Jewish Preschool Classes in San Francisco, California

Congregation Beth Sholom Jewish Family Preschool:
The Jewish Family Preschool and Parenting Center of Congregation Beth Sholom is located on 14th Avenue (corner of Clement Street) in San Francisco, and offers high-quality, innovative secular and Jewish education for children and their families. We provide excellent teacher to child ratios, experienced, nurturing and highly qualified staff, clergy participation in Shabbat service and other Jewish holiday celebrations, access to resources and programming of Congregation Beth Sholom, child development specialist available for individual consultation and a resource library.

Education Programs:
- For children aged 2 - 5, half & full-day program options with extended care.
- 11-month school year (September - July).

Also:
- Additional music, art, dance and movement programs throughout the year.
- Parent and Me classes for parents and infants and parents and toddlers.
- Parent education workshops and parenting programs.

- Two-Year-Old Class:
The curriculum focus for our youngest children is primarily on their social-emotional growth. One of the main curriculum components for our youngest children is helping them master their feelings concerning separation from their parents and caregivers. This is often the first experience with school and we are very sensitive to their individual needs and feelings. In order to ease the process, parents and teachers work together to create a bridge between home and school. The building of this relationship between parents and teachers is the foundation for the child's positive experience with starting school.

For this reason, we ask parents or caregivers to be available to stay with their child during the first weeks of school. The amount of time will depend on the child's own developmental stage and previous experience with separation. We consider separation a process and not a problem to be dealt with during the first few weeks of school.

- Young Three's Class:
As the attention span of a three-year-old increases, they are able to pursue activities for longer periods of time, concentrate more fully, follow directions more quickly and so forth. They are usually able to take turns and tolerate the frustration of waiting.

Activities and learning centers include opportunities for: dramatic play, block play manipulative and other toys, and experience, (with the emphasis on process not product) sand and water play, books, cooking, woodworking, music, movement and many outdoor activities. The curriculum for the three year olds is balanced between a focus on their social-emotional, cognitive, and physical growth.

- Older Three's and Four's Class:
By the time children are close to four years old they enjoy a greater variety of experiences and more small motor activities like using scissors. They are able to concentrate and remember as well as recognize objects by shape, color or size. They are developing math concepts and problem solving skills. Their motor coordination is maturing more rapidly and they are developing a fluidity of movement. We encourage dramatic play as it becomes increasingly important to many children in this age group.

- Pre-Kindergarten Class:
The Pre-K class emphasizes kindergarten-readiness skills. These include pre-reading such as experimental stories, and our "Book Art Program." Pre-math skills include categorization, serration, spatial relations and number concepts. This class will incorporate kindergarten activities when appropriate. The Pre-K class includes children who will be attending Kindergarten the following year. Our focus in these classes is also on helping children develop the emotional readiness for the Kindergarten experience.