Ya Ya Preschool Journey from 2s to 4s

Welcome to Ya Ya Preschool, a full-time nursery program designed to harness the critical early years of development! Research shows that the most significant brain development occurs during the first five years of a child’s life. Our program, which begins at age two and continues through age five, offers both half-day and full-day options, five days a week, ensuring a consistent, immersive educational experience.

We are committed to fostering cognitive growth through our well-rounded curriculum, which includes language, math, science, and activities focused on critical thinking and problem-solving skills. We have observed significant growth in all developmental areas when a child stays for at least two consecutive years in our program, with three years (2s, 3s, 4s) providing the most optimal benefits of our comprehensive Ya Ya early childhood education.

As a Ya Ya graduate, your child will not only develop the intellectual and social-emotional skills essential for success in Kindergarten and beyond but will also achieve meaningful Mandarin fluency, gaining more than just basic exposure to the language.

All our programs follow our in-house Ya Ya Curriculum with an outstanding and robust Chinese language component like no other, tested and refined for over 15 years. Under the guidance of our dedicated education leadership team, we lead our teaching staff in upholding our educational approach and ensuring consistent lesson planning across all classrooms.

Learn about our Ya Ya Curriculum and Educational Approach.

Curriculum &
Educational Approach

Age Distribution
& Class Ratio

Typically, the students in each group are more or less within a year. In all the preschool classrooms, there will always be two teachers, and oftentimes there will be a third floating teacher to provide extra support. The student to teacher ratio is dependent on the age distribution of the group. For example, in a classroom with only two-year-olds, there will be a maximum of 12 students with 2 teachers. All our teachers have been rigorously trained to differentiate teaching for each child, supporting them to meet or exceed the standard benchmarks in each developmental area.

2 Schedule Options

Work Time

Morning and afternoon work time is a key period where children freely explore learning materials that are purposefully set up by their teachers. While children work with materials either in a small group or on their own, teachers observe each child and take notes that will help them understand where each child is in their development.

Topic Deep Dive

The core of our school day focuses on topic studies. During discussion time, children practice key vocabulary and explore new concepts. They then engage in both teacher- and self-directed learning stations and collaboroated projects in Chinese language arts, math, science, art, and social studies, using multi-sensory materials for deeper exploration. Each day, they also read Ya Ya Big Books or related stories in the library, fostering early literacy. Learning extends beyond the classroom, so we regularly plan field trips, even for our youngest students, to enrich their topic studies.

Specials

We offer weekly special classes to enrich children's experiences at Ya Ya. Regular sessions include music and movement, where children practice singing, rhythm, and develop their musical senses. Cooking classes help build fine motor skills, as well as early math and science concepts. Afternoon literacy sessions (in Chinese or English) further expand vocabulary and introduce children to printed words through fun, hands-on activities. In addition to these regular classes, we often invite professionals to lead activities like yoga, martial arts, dance, and musical instrument demonstrations.

Physical Activities

Through physical activities, children develop their gross motor skills and stamina which is key in preparing them for kindergarten and beyond. Regular trips to City Hall Park and Washington Market Playground take place every week. When the weather conditions prevent us from going outside, we use our spacious library area for physical activities such as dancing, games, and going through obstacle courses. In addition, fine motor activities such as opening and closing objects, using paint brushes, glue sticks, and scissors are weaved into children’s daily experiences.

We follow national standard benchmarks to guide and assess children’s development across all domains—cognitive, social-emotional, math, physical, language, and early literacy skills. We differentiate teaching to meet the unique needs of each child, ensuring they are appropriately challenged and supported. Learn more about the benchmark guidelines for each age group below.