Little Fawn Playschool (Oakland, CA)
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Little Fawn Playschool (Oakland, CA)
- Owner: Heather Gray
- Phone: (510) 338-0002
- Email:
- Neighborhood: Montclair
- Zip: 94611
- License #: 013420474
- Capacity: 14
- Website:
- Bilingual:
- Ages:
Feb 2011
I am interested in hearing about any experiences with Little Fawn
Playschool in Montclair. I believe it is a fairly new school, perhaps in
its first year currently. Has anyone had children attend or visited the
school?
Micheline
Heather Gray taught both my children at the pre-school at Mills
College. She was first, my son's student teacher and later, my
daughter's head teacher. She is without a doubt one of the finest
teachers around and I would jump at the opportunity to send another
child to her new pre-school. She has a vast knowledge of childhood
education practices which underlies her incredibly gentle manner with
both young people and adults.
anon
Yes, Little Fawn is relatively new - founded last summer (2010),
home-based, in the Montclair hills. My son attends 3-days-a-week.
Our experience with the school has been really wonderful. Both Heather
and Sarah are amazing warm-hearted kid-magnets and my son adores them.
We chose Little Fawn for a variety of reasons - the program is based on
a combination of Montessori, Reggio, and Waldorf philosophies. The day
is relatively unstructured: the kids choose their own activities from
the (mostly wooden) toys, various art materials, and outside play
areas, and the mostly-organic food is available at any time on request,
not just at snack and lunch periods. There is a circle time every day
and the children do come together as a whole group for that, which
usually includes books, singing, and dancing. They explore themes,
especially those relating to nature and science, and to the holidays of
various cultures. For example, around Christmas the kids read The
Velveteen Rabbit, made their own rabbit dolls, and we attended the show
at ODC as a field trip.
The vegetarian meals are prepared by the teachers during the day. The
kids often help cook, which is one of my son's favorite activities.
It is a multi-age classroom. The kids sometimes play in age-related
cohorts; for example, the 2-to-3-year-olds may be playing outside while
the 4-year-olds are inside learning letters. Each child's academic
needs are addressed individually, with activities and tasks being
offered appropriate to the direction they are growing.
My son especially loves all of his friends there. The community is one
of our favorite aspects of the program - we have monthly potlucks and
occasional field trips as well as outside-school playdates.
The parent-teacher communication is great. Heather, the head teacher,
is very open and willing to answer any questions. She is always
available via phone, email, and in person.
Overall, the feeling of the school is like one big warm family.
Both of our children attend Little Fawn right now, and we are really
thrilled with the school. Our eldest will turn 5 in April, and will be
going into Kindergarten next year. Our youngest just turned three and
will return to Little Fawn in the fall. You are right, the school is
in its first year, but Heather, the main teacher, has many years of
experience in early childhood education. Heather was trained as a
Montessori teacher, and also has a masters in education. However, she
brings together many teaching philosophies at the school, and is not
strict in any one method. Sara, the assistant teacher, has also been a
preschool teacher for years and teaches dance classes to kids at a
studio outside of Little Fawn.
We love the school because we truly feel like our kids are safe and
well-loved. Heather has a very calming presence with the kids, and
both of my children love school and want to attend even on the
weekends! The diverse community at the school is wonderful C1 there
are potlucks once a month where parents are able to meet each other and
create relationships. The school has structure, but the children are
really allowed to choose the activities that most interest them. There
is a lot of outside play (even in the rain), art, cooking, music, and
imaginative play. My eldest is learning to read and write, as Heather
pulls aside the older kids to work with them on these skills. If you
are looking for a nurturing, small, home-based environment where your
child will be able to grow at his/her own pace, this is a great place
to check out!
~Nadia
I have not been to the Little Fawn site, but when my son (now almost
10) was in preschool the (now) Little Fawn teacher Heather was the head
of his afternoon program for 2 years. I know Heather very well as a
teacher. I don't sing people's praises unless I really mean it-
Heather is a truly gifted teacher. She has something special in her
heart and her approach towards children that you won't find easily
anywhere else. Heather is extremely experienced, deeply learned in
child development and theory, playful, passionate, respectful of each
child, community-minded, and she happens to have an angelic singing
voice. Children in her classroom grew in every way and loved school.
If you have the chance, don't miss the opportunity to check out the
site and meet the Little Fawn teachers. Anyone Heather would hire to
work with her would probably be terrific, too.
psychologist momma who knows Heather
My 3 year old son is currently enrolled in Little Fawn. It is a small
(currently 12 kids) home based playschool in its first year. It is a
wonderful little place run by Heather Gray who is amazing with the kids
with her warmth and patience. Sara who works with her is a dance
teacher, and works really well with the kids too. What I really like is
that the school has a diversity of ages, gender, ethnicity and culture,
offering opportunities of 'cross-learning'. Also, Heather seems to have
taken from her experiences with Montessori, Reggio Emilia and Waldorf
streams to create a space of hearty learning that is fun, play based
and child-oriented. I also appreciate the effort that she puts into
creating community among the parents since I don't have too many
friends with kids. The only concern I had was that she does not have
too expansive an outdoor space. It nevertheless seems to keep the kids
adequately engaged. Her rates are reasonable, and includes snacks and
lunch!
We love Little Fawn! Yes, the school has been open only since
August/September 2010, but everything is going incredibly smoothly. The
school is small and has children ranging in ages from 3 to 5. What's
wonderful are the impressive ways that the teachers support social
learning and development at all these stages. For instance, the older
children are assisted in incorporating the younger ones into their
play, perhaps by building block structures that the young ones can
knock down. In fact, the school places much energy in creating a
harmonious community among the children through inclusive play, and
also among the families through field trips and potlucks. The school
itself is in a home with indoor and outdoor spaces where the kids can
play freely, art stations, pretend play toys, a rope swing, garden
space, and more. The kids are served healthy, vegetarian, mostly
organic snacks and lunch, and they sometimes help with the cooking. The
kids also participate in dance, singing, and mindfulness. The kids
heading to K next year (including mine) have recently begun writing
books, which they're enjoying. I can't recommend the school enough!
happy parent
Hello Micheline,
My son (almost 4) is currently attending
Little Fawn. You're right that it is fairly new (first school year
was Sept '10). We love the school and the teachers, but also
important is the community of students and parents that make up
Little Fawn. The teachers (Heather and Sara) make sure the parents
are (or can be) as involved as we want to. We all get together once a
month for a Full Moon potluck that gives us a chance to talk about
the children and also to each other as this band of parents that are
trying to get through preschool age together! My son loves going to
school (only a 4-yr-old can complain about the existence of week-ends
and thus depriving him of school!), completely in love with his
teachers and friends and have generally came out of his shell. Little
Fawn is his first experience in any types of schools (since he
was 6 months old), so we had worries on how he would adapt and get
along with his teachers and new friend. Heather and Sara definitely
handle the situation with ''new'' students well in that they don't
push, but they let them know they're there when needed. The students
are free to some extent to decide when they are ready to join in
activities, but there are also rules and boundaries that let them
know that this *is* a school after all and there are other students
to consider. My husband and I believe in the learning-through-play
approach (especially in this young learning age) and we love the
creative environment that Heather and Sara are providing through
planning/creating the students' themed birthday parties and learning
about the different holidays. We love Little Fawn and we would
definitely encourage if not a visit, definitely a talk with Heather
and/or Sara.
Mona
this page was last updated: Mar 12, 2011
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