2201 Vicente Street
San Francisco, CA 94116
(415) 200-8607
San Francisco, CA 94116
(415) 200-8607
Special Features
100% Mandarin Immersion
Children are exposed to English outside of school and at home. So long as they live in the United States, they will acquire English. But for them to truly learn Mandarin, they need a supportive and well-structured 100%-immersion environment.
If a school offers (for example) an 80%-20% Mandarin to English ratio, this is much less effective. In a 100%-immersion environment, children cannot "resort" to English. Therefore, they have to pick up Mandarin much faster. In a 100%-immersion environment, children come to know Mandarin as the way of communicating when they are at school, so they become comfortable and nimble with the language. This supports their cognitive and creative development in many ways.
Parents are warmly included in the process, even if they do not speak Mandarin. Each month, Little Footprints sends parents our monthly lesson plans, so that parents can participate with the curriculum at home. For example, if the children are learning about animals at school, parents can support this curriculum by teaching about animals at home, in English. With parents acting as educational partners, the curriculum becomes bilingual.
Nutritious Homemade Hot Meals
Meals include breakfast, lunch, and morning and afternoon snacks. Fresh healthy meals are prepared onsite every day. This is convenient for parents and very healthy for the children. Our meals contain all essential nutritional components, including seasonal fruits, vegetables, proteins and carbohydrates. Fruits, vegetables, and milk are organic.
We take meals together in family style. This enriches the sense of community among the children, giving them an opportunity to share and serve each other. Mealtimes are not only healthy and delicious, but also social and fun.
Semi-annual Parent-Teacher Conferences
Conferences will be review a comprehensive development report for the child. We highly value our partnerships with parents. Each day, at drop-off and pick-up, parents have ample informal opportunities to speak with teachers about their children. But in addition, we conduct two formal parent-teacher conferences each year, for in-depth, personal discussion about each child's progress.
At these formal conferences, parents are provided with detailed information about all aspects of their child's growth within the school setting. This is also an opportunity for parents to have all their questions answered at length.
The conference is a two-way discussion. Parents provide Little Footprints staff with insights and observations about how their children are developing at home, and how the pre-school experience seems to be affecting them. In this way, the conference is a deepening of the school-parent partnership.
Further Enrichment Activies
Activities include visits from external instructors in topics such as music, art, Kung Fu and gymnastics. Our external instructors are highly qualified professionals. Our gymnastics teacher, for example, is an Olympics gold medalist. Also, all of our external instructors speak fluent Mandarin, extending the 100% immersion experience for the children.
Potty Training
This is not required. We do not want potty training (or lack of it) to prevent children from coming to our school and learning Mandarin. Therefore, our teachers work with parents on potty training and maintain frequent communication about a child's progress with potty training.
We recognize that every child learns potty training at a different pace. Some can learn at a younger age than others. There are also different techniques for potty training. What is important is that potty training should be consistent-what works at home should also be done at school, and vice versa. We communicate to parents about what seems to work at school, and parents communicate to us about how they do potty training at home. In this way, we avoid confusing children with "mixed messages" about potty training, and they can be comfortable and feel loved as they grow into their potty training easily both at home and at school.
Low Teacher - Child Ratio
Our maximum teacher-child ration is 1 to 6. Sometimes it is as little as 1 to 4. Children learn best in small groups and with personal attention from teachers, especially when they are exposed to a new language. When the teacher-child ratio is low, teachers can interact more with each child, and each child actually hears more of the new language. In larger groups, children cannot converse as much, and their exposure to the language is reduced. So the low teacher-child ratio is essential to the Little Footprints philosophy and vision.
100% Mandarin Immersion
Children are exposed to English outside of school and at home. So long as they live in the United States, they will acquire English. But for them to truly learn Mandarin, they need a supportive and well-structured 100%-immersion environment.
If a school offers (for example) an 80%-20% Mandarin to English ratio, this is much less effective. In a 100%-immersion environment, children cannot "resort" to English. Therefore, they have to pick up Mandarin much faster. In a 100%-immersion environment, children come to know Mandarin as the way of communicating when they are at school, so they become comfortable and nimble with the language. This supports their cognitive and creative development in many ways.
Parents are warmly included in the process, even if they do not speak Mandarin. Each month, Little Footprints sends parents our monthly lesson plans, so that parents can participate with the curriculum at home. For example, if the children are learning about animals at school, parents can support this curriculum by teaching about animals at home, in English. With parents acting as educational partners, the curriculum becomes bilingual.
Nutritious Homemade Hot Meals
Meals include breakfast, lunch, and morning and afternoon snacks. Fresh healthy meals are prepared onsite every day. This is convenient for parents and very healthy for the children. Our meals contain all essential nutritional components, including seasonal fruits, vegetables, proteins and carbohydrates. Fruits, vegetables, and milk are organic.
We take meals together in family style. This enriches the sense of community among the children, giving them an opportunity to share and serve each other. Mealtimes are not only healthy and delicious, but also social and fun.
Semi-annual Parent-Teacher Conferences
Conferences will be review a comprehensive development report for the child. We highly value our partnerships with parents. Each day, at drop-off and pick-up, parents have ample informal opportunities to speak with teachers about their children. But in addition, we conduct two formal parent-teacher conferences each year, for in-depth, personal discussion about each child's progress.
At these formal conferences, parents are provided with detailed information about all aspects of their child's growth within the school setting. This is also an opportunity for parents to have all their questions answered at length.
The conference is a two-way discussion. Parents provide Little Footprints staff with insights and observations about how their children are developing at home, and how the pre-school experience seems to be affecting them. In this way, the conference is a deepening of the school-parent partnership.
Further Enrichment Activies
Activities include visits from external instructors in topics such as music, art, Kung Fu and gymnastics. Our external instructors are highly qualified professionals. Our gymnastics teacher, for example, is an Olympics gold medalist. Also, all of our external instructors speak fluent Mandarin, extending the 100% immersion experience for the children.
Potty Training
This is not required. We do not want potty training (or lack of it) to prevent children from coming to our school and learning Mandarin. Therefore, our teachers work with parents on potty training and maintain frequent communication about a child's progress with potty training.
We recognize that every child learns potty training at a different pace. Some can learn at a younger age than others. There are also different techniques for potty training. What is important is that potty training should be consistent-what works at home should also be done at school, and vice versa. We communicate to parents about what seems to work at school, and parents communicate to us about how they do potty training at home. In this way, we avoid confusing children with "mixed messages" about potty training, and they can be comfortable and feel loved as they grow into their potty training easily both at home and at school.
Low Teacher - Child Ratio
Our maximum teacher-child ration is 1 to 6. Sometimes it is as little as 1 to 4. Children learn best in small groups and with personal attention from teachers, especially when they are exposed to a new language. When the teacher-child ratio is low, teachers can interact more with each child, and each child actually hears more of the new language. In larger groups, children cannot converse as much, and their exposure to the language is reduced. So the low teacher-child ratio is essential to the Little Footprints philosophy and vision.
