Friends. I feel any situations with my sons were handled with sensitivity and fairness and both little guys were socialized very easily. The children are treated with respect as budding individual people. They are expected to make mistakes and learn from them. It has been my experience with both of our sons that the school's methodology has worked well to help them understand appropriate behavior and limits.

Parent #6
Outdoor play area is limited. This is not a concern to me as my child often goes to the playground after school. There is a fabulous one - Moscone - two blocks away.

Parent #7
outside play area is the size of a small walk-in closet. The one and only hallway is dark and VERY narrow. In my mind this is a definite hazard if there was a fire or any other reason to quickly evacuate a lot of frightened children

Parent #8
The classrooms and facilities are small, but the child teacher ratio is actually higher than 6:1: it's 4:1! (as there is a teachers' assistant) so I don't care at all about the size of the facility. Besides, little people don't take up much space :)

Health

OVERALL RATING (4.6)
Temperature and overall air circulation is comfortable
Healthy and nutritious snacks are provided
Toys and furniture are cleaned regularly

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Safety

OVERALL RATING (4.4)
Screen and identify all visitors
Parents may not bring sick children to school where they may infect others

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Montessori? Waldorf? Play-based?

What school type is right for your child? Is one model better than another? What does the research say?

View an example from the Savvy Source guide to learn more.

Trace around your child's foot, with shoe on, on a piece of white construction paper or card stock. Have child cut out the shoe print and add a spooky face. Glue it to a popsicle stick and you have a ghost stick puppet!

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