Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in san francisco, CA

First Lady Maria Shriver Sponsors a Fully Intergenerational Playground

by Michael Rohde

June 23, 2009

This event actually happened yesterday, but I still think it’s good to spread the news. The following is the majority of a Press Release from First Lady Maria Shriver.

Sacramento, CA – California First Lady Maria Shriver and CaliforniaVolunteers will sponsor the first fully intergenerational volunteer-built playground in the nation, providing a space for people of all ages to come together and play. The playground build will take place on Monday, June 22 at Bret Harte Elementary School in San Francisco, kicking off the 2009 National Conference on Service and Volunteering. The event will mark Shriver’s 31st playground build throughout California, inspired by her commitment to create safe play spaces for children and honor the legacy and dedication to community service of Cesar E. Chavez. The playground project will be planned using an innovative community-build model led by national nonprofit KaBOOM!, which has coordinated construction of more than 1,600 play spaces across North America.

“This is more than a play space, this is a testament to the fact that Californians of any age can unite around the concept of play, serve their communities and create an inclusive environment that transcends age diversity,” said First Lady Maria Shriver. “This trailblazing play space truly embraces the philosophy that playground lessons last a lifetime and regardless of age, WE never outgrow play.”

More than 300 volunteers from the community and the San Francisco School Volunteers program, as well as attendees of the National Conference on Service and Volunteering are expected to join the construction of each of the playground’s elements in just one day. In addition, a unique mural and garden will be established at the school to honor the life and legacy of Cesar E. Chavez.  The edible garden will feature a farmer’s market stand, allowing kids and seniors from the community to create a micro enterprise, sell vegetables and raise money for the school.

“Cesar E. Chavez was a champion of service and community involvement, and this entire initiative is a great way to honor his legacy,” said Karen Baker, Secretary of Service and Volunteering. “This initiative clearly demonstrates the power volunteers have to shape their communities.”

SPEECH is Much More than Speech

by Michael Rohde

June 01, 2009

Today’s guest post comes from Tiphanie Kaufman, one of the Founders of SPEECH, Inc. I can happily and personally vouch for the effectiveness and talents of the staff at SPEECH, Inc. for my son Max has been learning from them for several months now.

There was a point where Max would pick up a word, repeat that word for a couple months on end, then suddenly drop it and start with a new word. Instead of adding to his vocabulary, he was substituting learned words for new ones. And he would use that one word for almost everything. When his twin sister started to lap him on learning new words, and it became painfully obvious that his speech skills were not advancing, we started talking to doctors. We were eventually led to SPEECH, Inc and we couldn’t be happier. Max’s vocabulary has grown tremendously since he started learning at SPEECH, Inc. He no longer replaces and substitutes words and instead is adding new words almost on a daily basis. Not only is Max learning how to learn, but he’s having fun doing it. At first, Max went kicking and screaming to the classroom. Now that he’s become acquainted with his teachers, he goes happily, with barely a wave and a look to his Dad; who’s left in the waiting room…

For the parents, SPEECH, Inc. offers regularly scheduled conferences to keep everyone up-to-date on goals, performance, and planning. Parents are also provided a quick status update on how that day’s lesson went as well, which also provides a quick learning lesson (at least for me) on how to better teach my kid how to learn. The entire process is invaluable.

As a parent, if you have any inkling that your child’s speech might be delayed, it’s never too early to start talking to doctors and medical professionals. Believe me, it’s better to have it looked into now before Kindergarten starts.

Enough of me… Here’s Tiphanie’s contribution:

The waiting room at SPEECH, Inc. gets more crowded as new children and parents find help with not only speech productions skills, but much, much more.

Speech Language Pathologist and entrepreneurs Tiphanie Kaufmann and Katie Pengilly started SPEECH, Inc. in the 1980’s in a quaint Victorian in San Francisco. They began with the dream of being in private practice for themselves and doing what they knew how to do best: happily, joyfully, artfully teaching children speech and language skills. The key is to keep children motivated by their own success, individualizing teaching and tracking progress carefully. This formula quickly served them well as the practice began to grow, and grow and grow. Soon, the little Victorian private practice turned into a large bustling business on Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco with 10 employees, an office manager and an office full of children who were learning and enjoying the process.

After many years in San Francisco the two ladies were asked by a group of Piedmont parents to open an East Bay office. This office is now three-years old and is staffed by four lovely Speech Language Pathologists. SPEECH, Inc. provides children with the tools they need to do well in school and move more easily through the social maze of the school years. Speech Pathologists no longer just remediate children’s speech production, they now are able to assist children in areas such as reading, auditory processing, and underpinning skills for success like memory and written language. A parent was recently overheard saying, “Picking up the phone and calling SPEECH, Inc. was the best thing I have ever done for my child.” Clients of the practice are taught new skills along with gaining the ability to learn new things with independence; this is teaching from the bottom up.

Right now, Tiphanie and Katie are focused on keeping up with new evidenced-based teaching practices, mentoring staff and speaking to educational groups and facilities in the Bay Area. SPEECH, Inc. continues to strive to keep up with research and techniques in Autistic Spectrum Disorders and social pragmatic work as well. The population that the practice serves is extremely varied. No day is ever the same and they like it like that.

Cubes&Crayons

by Michael Rohde

May 11, 2009

Felicity Chapman is the Founder of Cubes&Crayons, a service that provides parents a quiet work area while the kids learn and socialize in a mixed-age setting. Today, Felicity is our guest contributor and she discusses the advantages kids gain when they interact with younger and older kids.

From Felicity Chapman: My almost two-year old seems like such a grown-up girl: she's walking and talking, and already has a daily routine of brushing her teeth, putting her shoes on, and playing impish games, which she has created. Her drawing is precise, almost as if she is writing more than drawing. While I attribute many contributing factors to her success, her temperament being one, I am quite confident that the presence of an older sister has made a huge difference in her development. There is a lot to be said for raising a child in a mixed-age setting.

Selecting a preschool is the first educational choice we made on our older daughter's behalf. We ultimately decided that we wanted her in a mixed-age setting. In her preschool, she does math with kids older than her and plays with kids from all age ranges. In the role of the older child, she has learned to teach those younger than her; and it has made her a better person.

As we launch our first San Francisco Cubes&Crayons campus at the end of May, I am excited to share this mixed-aged setting with the San Francisco community. At Cubes&Crayons, kids learn everything from social dynamics to letters and songs. We provide mixed age drop in childcare and professional office space. You can use just the office, just the childcare, or both. We hope you will join us in checking out this dynamic environment at our preview event on May 27th 10am to 12pm or 5pm to 7pm. Or join us June 1st when we open for business. Want to join the waiting list? Email us at contact[at]cubesandcrayons.com.

Medical Update: Don't Clean Those Ears!

by Graham Charles

September 04, 2008

Yet another pillar of my upbringing has toppled: there will be no more Q-tip ear-cleaning in our household. I was one of those odd kids (everyone teased us) who liked having my ears carefully cleaned. But that pastime will soon go the way of pre-teens without car seats if folks pay attention to the list of recommendations regarding earwax just released by the American Society of  Read more...

Parents Place for great preschool classes

by Mike Adamick

July 24, 2008

I've been impressed with Parents Place for a long time now, what with magical instructors and playgroup leaders like Jeni Clancy and Lee Ann Slaton. They are two of San Francisco hidden gems. So I'm pleased to share soem great playgroups and activity groups for those looking for more things to do with the kids. Jeni leads a playgroup every Wednesday from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. and also teaches  Read more...

Top 5 Rainy (or Foggy) Day Activities

by Mike Adamick

May 27, 2008

1. Playgroup at Sherith Israel Temple -- The Temple has a non-denominational gym that is by far the biggest and cleanest play space in the city. It costs $10 for the session but it is well, well worth it. Plus once a month they bring in a child development specialist to answer any question under the sun. Also, they're very dad friendly, so that helps. 2. BART. You don't need a particular  Read more...