Class Descriptions
Classes which feature Parent Observation & Parent Education
0-6 Months (Infant Class)
The parent-infant class provides a place for connecting with your baby in a supportive environment, sharing experiences with other parents and their infants, and learning about early parenting topics from our warm infant class teacher. Parent education is embedded in the parent-child class.
Parent education topics may include:
- Infant sleep patterns
- Communication and language development
- Play as the foundation for learning
- Developing your parenting values
- Starting solid foods
- Responding to criticism from others
- Sharing joys and challenges of parenting
Sample Parent-Infant Class Routine
- 10:00: Arrival & Get settled
- 10:10: Songs
- 10:20: Check-in: Joys & Challenges
- 10:45: Discussion Topic
- 11:30: Conversations
- 12:00: Goodbye
6-12 Months (Baby Class)
In this older baby-parent observation class, children begin to explore the enriching and safe classroom environment with other children their age. Ramps, tunnels, small stairs, ride-on and push toys provide plenty of gross motor development opportunities while fill & dump, shape sorting, nesting and stacking toys promote fine motor skill development. Young children are also drawn to the pretend play area, train table, and animal and vehicle collections. Parents and children build relationships with others in class while the teacher checks in for mini conferences with a few parents each week during the morning class. Parent education is embedded in the morning class and also meets once a month in the evenings.
Parent education topics may include:
- Developmental stages
- Sleep & feeding patterns
- Importance of play for learning
- Limit setting with young children
- Communication & Language development
Sample Parent-Older Baby Class Routine
- 10:00: Arrival & check-in, Explore indoor and outdoor environments
- 11:00: Snack time & stories
- 11:30: Songs & bubbles
- 12:00: Goodbye
12-24 Month Toddler Class
PreSchool Family’s parent-toddler observation class provides an engaging curriculum for parents and their children one morning per week. Parents learn to be effective classroom helpers while joining their children in exploring the many exciting play opportunities with playdough, process art experiences, outdoor fun including water & sand play, ride-on vehicles and tricycles, push and pull toys, balls, rocking toys and age-appropriate play structures. Observation prompts are provided weekly to help parents practice strategies and learn about their children’s development. Parent education meets twice a month in the evening.
Parent education topics may include:
- Domains of development
- The role of temperaments in parenting
- Developing your parenting vision
- Positive discipline strategies
- Naming & taming feelings
- Family relationships
- Play as the foundation for learning
Sample Parent Observation Class Routine
- 9:30: Arrival & check-in; Explore indoor & outdoor environments; Parents spend 10 minutes responding to observation prompt
- 10:30: Wash hands, snack & stories
- 10:45: Continue playing
- 11:10: Cleanup inside & outside
- 11:15: Circle time songs & movement
- 11:30: Goodbye
Mixed Age Dinner Class
This co-taught mixed age parent observation dinner class provides parents the opportunity to participate in learning alongside their preschool aged children when they’re not available for a morning program. The parent-child observation class meets in the late afternoon for 2 hours. One week, parents and children engage together in a play lab and the next week one teacher offers parent education while the children join with the other teacher to play. Everyone comes together for dinner near the end of the evening, taking turns providing the meal. The indoor and outdoor environment is engaging with sensory play, make believe, building toys, process art opportunities and developing relationships with peers.
Parent education topics may include:
- Domains of development
- Play as the foundation for learning
- Developing your family’s values
- Building resilience
- Positive Discipline
- Emotional development
- Social problem solving
Sample Routine on Play Lab Day
- 4:00: Arrival and outside play
- 4:30: Inside and outside play
- 5:20: Cleanup
- 5:25: Songs, stories & wash hands
- 5:40: Family Dinner
- 6:15: Goodbye
Sample Routine on Parent Ed Day
- 4:00: Arrival and outside play
- 4:15: Children play, parents attend parent ed
- 5:20: Clean up
- 5:25: Songs, stories & wash hands
- 5:40: Family Dinner
- 6:15: Goodbye
Classes which feature Preschool Parent Participation & Parent Education
2's Class
Our 2 mornings a week 2's class allows parents and children to explore school in a supportive and gradual setting. PSF teachers model parent-child interactions through play, movement, songs, and stories. Children explore open-ended activities both inside and outside through play and process oriented experiences. These developmentally appropriate activities are designed to support growth in areas such as social-emotional learning, self-help, language, fine and gross motor skills, but most importantly, curiosity and a love of learning. Young learners are exposed to subtle structure, while also having choice in their exploration. Once a child can separate from parents, parents drop their child off 1 day a week and stay 1 day a week as a work parent in our parent participation model. Bimonthly evening parent education classes provide a platform for adults to learn about and discuss child development and parenting skills while offering a time for adult relationships and community building.
Parent education topics may include:
- Domains of development (social, physical, fine/gross motor, cognitive, verbal, emotional)
- Developing your family’s values
- Play as the foundation for learning
- Positive discipline strategies & limit setting
- Conflict resolution / Social problem solving
- Emotional development (feelings)
- Toilet Learning
- Parents’ urgent concerns (burning issues)
Sample Daily Schedule and Routine
- 9:30: Welcome & Exploration (both inside and outside time are free-flowing). Inside materials include sensory play, dramatic play, invitations/fine motor activities, and process art projects. Outside materials include tricycles, wagons, balls, hula hoops, sand and water play, playground play and large blocks.
- 10:30: Snack & Stories: Children enjoy stories while eating snack in a community circle
- 10:50: Inside and Outside Exploration
- 11:25: Clean-up
- 11:30: Movement, Songs, and Fingerplays
- 12:00: Goodbye
- Class ends at 11:30 at the beginning of the year and lengthens as children adapt.
3’s Class
In this 3 mornings per week parent participation class, parents practice skills and assist the teachers 1 morning per week. The children are offered a variety of developmentally appropriate experiences in a play-based environment.
- 3's class: Parents participate in 20 bimonthly parent education classes on Wednesday evenings.
- 3's Stay and Play class: Parents attend 20 parent education classes on Monday afternoons while their children rest, eat lunch, and play, supervised by a PSF teacher with the assistance of 2 classroom parents.
Indoor activities include pretend/dramatic play, a daily process based art activities, cooking projects, invitations/fine motor activities, science explorations, sensory play, loose parts play, and cooperative rug activities like building block structures or putting together floor puzzles.
Outside, children have access to climbing structures, tricycles, wagons, sand, grass, easel painting, and water play. Materials such as blocks, hula hoops, and a basketball net supplement the rotational outdoor equipment that is available daily. The class structure toggles between structured activities and free choice play. The engaging circle times help build children’s ability to attend through large group activities, singing, social-emotional lessons, show & tell, and listening to stories.
Parent education topics may include:
- Domains of development
- Play and learning
- Positive discipline
- Social problem solving
- Children’s friendships
- Sibling/family relationships
- Early literacy
- Parent presentations
Sample Daily Schedule and Routine
- 9:00: Welcome & Exploration: Materials include sensory play, dramatic play, invitations/fine motor activities, and process art projects.
- 9:50: Exploration Inside and Outside: Exploration materials include tricycles, wagons, balls, hoola hoops, sand and water play, playground play and large blocks and continued indoor exploration materials.
- 10:25: Clean-Up
- 10:30: Music, Movement, Songs & Fingerplays
- 10:45: Snack time
- 10:55: Outside Exploration
- 11:35: Clean-up
- 11:45: Story and Circle Time
- 12:00: Goodbye
4’s Class
In this 4-day per week parent participation class, parents practice skills and assist the teachers 1 morning per week.
- 4's Co-taught Class: Parents participate in 20 parent education classes held on Tuesday evenings. This class is a mix of PSF 4’s and their parents, and “district 4’s” (children with special education needs placed by PAUSD) and their parents. The teaching team includes a PSF teacher and an education specialist, assisted by instructional aides as well as classroom parents.
- 4's Stay and Play Class: Parents attend 20 parent education classes on Tuesday afternoons while their children rest, eat lunch, and play, supervised by a PSF teacher with the assistance of 2 classroom parents.
- Opt-in 5th Day: children enrolled in our 4s program can opt-in to a 5th day. **additional fees apply.
In the morning preschool class, parents practice skills and assist the teachers one morning per week. The children are offered a variety of developmentally appropriate experiences in a play-based environment. As children engage in the different classroom and outside activities, they acquire the skills they need to be successful in Kindergarten or Young Fives. On a typical morning, inside activities include pretend/dramatic play, easel painting, art & craft activities, science explorations, sensory play, loose parts play, and cooperative rug activities like building marble runs or block structures, putting together floor puzzles, or playing cooperative board games. A gradually increasing number of “must-do” activities provides opportunities for children to get used to a more structured school day as well as practice writing, cutting, working together and following instructions in preparation for kindergarten or Young Fives. Outside, children have access to climbing structures, slides, a tire swing, tricycles, wagons, plasma cars and scooters, a ball area, sand, and water play. Materials such as blocks, hula hoops, musical instruments, and an obstacle course supplement the outdoor equipment that is available daily. The class structure blends structured activities and free choice play. The engaging circle times help build children’s self-regulation skills and ability to attend and actively participate in a large group through class meetings, large group activities, show & tell, social-emotional lessons, and listening to stories.
Parent education topics may include:
- Domains of development
- Dealing with differences
- Play and learning
- Positive discipline
- Social problem solving
- Children’s friendships
- Sibling/family relationships
- Kindergarten readiness
- Parent presentations
Sample Daily Schedule and Routine
- 9:00: Arrival
- 9:10: Class Meeting on the Rug
- 9:25: Inside work time
- 10:00: Inside Cleanup followed by Outside Play Time
- 10:35: Circle Time on the Rug
- 10:50: Hand Washing and Snack Time
- 11:10: Inside/Outside Play
- 12:05: Outside Cleanup followed by Story Time on the Rug
- 12:15 Goodbye