pre-K Waiting List & Redwood City Daycares with Curriculum

Hi C.,

We have our son in Marin Day School in Redwood City. I love the program there and they do us a cirriculum based program. My son has been there since he was 7 months old and is now three. He loves going there and looks forward to going to his "classroom" as he calls it. It is a great place to have your child. It is on the expensive side, we pay about $1500 a month for full time, but well worth the money! The hours are from 7-6:30 Monday-Friday. There is a wait list but you can call them and ask for Kerri Martinez, the direcrtor.

I used to work with the Redwood City School District's Child Development Centers. My job was to insure high quality services were rendered (as you say, they learn thru play, ABCs, numbers, colors, shapes etc). They do have full day programs. Their fees are reasonable and I believe they are on a sliding scale based on income, but you'll have to ask the enrollment staff about that. The enrollment office is located in the portables behind the Garfield Charter School (if you're facing the school they're on the right hand side of the main building, behind a little parking lot). If you'd like, ask to observe in any of the rooms at that site. Ask to speak with Anna Franceschi, she's the Site Supervisor there and very friendly. I think you'll like what you see. You may not need to put him on the waiting list for that particular program right now, you can wait until he's 2, but for other places, start looking into pre-K right now. Put your son on the waiting list of any place you like 'cos their waiting lists could be a lot longer. Oh, and Google Child Care Coordinating Council also known as the 4C's in San Mateo, they can generate a list of childcare/pre-K programs for you.

you can look up day cares in your area at:
http://www.naeyc.org/academy/search/

put in your zip code and what you think is a reasonable mile radius. the city search doesn't give you as many results.

if you look at http://www.naeyc.org/academy/standards/
it shows you the 10 standards the day care/preschool must self-evaluate and be monitored on for their accreditation.

most accredited places seem to have a waiting list of 6-12 months. a handful in the los altos and palo alto area were running a waiting list of more than a year. i don't know any places specifically in RWC, but those 2 links are good places to start to educate yourself.

NAEYC follows a developmental set of standards for planning "curriculum". otherwise, i'm not really sure what you mean by curriculum. a 1 year old is a little young for worksheets, etc. most developmental places will have a routine/curriculum of outdoor play, circle time, story time, free play, and they may have themes for the week or month that guide the songs they sing or the art projects they do.

i hope this helps! it's just best to get out there and look.

My son went to St. Matthias Pre-school in Redwood City. It had a curriculum from about 9-12 but was also a daycare with maximum hours being 7:30am - 5:30pm. You have flexability with hours half day/full day or numbers of days per week. It was a great program. They start the pre-school around age 3 through pre-K. Your child does need to be potty trained before starting. Most schools take applications in February for the next school year.

I too live in this Silicon Valley alternate universe where we treat preschools like they are Ivy League colleges, and I am a professional mom with a doctoral degree who deeply values education, but I would advise you to take a deep breath and remember you are talking about a 1 yr old. I'm not sure what you mean by a "curriculum," but at this age he should be PLAYING and I would be wary of any programs that advertise themselves as academic in any way or are overly structured. I love our preschool but it's in Sunnyvale and Jewish so likely would not work for you but . .my advice is to visit a few preschools a bit closer to the time, go with your gut as to which ones feel right, check to see how long the teachers have been there (frequent turnover is a bad sign) and above all don't underestimate the importance of convenience to you, ie. DO NOT pick one that is more than a few minutes' drive from your home or workplace.