Welcome to Oak Trees School!
Our facility is a fully licensed preschool located in Oakland, California that began as an infant daycare in 2006. We still nurture infants and toddlers, as well as preschoolers up to age 5.Oak Trees is structured on the Montessori and the Waldorf models: In our circle time, art activities, gardening, cultural studies, cooking and when the children are freely exploring our environment, they are invited to participate in activities that are designed to promote growth and function by stimulating the imagination and the senses, the gateways to learning. We utilize many Montessori materials, especially from the Practical Life area, which present varying degrees of hand/eye coordination challenge.
We believe reading and math must be grounded in a rich field of oral learning and meaning, through storytelling, singing and movement practice, including yoga and meditation which we find in the Waldorf tradition. Thus, we think the Montessori and Waldorf approaches mesh nicely in our curriculum. The group atmosphere encourages children to develop socially and learn from each other and ideally, older children assist and model behavior for the younger ones.
Our site is a large, light filled private home. It is well situated in the Oakland Hills near the zoo. The lot sits on a big corner and is secured with high fences, walls and shrubbery. Our resident cat is Daisy, an important part of our community, as are our five chickens.
Susanne George, Director
