A Child's World is a licensed childcare center that has been in business since 1998. The center offers children consistant caregivers with whom they can establish bonds that give them confidence in exploring the world around them. Programs includes art, crafts, music and movement, sand/water tables, daily storytime and songs, and outdoor play.

AmericaEd Learning Center offers preschool, afterschool, summer school, and daily drop-off and Saturday childcare programs.

The age-appropriate curriculum offers year around programs in basic academic skills (reading, writing, math and social), art, performing arts, music, musical theater, team and individual sports, critical thinking, and enrichment classes.

This center in the Outer Mission strives to meet the specific needs of each child as an individual. Toys and games are all new and well maintained. The well-trained childcare workers integrate play into daily activities to help maxamize learning potential and make each day fun. Story time, sing alongs, art time, and projects are just a few of the activities used to help the children grow.

A child care center that offers a curriculum-based program and serves children from birth to 4 years old. The center features educational activities that promote growth processes, nutritious meals/snacks, and a private park.

A family day care program that prepares children for kindergarten and the rest of their academic experience. This is a household program that has been in existence for 12 years. the group also provides a kindergarten Readiness Class for children ages three to six.

Busy Days Family Daycare is a licensed family daycare, which takes the kids on daily outings to museums, libraries, and playgrounds. Potty training assistance and hot meals are provided.

Busy Days Family Daycare is CPR certified.

This parent-owned online directory of childcare options includes in-home providers, nannies, childcare centers, and babysitters, serving infants through school-age children. The website also offers links to helpful articles on parenting, state oversight agencies, and more.

The database is searchable by zip code, children's ages, and type of care required. Results include contact information; a description of the services offered; the staff, philosophy, licensing, and facilities of the provider; and hours of operation. Helpful icons beside search matches indicate which providers offer drop-in services and off-hours care; some listings include photos.

A very minimal amount of information can be gathered from a free search of the site - name of daycare, how many children of various ages are cared for by the provider, address, and phone number. To get additional information - hours of operation, website address, photos, etc. - parents must subscribe.

A note of caution: Listed providers are not screened, so while the site is a great starting point in a search for childcare, it's imperative that parents check out claims regarding licensing, staff, and facilities.

Discovery Land Family Day Care provides 8+ years experience and excellent references; a large facility with separate rooms for activities and napping; Preschool lessons, fun activities, arts & crafts, music, reading, and more; daily hot and delicious homemade, organic meals, plus snacks; a large outdoor play area and indoor playroom with toys; and help with potty training. CPR & First Aid Certified.

A Jewish preschool run by the Chabad of Noe Valley for children 18 months old to Pre-k. The school is located in two separate homes: a Victorian home with a large English garden and play yard in Noe Valley, and a newly purchased home with a big yard near St. Mary's Park.

The school consists of three classrooms: 18 months to two year olds, pre-kindergarten, and three and four year olds. The classrooms interact throughout the day. The school curriculum includes the Jewish holidays, science, reading, art, math, and movement. Each day is structured and includes circle time, guided art activities, yard time, and lots of free play. Weekly activities include gymnastics, music, and cooking. Students help bake their own challah each Friday. Nutritious Kosher meals and snacks are provided.

Garden Daycare provides a secure, happy, enriching, and loving environment convenient for San Francisco residents living in Sunset District.

Kids' Dreams is a licensed Family Child Daycare and Preschool held in a private home.

The center teaches English and Russian languages, ABC?s, basic math, reading, poems, comprehension of the yearly calendar cycle (days, dates, months, seasons, weather), art and crafts, colors, shapes, physical education, and music lessons (two per week) with a professional music teacher.

The facility has a big play room with crawl-maze and variety of age appropriate toys, kitchen sets, nursery station, cars, blocks, puzzles, board games, etc. For the safety of the children, the center is monitored by security camera at the entrance gate. The school offers a separate eating area, kitchen area, classroom, library corner with lots of books, bedroom for naps, and isolation room in case a child gets ill. It also features a large backyard filled with toys, tricycles, cars, balls, hockey set, a kids' basketball stand, and a garden.

Two main meals and two snacks are provided.

Kids' Dreams Childcare is CPR and First Aid Certified, finger printed, and TB and HIV tested. The facility is operated by an experienced mother of two children and a formally educated teacher of elementary school children.

A licensed family day care for infants and toddlers that provides educational activities, storytime, arts and crafts, supervised outdoor play, and music. They also provide hot, nutritious home-cooked meals and snacks for the children. The teacher has 17 years of experience and is CPR and First-Aid certified.

Lynn’s House Family Child Care offers a home environment, as well as a developmentally appropriate, individualized programs designed to promote chidlren's emotional, physical, and cognitive development.

The center provides part-time, flexible, care by certified, experienced teachers. Nutritious meals and diapers are provided.

Maria Montessori House is a small family daycare, which serves up to eleven children. Nutritious food is prepared daily.

Philosophy:
* Children need to express themselves through interaction with nurturing adults and peers while being encouraged to be themselves
* Children need respect and the opportunity to make choices appropriate to their age and level of development
* Children need a safe and healthy environment that responds to their individual needs and development

About the Provider:
The provider of Our Rainbow Kids Childcare holds Master Degree in Chemistry, and personal and professional experience in caring and educating children. As mother of two grown children, and a former corporate executive, the provider can directly relate to trends and challenges of parenthood. The provider promotes self-empowerment; and “love learning” approach.

Educational Environment/Curriculum
The curriculum is built around the strengths, needs and interests of the individual children. The staff learns from the parent(s) about the child and uses that information to plan activities. Lessons and activities include, but not limited to: hands-on activities, manipulative, creative art, music lessons (with an accredited music teacher), motor activities, learning center, story time, choice time, and others.

Capacity/Schedule:
This is a small infant/toddler childcare facility with no more than six children in care at any one time. We offer brand new state-of-the-art facility with two redwood-fenced decks for outside activities. The children have a separate nap room with an individual cribs or toddler beds for each child. There are a variety of educational and fun books, toys and other materials. We are open Monday through Friday for 7: 00 am to 6:00 pm. Weekend and before/after hours arrangements are possible based on demand and availability. PT and Drop off hours are available based on capacity.

Nutrition Information:
We provide three fresh, organic, home-made meals and two snacks every day.

Facility # 38400177; CPR, Preventive Health and Safety; Pediatric First Aid certified; Background Clearance.

Parents Place, a non-sectarian program of Jewish Family and Children's Services, may well be the best parenting resource in town. It offers a number of helpful services for parents mind-boggling in their breadth. Among them, parent workshops, playgroups, parent support groups, resource and referral services, counseling services, parenting advice, annual open house nights for local preschools, and groups and workshops with resources on searching for preschools and kindergartens.

Its central goal is to not only support parents, but to bring parents together. Its resource and referral system is an example of how it succeeds on the grass roots level. The "system" is nothing more than a couple of big old bulletin boards hung just outside the offices. On them you can find slips of paper listing nannies, babysitters, and housecleaners looking for work. You can also put up your own advertisement.

The service is free to nannies who wish to list (there is a $20 fee for parents to put up a listing for four weeks) and widely used; Parents Place was named "Best Place to Find a Nanny in San Francisco" by the Bay Guardian in 2001 and "Best Resource for Overwhelmed Parents" by the SF Weekly in 2003. There's no screening whatsoever of individuals who post listings. But the staff can provide guidelines on how to find the right nanny if you need help.

Classes & workshops: Offers a huge range of parenting classes, seminars, and workshops from New Mother, New Baby, to Look! I Can Cook!. Parent/child activity groups are held during the day; most classes and workshops are held in the late afternoon/early evening.

Afterschool classes: Parents Place's On The Mark mentor/tutor program matches volunteers with students ages eight to 18 who are looking for guidance and assistance with school subjects and other issues. [Contact Taylor Epstein, 415.359.2463 or email TaylorE@jfcs.org]

Services:

* Parents Place Express speakers bureau.

* Quarterly newsletter/calendar.

* Counseling services to families with children up to age 18.(Sliding scale, MediCal accepted.)

* Age-specific play activity groups for children with socialization difficulties.

* Mentor/tutor program for students ages eight to 18.

* Community service programs for teens.

* Bulletin board for parents seeking caregivers/caregivers seeking employment.

* Coaching and consultation for parents.

Rainbow Family Childcare has been serving Noe Valley families since 1984. It is a licensed family childcare, and offers quality care to children ages 18 months to three years. Two qualified teachers work with a small group of six children.

SMCFCCA is a non-profit organization providing quality training, support, referrals, and resources to family child care providers and parents in San Mateo County.

The agency offers free referrals to parents interested in placing their children in licensed family child care homes.

Second Community Childcare Center is a licensed summer childcare program at Clarendon Elementary School. The program features daily field trips to city playgrounds and attractions - Mountain Lake Park, Yerba Buena Gardens, Zeum, Exploratorium, Zoo, Baker Beach, Presidio Bowling, movie theaters, Bay Area Discovery Museum, Children's Fairyland, etc.

Children's activities include live music, song, and dance. Trained caregivers teach them manners, numbers, shapes, ABCs, and exercises for eye and hand/feet coordination. The care givers are CPR and First Aid certified.

Daily meals are made from scratch with the finest ingredients and supplemented with plenty of fresh fruits and healthy snacks.

Valdivia Family Day Care accepts children ages six weeks to three years. Hot meals and snacks are served and the facility has experience with food allergies and asthma. In between meals, diaper changes, naps, and clean-ups they tell stories, sing, dance, do art activties, have water play, and more. The staff assists the children in learning colors, numbers, letters, and the children's names.

Vika, a former preschool teacher at the JCC, has been running a licensed childcare for eight years.

The daycare is run downstairs out of her house and is fully equipped with safe and fun activities for the children. It consists of two main rooms: one where most of the art activities and messy work goes on and the other where all of the activities go on. Activities include: puppets, books, building blocks, and more. The outside playroom is fully cemented with a soft, waterproofed rug covering. There are twenty-five different cars for the children to ride on, many play structures, a club house, building blocks, etc. During hot days, the children can play water activities all around the backyard.

The daycare offers three hot and nourishing meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner - plus snacks. All three childcar eproviders are CPR-trained and fluent in English and Russian.