by Angie Forrest, Program Director
The start of the school year always arrives with big emotions for our youngest, first time two-year-olds and for our more seasoned second-year preschoolers alike. These first months bring complicated feelings: separation from caregivers, adjusting to new routines, building trusting relationships with teachers, and learning to be part of a group filled with new personalities. Attachment, attunement, co-regulation, and self-regulation are deeply interconnected during this time, as emotional roots take hold while social connections stretch and grow.
For teachers, this is both the most exhausting and the most rewarding season. They are pouring energy into bonding with children, honoring all emotions, and setting the tone with love, limits, and respect, all while creating a profound sense of belonging for children and families. We are so grateful for the dedication they bring each day, and for the trust you place in them.
A common thread across all classrooms is the emphasis on nurturing a positive self-identity. Projects like Who Brought You to School? I Like Myself, family self-portraits, and family collages invite children to reflect on who they are and where they come from. Alongside this essential social-emotional work, new emergent interests are blossoming in every room, and teachers are carefully nurturing them.
Room 1: Bay Area Rapid Toddlers
The 2s in Room 1 are united by their fascination with all things that move, trains, planes, and every variety of automobile! Vehicles tap into the twos’ sensorimotor stage: racing rolling wheels, loud engine noises, and cause-and-effect discoveries through never ending pushing and pulling. Families have also “jumped on the bandwagon” by sharing family adventures that included varied travel transportation. Whether it’s the Tilden Train, BART, or an international bullet train, shared vehicle play is fueling rich conversations and collaborative adventures.
Room 2: Playful Journeys: From Trains to Babies
Open the door to Room 2 and you’ll be immersed in an amazingly determined, curious and energetic group of all three-year-olds. Their wide-ranging interests of trains, babies, camping, and picnics have sparked a multitude of imaginative play scenarios. Right now, the shared fascination with babies has taken center stage, likely inspired by the arrival of several new siblings in Room 2 families. Children lovingly created a Guess Who game with their own baby photos and even welcomed a visiting 1-year-old sibling for a Q&A during circle time!
Room 3: Sensory Explorers and Self-Identity
In Room 3, sensory play has become a comforting and regulating anchor. Painting is the favorite medium—often with hands, arms, or whole bodies as brushes and canvas. A watercolor project that began with black-and-white self-portraits evolved into three-piece face puzzles, giving children a playful way to recognize themselves and each other while building positive self-image. The ongoing narrative of “caring for baby dolls” is also deepening, as children nurture dolls with the same empathy and tenderness they observe in caregivers.
Room 4: Gorilla Investigators
Room 4 is engrossed in a gorilla study, sparked by a few children’s shared curiosity about great apes. Introducing changemaker Dian Fossey inspired questions like, “Do gorillas go to gorilla school?”, “How do gorillas smell flowers?”, and “Why are gorillas so similar to us?” The inquiry has grown to include clay gorilla sculptures, classroom jungle transformations, and a special grandparent visitor who hiked among gorillas in Rwanda. Children are also noticing how gorillas show emotions through body language as well as recognizing each gorilla by their individual “nose print”.
Room 5: Mixed Media Magic
In Room 5, children are exploring mixed-media art inspired by artists Amy Sillman, Wangechi Mutu, and Elizabeth Murray. They are experimenting with layering materials and combining techniques in imaginative ways. A visiting parent artist expanded the adventure with unconventional tools—like toothbrushes, combs, and palette knives—to encourage new textures and marks. Outdoors, children brought their easels to the hillside, working with bold primary colors and fresh perspectives. Teachers are also capturing children’s reflections through dictation, deepening the experience and highlighting the meaning they find in their creations.
PM Program Rooms 1,4,5: Late Day Adventures
As fall settles in, our Late P.M. community is finding its rhythm and building new connections. Children warmly welcome one another from different morning rooms, forming new friendships, and filling the 3:00-5:00 time with imaginative play, laughter, and dancing. Outdoor play includes plenty of water, adventuring up the hill, exploring plants sown by past classes, and digging in the rich dirt. While inside, afternoons begin with stories and a variety of creative offerings like painting, building, and open-ended projects that spark imagination and collaboration.