El currículo
Learning through play, art, music and muddy hands
Every week brings a new theme and new ways of learning. Our lessons are creative, inviting and exciting, because we believe in adapting to your child’s needs, not your child adapting to ours.
Juego y aprendizaje
Play and formal instruction, in balance
We teach the whole child and let kids be kids. At this age children learn best through their senses and play, so we let them explore and get messy with paint, mud, water, or whatever their little hearts desire. The play side of our curriculum follows the children’s lead and their interests, and our outdoor nature playground was made to build sensory development and let them be little.
Alongside play, children learn new concepts in short, joyful workshops. We believe concepts are learned in stages: a child masters one stage and wants to move on to the next.
Los talleres
Four hands-on workshops
Thirty minutes, teacher-directed, in small groups of no more than six, and grouped by ability, not age, because every child grows at their own speed. The key: workshops have to be as engaging as play.
Fine motor skills
Manitas
About 2.9 to 3 years. Children this age learn best by exploring: fine motor skills, memory, letters, numbers, shapes and colors, with a new theme every week (the rainforest, outer space, under the sea) and new vocabulary to match. Teachers watch closely and step in early if a child needs extra help.
Reading & writing
Taller de escritura
About 4 and 5 years. Letter-sound association and letter formation, then the early stages of reading and a love of books. Children leave our writer’s workshop ready for kindergarten, with skills and confidence.
Math
Matemáticas
Math is best learned hands-on: number recognition, one-to-one correspondence, estimation, patterns and spatial concepts, with a new math strand every two weeks.
Science
Ciencias
Curious questions, simple experiments and lots of looking closely at the world around us, inside the classroom and out in the garden.
Inmersión en español
Spanish all day long
Spanish is part of our daily curriculum. We teach it by immersing children in the Spanish language and culture: circle time, learning stations and art class are taught in Spanish, so children hear it in many different settings and environments.
Language experts point to benefits like a strong sense of pride, higher self-esteem, stronger literacy skills and long-term retention. Our goal is simple: make learning a second language fun and exciting!
Prueba un poco de español
Count with us
Our Numbers workshop starts just like this. Tap each chick to count it in Spanish.
Count the chicks
¡Cuenta los pollitos!
Tap each chick to count it in Spanish. Can you find all ten?
0 Cero
¡Diez pollitos! ¡Muy bien! (Ten chicks! Well done!)
Un día en Paso a Paso
A day in the life
Drag the sun across the sky (or press play) to walk through a day. Morning and afternoon classes follow the same rhythm.
Right now at Paso a Paso:
8:00–9:00
Free choice & art studio
Juego libre y arte
Children choose to be indoors or outdoors.
- Free choice & art studio · Juego libre y arte
- Circle time · La hora del círculo
- Learning centers · Centros de aprendizaje
- Spanish circle time · Círculo en español
- Snack time · La merienda
- Hands-on math · Matemáticas
- Writer’s workshop & fine motor workshop · Taller de escritura
- Outside, farm animal & garden time · Afuera: la granja y el jardín
- Lunch time · El almuerzo
- Good-bye time · ¡Adiós!
- Free choice · Juego libre
- Circle time · La hora del círculo
- Learning centers · Centros de aprendizaje
- Spanish circle time · Círculo en español
- Snack time · La merienda
- Writer’s workshop & fine motor workshop · Taller de escritura
- Outside, farm animal & garden time · Afuera: la granja y el jardín
- Good-bye time · ¡Adiós!
Ven a visitarnos · come visit
Come say ¡hola!
Every family tours first, and children are welcome (and encouraged!) to come along. El Dorado Hills: Tuesdays at 11:00 am. Granite Bay Farm School: Wednesdays at 11:00 am.