Spanish, Music & Movement Orientation

 
LOCATION
Classes will be held at 330 Melville Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94301. I was referred to this beautiful and convenient location by a member of the PAMP forum. The house belongs to a non-denominational spiritual organization called Subud. I am not a member of the organization, nor did I need to learn about or join the organization to rent the space. The room itself is well-maintained, devoid of any spiritual symbols and is a wonderful, open space.

Note: Please be aware that we will be having class in the upper room at the back of the building - caretakers and children will need to climb an external flight of stairs. I regret that there is no wheelchair access. For your convenience, please leave strollers and unnecessary gear in the car. If you arrive to the house on foot, please find a comfortable place to park the stroller.

NO SHOES POLICY
The center has asked us to remove our shoes upon entering the room - please remove your children's shoes and your own if you enter the room for any reason.

PARKING
You will find plenty of street parking on Melville Ave or one block down on Waverley. 

PLEASE, NO ARRIVALS BEFORE 10:25 a.m.
I will be conducting a Mommy & Me, Spanish Immersion Storytime before our Music & Movement class begins. Families from this class need time to put shoes on and exit the room. I will then be in a semi-crazed mode of simultaneously cleaning up and setting up. As such, kindly enter the room no earlier than 10:25 a.m. so that I can receive you and your children properly. Thanks for your cooperation with this!

CLASS FORMAT
To help maximize absorption and facilitate a focused yet relaxed classroom environment, I typically structure the time in the following way:

• 20-25 minutes for an opening circle with music, movement, kinesthetic learning and an intentional presentation of new vocabulary;
• 10-15 minutes of free play, exploration, building, puzzles, etc. (during which I rotate around the room interacting one-on-one with each of the students, contextualizing vocabulary and new language in activities directed by the children); and,
• 5-10 minutes for a final circle, songs and closing rituals.

SPANISH IMMERSION
My goal is always to use 100% Spanish throughout the course of the class. Typically, the only situations in which I use English are: to ensure the safety of the children, to establish (or reestablish) rules of conduct or clear boundaries, and to soothe a child in distress if I see that Spanish is increasing his/her sense of angst. Using English is always a last resort for me! I prefer the purity and continuity of a fully-immersive Spanish environment and strive to preserve that. But because the children are with me just 50 minutes a week, I have learned that using a negligible quantity of English often helps keep the Spanish immersion environment productive.

PARENT INVOLVEMENT
I am a parent myself and I am very inspired by parents who are actively involved in their children's lives. Yet in both my private classes and classroom teaching, I have observed that after the age of 3, in an immersion situation, children often learn a new language less self-consciously when their parents are not present. Parents often bring more English and keep children in a bilingual mode in which they continue to need to think and process in English or translate to English (something that young children do not typically need to do in an immersion environment), whereby making absorption less effective.I work to create a class dynamic in which all of the children feel important, noticed, and critical to the group. During the course of our time together, I hope the children and I will become a small community with rituals, songs, and jokes in common. My primary goal is to create a warm, loving, respectful environment in which the children feel free to open themselves, to laugh, be silly, and enjoy the language experience. Please plan (and prepare them) for a drop-off. 

FIRST DAY JITTERS
If children are nervous on the first day of class and parents want to stay for the initial circle, feel free to do so. After the initial circle, please be sure to say goodbye to your children (let them know where you will be and that you will be back shortly) and then slip out.

SEPARATION ANXIETY
While I very much prefer that this class be a drop-off situation, I am completely sympathetic to separation anxiety and am very glad to help children adapt as gradually and gently as possible. If your child exhibits signs of separation anxiety we will make exceptions for children in distress!

TIMELINESS
Please make every effort to drop off and pick up your child on time. Arriving on time will be essential to your child's feeling of inclusion. In particular, please be punctual in picking up your child from the class. Because my schedule is extremely tight (with back-to-back classes) and because I may need to pay for any extra time I remain in the facility, tardiness at pick-up time will cause me to incur significant financial damages. And as a result, repeated late pickups will result in a charge of $20 per minute late. In the event that some unforeseen emergency prevents you from picking up your child on time, please call me immediately at (215) 882-2458 to provide an update.

PUBLIC HEALTH RESPONSIBILITY
Out of consideration for the health and well-being of the rest of the group, please do not send your child to class if s/he has not yet recovered from an illness. If you are not sure whether your child may be contagious, please consult a pediatrician describing the nature of symptoms and the period of time that they have been present before sending him/her to class.

ABSENCES
Kindly email me or call me if your child will miss class for any reason, [email protected] or (215) 882-2458.

PHYSICAL NEEDS

Bathroom
Because I will not be able to leave the group unattended to accompany children on trips out of the room to the bathroom, please make sure your children have used the bathroom before they arrive. For emergencies, I will have a small potty in the room. Additionally, please let me know if there are any potty training issues so that I can be sensitive to them and respond accordingly. There is a bathroom on site - so if your child (or you!) haven't had a chance to visit the potty feel free to do so before saying goodbye to your child.

Note: For children still experiencing occasional incontinence please send along a change of clothes to Spanish class.

Snack 
Please bring children to class after having breakfast or a morning snack if that is typical for them. In light of the various allergies that other children may possess, for the safety and well-being of all please do not bring food into the class.   

PAYMENT
Full payment (non-refundable) for the month must always be submitted before the first of the month. Per the Terms and Conditions, late payments will incur late fees at a rate of $5/day. Checks should be made payable to Janel Moses. Checks can be submitted in class or sent to the following address: 359 Everett Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94301. Payments can also be made via PayPal ([email protected]) but if you choose to use this form of payment, you will need to absorb PayPal's commission/administrative fees, which - be advised - can be rather significant.

DEADLINE FOR ENROLLMENT CHANGES
Please make a note in your calendars: The date by which you must make any changes to your enrollment (suspend enrollment, switch classes, take a month-long break, etc.) is the 15th of the month. For budgetary and administrative reasons we must enforce this deadline very strictly. If we do not receive notification by the 15th you will be charged for the subsequent month at the rate of the class in which you are currently enrolled.

BIENVENIDOS - WELCOME
It is my great pleasure to accompany you and your child on your journey towards multi-lingualism. I look forward to meeting you all and enjoying Spanish with your children on a weekly basis. I am always looking for ways to improve my work per your suggestions. If any issues arise please let me know and we will work together to solve them. Please feel free to contact me at any time with questions, concerns, or feedback.