Our Philosophy

Woodland Nursery School and Family Care is designed to be an extension of your family’s home, a welcoming place for your child to experience the world around them in a loving, caring environment that allows them to grow and develop confidence as they play and interact with other young children.

Young children absorb the world through their senses (not just seeing and hearing, but taste, smell and touch, too) and learn by imitating both the adults and other children around them.  Our mission at Woodland Nursery School and Family Care is to create an engaging, loving environment that is worthy of your child’s constant observation, exploration and imitation.

With gentle, attentive guidance, children are encouraged to play at cooking – and even to knead their own dough to bake individual rolls of bread. They may dress up and become mothers, fathers, kings, queens and animals, or play at being the characters in the stories they hear.  We have regular story circles, where children gather around to hear traditional tales and more modern stories such as Goodnight Moon or On The Day You Were Born, which have universal appeal.

They paint and color, and are encouraged to observe everything around them – both their friends and playmates and teachers, but also simple everyday objects and the beauty of the natural world outside (there is plenty of outside play and our garden has squirrels, hummingbirds, butterflies and a wide variety of trees and plants, all of them non-toxic).

Through songs, stories, games and nursery rhymes – some in Chinese (Mandarin) and Spanish – they learn to enjoy language and to celebrate the seasons and annual festivals (if your child’s culture is not represented, please tell us and we will incorporate it).

They learn to play together, listen to and make music, watch puppet shows, bake bread, make soup, model beeswax, and build houses out of simple boxes, sheets, and boards.  A highlight of the day for many children is playing with colored silks – and passing under a magical silken rainbow.

Woodland Nursery School and Family Care will nurture in your child their natural creativity and a love of the world around us, together with an appreciation of how beautiful and extraordinarily varied our planet is – and how we should enjoy, respect and take care of both it and each other.

Woodland Nursery's Organic Menu

Meals and snacks are a wonderful bonding time for children, and they are a perfect opportunity to introduce healthy eating habits, good table manners, an awareness of the season and socialization and communication skills.

All our nutritious meals at Woodland Nursery School are made at home with love from fresh, organic, pesticide-free produce.  We do not use any refined sugars, and we offer triple-filtered reverse osmosis water, rather than juice – we can also make filtered sparkling water if your child prefers this.  Children can help prepare the food if they wish, or simply watch the snacks and meals as they are made.

Also, we will introduce a new seasonal vegetable from our local farmer’s market every other week to look at, touch and eat.

Spring/Summer Seasonal Menu

Monday

Snack:  homemade berry muffins

Lunch:  pasta, broccoli, and cheese

Snack:  apple and almond butter

Tuesday

Snack:  yogurt with seasonal fruit

Lunch:  peas, rice, and chicken

Snack:  multi-grain crackers and string cheese

Wednesday

Snack:  wholewheat pita, carrots, and hummus

Lunch:  seasonal soup, apples

Snack:  pear, steamed vegetables

Thursday

Snack:  Irish oatmeal with yogurt and raisins

Lunch:  sweet potatoes, tofu, and broccoli

Snack:  corn crackers and grapes and cheese

Friday

Snack:  fresh baked bread with jam and butter

Lunch:  rice, corn and lentils, apples

Snack:  fresh baked bread with jam and almond butter

Our Day At A Glance...

Mornings

8:30am     Free play + Crafts

9:30am     Story Circle + Music + Cooking

10:00am   Snack

10:30am   Outdoor play

11:30am   Inside, wash-up, lunch

12:00–2:00pm   Story + nap time

Afternoons

2:00pm   Outdoor play + Learning About Nature

3:00pm   English/Chinese/Spanish songs + games

3:30pm   Snack

4:00pm   Free play

Hudson In The Garden

❅ Happy Holidays To All And A Magical New Year ❅

FREE Community Parent-Toddler ❅ WOODLAND WINTER FAIR ❅ 9am-11am, Saturday December 19th, 2009

You are warmly invited to enjoy a little Elf Magic at our seasonal FREE parent-toddler WOODLAND NURSERY WINTER FAIR from 9am-11am on SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19th, 2009.

The FREE WINTER FAIR will feature play time in our festive homeschool setting, together with a chance for children to make their own Elf - plus an original Elf Story and Elf Song by Alexander Stuart and Camila Arnold, with guest musical accompaniment by Camila, for the Story and Song Circle Time - plus homemade gingerbread, fruit and warm apple cider.

The Story Circle at our parent-toddler group on November 16th was quite amazingly magical as Charong told a seasonal story and brought it to life with silk backdrops and wooden characters. This is one of the most beautiful aspects of the Waldorf philosophy - keeping alive the magic of childhood and focusing on the natural rhythms of the seasons and the infinite scope of our imaginations.


FREE WOODLAND WINTER FAIR, Saturday December 19th - at a Glance:

9:00am    Arrival and Free Play, including the chance to make your own Elf!

9:45am    Circle Time with rhymes, songs and an original seasonal Elf Story and Elf Song

10:15am  Homemade gingerbread, fruit and warm apple cider (please alert us to any food allergies)

Please let us know if you are coming by calling Charong on 818-716-7422 or emailing her at: charong@woodlandchildcare.org

It is not required, but it would be wonderful if you could bring a new, unwrapped toy to donate to the LA County Fire Department Station #69 (Topanga)/ABC7 Spark of Love Toy Drive, which collects and distributes toys to needy children.

Thank you!

Charong Chow and Alexander Stuart

Hudson and Paradise in the garden

With Chris, Charong's brother, when he was visiting from Florida.