Where Playing is Learning
Our Philosophy
At Child's Play, we know that children need to explore REAL items. If you want it in their head, it must first be in their hands. Our activities engage as many senses as possible. It is our job to create a place where children are engaged in experiences that are meaningful, and where they can connect concepts to experiences. A place where language can be developed BECAUSE they are attaching words and meaning to their experiences. Our daily plans and props enhance the experience and speak to our intentionality.
Child's Play is dedicated to creating an environment where children can simply “be.” Our space is a place where children can engage in experiences that are meaningful with long periods of uninterrupted free playtime. We encourage teachers to facilitate, instead of “teach.” Child’s Play is not 'a boot camp' for kindergarten. We do not believe in presenting preschoolers with a bite-sized elementary school curriculum. We believe that the curiosity and wonder of childhood is free flowing. We are a child-centered school that promotes an environment that encourages a love of lifelong learning.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Children must be provided with relevant, meaningful, engaging experiences that are (literally) real.
Our Assessment Process
Our balanced assessment process makes Child’s Play by the Bay an early childhood leader in our community. We believe that children should not be assessed using a single tool. At Child’s Play, we utilize an assessment that is comprised of parental input, individual student work portfolios, and various universally accepted child development screening tools. Child’s Play’s assessment process is not a pre-purchased guide that we follow nor is it a simple check off sheet of skills. It was created to be the perfect combination of information combined together to build a complete picture of each individual child.
Our innovative process is designed to accurately assess and determine if each child is developing to the best of their ability. We use various screeners that look at different aspects of a child’s development. The tools that we use allow us to identify children who may need an outside referral, more support in the classroom, or special education services. Our screening tools look at a child’s speech and language development, examine school readiness and social skills, look at a child's overall development, and surveys parents about their child's development. All of our screening tools are universally accepted and have been tested for reliability and validity.
Our student work portfolios allow us to document and record children’s development thoughtfully throughout the year. This documentation process gives us the ability to gain valuable insights into each child’s interests, strengths, and achievements. The portfolios track social skill development, contain work samples, teacher assessments, drawings, photos, and other documentation. This allows parents and teachers to have a reflective, meaningful conversation during conferences. Portfolios also allow teachers and parents to track a child’s progress by comparing work from the beginning of the year to that more recently completed.
We offer parent-teacher conferences on a rolling basis throughout the school year. All children are offered a conference at some point during the year. Parents are always welcome to request a conference at any time.