GARDEN ROOTS PRESCHOOL PHILOSOPHY

Our Intentions at Garden Roots Preschool are to develop and nurture skills that will last a lifetime, such as:

• Listening and language skills through story telling and finger plays

• Problem solving skills & enhanced imagination through creative play

• Learning good manners and gratitude during meal times & through out the day

• Social skills through mindfulness of fellow students feelings, abilities & uniqueness

• Music and movement through songs, rhymes, dance, musical instruments & yoga 

Who Are We?

• Garden Roots Preschool is not a day-care. We are a preschool that accepts children from 2 to 5 years old.

• We do not accept children that are not potty trained.
  No diapers. No exceptions.

• We believe when a child has accepted and agreed to potty-training; they are ready for school and ready to start the disconnect from Mommy & Daddy. At this point they are ready to go to school with grace and the understanding that they are joining in with other children, in a space where they are SAFE.

• We are a school that draws its inspiration from the creator of Waldorf teaching, Rudolf Steiner.

• We want our families to know what education their children is receiving when they attend Garden Roots Preschool.

• Our hope is that this preschool will be an extension of your own family values and beliefs. The values we guide the children to learn should also be taught and emulated in their home life as much as possible.

WHO IS MISS JANA...  

Our Teacher, Miss Jana, is a life long San Clemente local. She is degreed in early childhood education and has over thirty years of experience in this field. She worked ESL (English as a second language) while attending college. She was a Head Start director in San Juan Capistrano for years. Later she opened and directed a private preschool, "Little School by the Seashore" for over ten years which incorporated some of the Waldorf philosophies. Miss Jana loves the Waldorf ideals and enjoys working with young children. 

Miss Jana is passionate about inspiring wonder and focuses on folk music, folk and fairy tales, cultural enrichment, and artwork reflecting nature.  

Who is Marsi De Casas ... 

Marsi, was born in Oceanside, CA, and raised in Southern California. She attended Fullerton college and is the owner and booking agent since 1993 for Animal Crackers Entertainment, a children's entertainment company and ACE EVENT Productions, a professional business events company.  

Marsi was inspired to start a preschool by her sister, Miss Linnie of SunFlower Preschool & her daughter, Rosslyn Cary, MS, RDN, to help Marsi to slow down in life, to make time for play and to pass on updates on healthy food considerations for families and preschoolers. Rosslyn’s husband, Pat Cary, is our visiting fireman, from Laguna Beach fire station. Pat is occasionally able to visit and say “Hello” to our preschool students.                 

A Couple years later Marsi & Charley and their son Reid created Garden Roots Preschool. Marsi has found this new life change exactly what she had envisioned.  Together they built a beautiful hen house and three organic non-GMO redwood garden boxes in which they planted an edible flower garden with blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry shrubs. Around the yard were planted an apple tree, orange trees, avocado trees, and peach trees to attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds for the preschool environment.     

Marsi & Charley share a great concern for their grandchildren’s generation coming in today's world.  They feel the importance of showing their gratitude to the world for all their blessings in life.  They believe the Waldorf teachings will bring all God’s children back into their bodies to remind them to love themselves, animals, and their world.   

 "Life is good", are her favorite words of wisdom.