Our flexible daily schedule reflects about 80% play-based, (meaningful, imaginative play,) while the other 20% is teacher-led, (Friendship circle-time, projects that support lessons.) Because most of our students leave Pint-Size Playhouse and head straight into traditional public-school, we feel it’s not only fair, but necessary to prepare children for the very structured Elementary environment by setting healthy boundaries and limits, clear classroom expectations, and incorporating a touch of teacher-led activities throughout the day. 8:00- Morning Greetings, Play, Play, Play 8:30- Wholesome Snack 9:00- Friendship Circle-Time 9:15- Process Art or Creative Art 9:30- Outdoor Nature Play* 11:15- Handwashing/Educational Screen Time 11:30- Lunch 12:00- Story Telling/Yoga/Meditation 12:30-2:30 Rest/Nap** 3:00- Handwashing/Educational Screen Time 3:15-Wholesome Snack 3:30- Outdoor Nature Play* 5:00- Good-Bye Hugs

Pint-Size Playhouse enrolls children starting at age two and continues through their fourth year. For 4-year-olds, we take a personalized approach, evaluating each child on a case-by-case basis. This evaluation considers their motivation, engagement, and behavior within our playful learning environment. If a 4-year-old begins to outgrow our school, no longer feels challenged, or is not thriving as expected, we collaborate closely with their parents to discuss the best steps forward. This may involve transitioning the child to a more suitable educational setting that continues to foster their growth and development.

We are a Licensed Family Child Care Home, licensed through the State of Texas Health and Human Services. Our total licensed capacity is 12. However, we stay well below the State's minimum standard and choose to enroll a maximum of 10 students. We periodically have a morning part-time assistant teacher and that changes our ratio to 2:10, otherwise it’s typically, 1:10

We follow Austin Independent School District’s student calendar for holidays and closures. Our school calendar is updated and posted when AISD releases their new school calendar. We are a full-year program, with the exception of a two week Summer Break. For the safety of our students and families, we follow AISD’s closures for inclement weather and delayed school start. When AISD has a 2-hour delayed start, we open at 9:00am. 2025 · January 20: MLK JR. Day · February 14: Valentine’s Day - * Early dismissal 4:00 · February 17: President’s Day · March 17-21: Spring Break · March 31: Cesar Chavez & Delores Huerta Day · April 18-21: Easter Break · May 12- Childcare Changemaker · May 26: Memorial Day · June 5-20: Summer Break · July 4: Independence Day · August 22: Personal Day · September 1: Labor Day · October 9-14: Professional Development · October 31: Halloween – *Early dismissal 4:00 · November 11: Veteran’s Day · Thanksgiving Break & Winter Break: TBD

Pint-Size Playhouse strives to maintain a safe and healthy environment for our students, teachers, families, and autoimmune compromised household members. Our school community is small and cozy and we prefer that all our students to be fully up-to-date on immunizations before enrollment start date.

Yes! Pint-Size Playhouse believes a strong school community is an important component to children's growth and development. We encourage parents to participate in any capacity they feel comfortable. Your involvement shows your child that you value their education and you think it’s worth participating in. We understand that every family’s circumstances and work obligations are different. Parent involvement for one family may look different than another’s, and that’s Okay! Parent involvement can take on many forms, it can be anything from donating learning materials and resources, purchasing wishlist items, reading a book at circle-time, or helping set up a class party. The possibilities are endless, and we appreciate however you’re able to contribute. "At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child's success is the positive involvement of their parents" ~ Jane. D. Hull *Parents that volunteer more than 8 hours per year in-person will need to submit a background check with fingerprints. Parents are never counted in adult/child ratios.

Parents provide a healthy, wholesome lunch everyday. PSP has a Low-Sugar/No Junk Food policy. As part of the enrollment agreement, every family hosts one healthy snack, per month for their entire class. Snack suggestions. We offer 2 healthy snacks every day, avoiding as much processed food as possible. We have partnered with Misti Buie - Nutritionist and Owner of Balanced Foodies. Misti has created a healthy, kid-friendly snack menu for Pint-Size Playhouse. Focusing on whole grains, fresh fruits, vegetables, protien, and dairy, substituting organic when available. We serve water with every snack and lunch, and children have access to their water cups throughout the day. We view meals as an opportunity to gather as a school family and participate in meaningful conversations. We conscientiously strive to avoid pressure or conflict around food. We follow Ellyn Satter’s “Division of Responsibility” when it comes to snacks and meals. You can read about it here: https://www.ellynsatterinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/ELLYN-SATTER%E2%80%99S-DIVISION-OF-RESPONSIBILITY-IN-FEEDING.pdf

We respect and follow the American Academy of Pediatrics screen time recommendations. (One-hour of screen time per day for children ages 2-4 years.) We feel 1 hour of educational or physically active screen time (broken up and sprinkled throughout the day) is an adequate amount of time for our preschool schedule. For example, we will watch 15 minutes of screen time while washing hands before transitioning into snack or lunch time. And sometimes, at the end of the day when we are waiting for parents to pick up. We always watch age-appropriate content, educational programs, interactive music and movement. Children, who do not want to participate in screen time are always welcome to read books or color. We refer to www.commonsensemedia.org as a resource to choose appropriate media.

Ideally, we want children to have started the process before enrolling and be fully potty trained before turning 3 years old. We have successfully assisted and supported many children and families over the years with this developmental milestone. In our experience, a parent’s full commitment to the potty-training process has the biggest impact on their child’s potty-training success.

We’ve used a combination of play-based learning resources to create our own preschool curriculum. Primarily, we focus on an "Emergent" learning style, which is defined as...... Taking children’s interests, strengths, and needs to lead the direction of lessons.