school for friends

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

Couple of questions. We are seriously considering school for friends as a preschool but to be honest I don't know any parents who are actually there. I also know very little of the Quaker curriculum and how it differs from a play based system? Also, when I spoke to the director, he said most kids start in the fall, but my son turns 2 in January. I don't love our current childcare situation but don't want to move him to another option if I can get him into preschool closer to 2. Anyone know if there are exceptions to fall enrollment?
Many thanks

[dcmom]

I have several friends who go there (not Quaker at all) and absolutely love it. From their descriptions, it sounds entirely play-based. It also sounds like one of the things they work on is having children learn to work through conflict with minimal adult intervention. Best of luck with your decision!

[Anonymous]

Our child has been at School for Friends for a year now. We love it. In general, I would say the curriculum is play based. There are Quaker elements like they call the children "friends" and they have a focus on peaceful conflict resolution. By peaceful conflict resolution, I mean, for example, that if two children both want the same toy, the teachers do not dictate who gets it, but they facilitate having the children work it out (the child who wants the toy asks the child with the toy "How many minutes [until you are finished with the toy]?" and the child with the toy will say "X minutes" and then play for a while and hand the toy over). As for enrollment, the school starts taking children at 2. The youngest class is currently filled, so enrollment would be based on whether or not someone in the class leaves the school. It happened last year when a child moved abroad, but I'm not sure it happens every year.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much! Do you feel like the children are learning a lot? (I am happy to hear it is play based, but I know some schools are more teaching oriented than others). Also, how is the parking situation since it is not very close to a metro? (I guess Dupont actually isn't that far)?
Thanks so much!

[Anonymous]

I do think the kids learn a lot. While it is play-based, they seem very thoughtful about the curriculum. I think the idea is that they make learning experiences hands-on. For example, in learning about the mail, they had the kids draw something to send someone at home, then put it in an envelope addressed to that person, and took them to the post office to mail it. I especially liked that because when the letter arrived at home, we opened it together and it prompted a discussion. They taught them about boats and they had a bin of water where the kids could experiment with seeing which objects floated and which sank.

There is a parking lot for drop off and pick up.

[Anonymous]

and I hear the playground is awesome

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do think the kids learn a lot. While it is play-based, they seem very thoughtful about the curriculum. I think the idea is that they make learning experiences hands-on. For example, in learning about the mail, they had the kids draw something to send someone at home, then put it in an envelope addressed to that person, and took them to the post office to mail it. I especially liked that because when the letter arrived at home, we opened it together and it prompted a discussion. They taught them about boats and they had a bin of water where the kids could experiment with seeing which objects floated and which sank.

There is a parking lot for drop off and pick up.

Of course they learn a lot. Play-based programs do not mean the kids do not learn anything; to the contrary, that's how toddler/preschoolers learn best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do think the kids learn a lot. While it is play-based, they seem very thoughtful about the curriculum. I think the idea is that they make learning experiences hands-on. For example, in learning about the mail, they had the kids draw something to send someone at home, then put it in an envelope addressed to that person, and took them to the post office to mail it. I especially liked that because when the letter arrived at home, we opened it together and it prompted a discussion. They taught them about boats and they had a bin of water where the kids could experiment with seeing which objects floated and which sank.

There is a parking lot for drop off and pick up.

Of course they learn a lot. Play-based programs do not mean the kids do not learn anything; to the contrary, that's how toddler/preschoolers learn best.