Yikes Tikes!, Inc.
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Mission Statement
The mission of Yikes Tikes! is to provide an inclusive early learning environment for children and families. Our primary goal is to help children obtain the social, emotional and pre-academic skills fundamental to kindergarten success. We are a parent co-operative non-profit, and offer our service free to members in exchange for volunteering. We welcome all children regardless of ability, socioeconomic, or cultural background. We also offer therapeutic preschool program, Yikes Tikes, Too! for children with Special Rights through our partner, the Center for Speech, Language, and Occupational Therapy (CSLOT). Through interacting with children of different ages, developmental levels, and cultural backgrounds, our students learn the values of diversity and inclusion.
About This Cause
Overview Yikes Tikes! has been in existence for more than ten years, has four locations in the South Bay Area, and received its non-profit status in 2012. Yikes Tikes! was created by Brendan O’Connor Webster, the CEO of the Center for Speech, Language, and Occupational Therapy (CSLOT), as a preschool where typically developing children will receive high-quality early childhood education while interacting with special needs children from CSLOT’s Early Intervention Clinics and Yikes Tikes, Too!, CSLOT’s preschool for children with special needs. Our parent cooperative is an effective way for Yikes Tikes! to offer quality childcare in an inclusive environment. It is also a way of involving parents in the day-to-day education of their children, providing the opportunity to see first-hand the social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development of their children by observing them with other children. Additionally, the parent cooperative is run by parents who are interested in having a voice in their children’s earliest education. Working side by side with experienced staff and observing successes and failures lays a strong foundation for parents to gain a greater insight into child development. This enriches their perspective as parents in addition to involving them in the classroom, and fostering consistency of practice between the home and the center. Yikes Tikes! Mission and Vision Statement Yikes Tikes! mission is to provide an inclusive early-learning environment for children and families. Our vision is to create a world in which children (and adults) value each other’s cultural, physical, and intellectual differences. At Yikes Tikes! we offer children an expansive range of perspectives by welcoming children of varied developmental abilities, ethnicities, and economic backgrounds. We combine a range of age groups in our classroom, in order to help children develop empathy, understanding, acceptance and respect for the differences of others. Yikes Tikes! teaches children self-confidence, a sense of belonging, and appreciation for personal uniqueness, emulating and celebrating the diversity of the Bay Area and the world beyond. Yikes Tikes! Philosophy of Education At Yikes Tikes! we see children as strong, capable, and rich in ideas. We believe that all children have the desire to communicate and connect. Yikes Tikes! takes its inspiration from the Reggio Emilia approach to preschool education, which gives parents, teachers, and children equal voice in the learning experience. Yikes Tikes! philosophy draws on the Reggio Emilia approach, Constructivism, and the ideas of Vygotsky and Piaget. The interests and ideas of children form the framework for our curriculum. Our thoughtfully designed classroom environments foster exploration, experimentation, and interaction among children. Active participation by parents is essential to the success of our preschool, and forms the third point of the triangle of relationships among children, teachers, and parents. Yikes Tikes! Approach to Learning Our emergent curriculum is based on keen observations of the interests of children. You will see teachers and EIC aides writing on clipboards as they document their observations of children’s language, motor skills, ideas, friendships, and accomplishments. Our teams of teachers and therapists routinely convene to discuss and share their observations of the children. The curriculum for the coming week is based on these observations and from the team’s hypotheses of where the children’s interests are and where they might go next. Essential to this approach are longer periods of uninterrupted work time for children, where sustained focus and in-depth study are possible. Transitions in activity often happen when children are ready to move on, rather than at a specified time. We look for opportunities for children to practice conflict resolution, facilitated by an adult helper, and build relationships with one another. We believe that children learn best when relating to their peers, when deeply engaged, and when emotionally regulated. Yikes Tikes! Philosophy Regarding Inclusion Inclusion is the educational practice of educating children with disabilities in classrooms with children without disabilities. Full Inclusion places a special education teacher or therapist as a partner in a classroom with a general education teacher. Successful models of inclusion believe that ALL children are different, and ALL children can learn. There is nothing about a child that needs to be “fixed” in order for that child to fit into a system. The school system, as a whole, is enabled to change in order to meet the individual needs of ALL learners. Yikes Tikes! inclusion model engages young children from the CSLOT who are receiving therapy with typical developers from Yikes Tikes! With the support of the early childhood educator and the therapists, these two groups learn with and from each other and work together on projects and activities. Parents often want to know, will integrating with children who have disabilities harm my child’s normal development? Research indicates that typically developing children are NOT harmed by integrating with children with disabilities, and in fact, most parents of typical children who are taught in an inclusive classroom find the experience to be beneficial for their child. Inclusion teaches children important life lessons about compassion, tolerance, and the range of individual differences, and that they don’t have to be perfect to be valued. They learn that all people are unique, including themselves. Additionally, all children benefit from the increased level of professional staffing, regardless of their developmental status. Yikes Tikes, Too! Yikes Tikes, Too! is CSLOT’s developmental preschool program, contained within our current Yikes Tikes! program, and taught by our early education teachers. However, Yikes Tikes, Too! children are supported throughout the day by our specially trained clinical aides. Yikes Tikes, Too! features a 3:1 ratio. Additionally, a therapist provides a 30-minute consultation weekly to support the teacher in working with each Yikes Tikes, Too! child. Why is Yikes Tikes! a Co-op? A cooperative preschool has many benefits for both families and children. Benefits for Parents • Participating in the classroom gives parents a chance to learn about children other than their own—as a reference and insight into their own child’s behaviors. • In the classroom, parents observe and learn from teacher reactions to children, which empowers them to be more thoughtful and focused in their parenting. • Co-op membership creates opportunities to interact with other parents, sharing stories and experiences. • Members form lasting family-to-family friendships. Benefits for Children • Noted child psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner recognized that no one- or two-year preschool program can make lasting improvements in any child’s development unless the program helps parents become the agents of change, reinforcing positive changes in the child long after the formal program’s conclusion. • Parent participation in a child’s preschool program is positively associated with social adjustment and school performance. • Parent-teacher interactions provide smoother transitions for the child. • Small class size and high adult-child ratio results in higher quality childcare. • Parent co-ops organize a support community for children, including teachers and other families. • Parent involvement raises the aspirations parents have for their children, which, in turn, encourages children to see themselves as capable of meeting these aspirations. The Role of the Parent Worker in the Classroom Not only do Parent Workers allow us to operate with much less overhead cost, Parent Workers also play an extremely important role in the classroom as they seek ways to collaborate with teachers and to communicate with children. When Parent Workers participate in the classroom they... • encourage children to expand their knowledge by interacting with them in areas of interest, such as acting out a special character, role playing, cooking a special meal, having a party with their friends, building a huge structure with blocks, and socializing with friends. • are involved in their children’s learning. • spend time in group activities that create a sense of belonging to the classroom and community. • learn and understand the individuality of the children, the philosophy of the program, and its values, practices, and beliefs. • build relationships with one another, the therapeutic staff, and the teacher. Parent workers are curious about children’s discoveries inside and outside the classroom, sharing a sense of wonder with children when they... • engage conversations with them, • enjoy reading books with them, • tell stories and listen, • ask open-ended questions that might extend their learning. Thus, parent volunteers engage children in conversation by learning about their creations, thoughts, and ideas. Skills and strategies we want parents to learn: • Being aware of children’s emotions, motivations, development • Recognizing teaching opportunities with children • Validating and listening to children • Helping children label emotions • Helping children problem-solve • Eliciting children’s language and other developmental skills • Playing with children • Actively help teacher accomplish classroom tasks • Mediating conflicts • Assisting with transitions How do parents learn these skills and strategies? • By watching the teacher • By receiving direct coaching and communication from the teacher • By directly participating with children • By making mistakes and learning from them • By experimenting with techniques in the classroom Yikes Tikes! Finances Yikes Tikes! budget is supported by corporate and individual donors, as well as grants and other funding. Its primary donor is currently CSLOT. Yikes Tikes! is a non-profit 501. c (3) corporation