Spring Break
Attending pre-school at SJSU
For child development majors, teaching and interacting with kids on campus is a requirement
Kami Nguyen, Daily Staff Writer
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A group of children could be seen and heard playing on Tuesday, outside the picnic area near the Paseo de Cesar Chavez an hour after their pre-school classes ended.
The children rode around on a tricycle, played with sticks and branches and climbed on trees, while parents looked on to make sure they stayed out of trouble.
Virgie Blancas' 1-year-old son, Ronnie, fell off his tricycle when his classmate started pedaling away, and after a few kisses and soothing words, he was off to play some more.
The pre-school is actually a required lab for students majoring in fields such as child development, Blancas said.
"They really like it here, it's always hard for them to leave," Blancas said. "My daughter's class starts at 12:30 p.m. and she's ready to go in the morning. I have to tell her the school's still closed."
Blancas also majored in child development and is an SJSU alumna.
She said she also worked in the same project when she was a student in child development and knew she wanted her daughter to be a part of it.
"(The program) seems to be the same," she said. "It's just when I'm on campus, it feels like I should be wearing a backpack - it's nice not being a student."
She said she brings her 4-year-old daughter, Vironica, and son to the program.
In the fall, her son will be attending a toddler lab in the Education building twice a week for two hours, she said.
The one thing she likes is the student to teacher ratio, which is around three students for every one student teacher, she said.
Parents can drop off their children and leave or stay in an observation room for the two-and-a-half-hour long class, she said.
She said she heard about the program because she lives near the university.
Cost for the pre-school is $200 a month, which runs Monday through Thursday in two time sessions, she said.
The morning classes are from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., while the afternoon classes run from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Dahl brings her daughter to the afternoon classes because the morning sessions are usually full.
"Kids come from all over, some as far as Santa Clara," she said. "The advantages are that the children get one-on-one instruction. The big disadvantage is the parking."
She said parents receive a 20-minute parking permit that allows them to park on the first floor of the Seventh Street garage.
Most parents want to stay on campus, she said, and so they have to find parking elsewhere.
She still thinks the program is worth the trouble, though.
"The children do science projects, a lot of hands-on projects, music and story time," she said. "They're free to do whatever they want. There is no pressure to do any of the projects."
The program will be over on May 4 when parents and student teachers will have a potluck on campus.
She said at the end of the program, student teachers are required to write a paper to evaluate a child.
The student would then ask the parent's permission to participate in a workshop. Dahl said she knew a parent who brought their children to SJSU after pulling them out of other pre-schools that were too strict.
Many of the parents stay on campus after their children are done with their class so they can continue playing, she said.
Cate Schroeder said someone recommended the program to her and she has been bringing her son, Ben, to the program for two years.
She said by fall, Ben would be too old to attend the pre-school.
"He's really going to miss this," she said. "Most of the kids are old enough to move on. I guess the students and the maintenance trucks will really love it. (The children) won't be getting in the way."
She said she has seen her son learn and grow a lot during his years in the program.
"His academic rating is so great," she said. "No one has been pushing him, he's chosen what he wants to learn. I just wish it will stay like this for the next seven years, but I know it won't."
