Pirates Log

Issue date: 11/30/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Clark Miller Miwuk Child Developement Center

Media Credit: Clark Miller Miwuk Child Developement Center

When Stefanie Yosh needed a pre-school for her 3 year old son Kaleb, she didn't hesitate for a moment. Neither did her sister Nancee Larsen, mother of 4 year old Nathaniel. They knew exactly where they wanted their boys to go-MiWuk Child Development Lab at Modesto Junior College. Yosh and Larsen had been told that MiWuk had "the best program out there" by a very reliable source-their own mother Jackie Watson. And she ought to know, because she sent seven of her nine children through the program at the MJC pre-school.

Jackie urged her daughters to get their sons on the school's wait list as soon as they were born. They were all confident that MiWuk would provide a safe environment with caring, involved staff, as well as a place for developing social skills and having fun. Now cousins Kaleb and Nathaniel are the latest members of the family to attend, cementing a multi-generational connection to MiWuk Child Development Lab.

Beginning in 1984 with Stefanie (now Stephanie Yosh), the third of nine siblings, the Watson youngsters were regulars at MiWuk until 1997, when their youngest brother Morgan last attended. Larsen (now Nancee Larsen), who is the second child, also spent much time at the facility. Though never officially a student, Larsen feels very connected to the school. She remembers it as "the butterfly pre-school" because of the large stained glass butterfly that adorned the entrance gate when she was a young girl. She also recalls watching her younger siblings at play in MiWuk's classrooms from the concealed observation area that winds around the perimeter of the play space. This hidden corridor where student teachers evaluate and monitor the children's activities figures strongly in the family's memories as part of their MiWuk experience. As the children gradually outgrew the school, they continued to visit when their mother came to pick up their younger siblings. The secret observation area was where they waited and watched, unbeknownst to the pre-schoolers at play. Even the kids' dad came to watch a few times. To the older children, this behind-the-scenes experience was a special and thrilling privilege.

Yosh and Larsen are delighted to be able to pass on their happy times at MiWuk Child Development Lab to their own children.

"It's a known place," Yosh says, "I love looking back and remembering, and then seeing my son here. It's comfortable and familiar."

Both women agree that not much has changed since they saw the facility from the perspective of children. The pint-sized tables and chairs, the baby dolls ready for their morning wash-up at the bathing tables, the lumps of play-dough arranged on trays with rolling pins and cookie cutters waiting for eager little hands-all looks much the same. But it is not just nostalgia that makes MiWuk the perfect place for a family tradition. Yosh and Larsen value the learning experience their children will receive as well.

"I like the social skills the kids learn, getting along with others, working as a team, how to make friends," Larsen says, "It's a very gentle environment, not strict or harsh with words"

Yosh agrees: "They teach the kids to use words to express their feelings instead of throwing a fit."

The sisters point to the contributions of the MJC students who work at the facility as part of their coursework in child development: "The student teachers are so amazing. They work so hard with the kids."

The teachers also plant the seeds of reading and writing in the fertile young minds at the pre-school. Yosh remembers learning to write her own name during her time at MiWuk and now, "Kaleb can almost write his name too." Each day the children play with letters and 'silly sounds,' in preparation for learning to read. And, Yosh says, "They're learning some Spanish. Kaleb can say 'buenos dias'."

Professor of Child Development Pamela Guerra-Schmidt, who has overseen the lab for the last eight years, says it is not unusual for more than one child in a family to attend MiWuk Child Development Lab. But a multi-generational family is a little more uncommon.

It may be the beginning of a trend though. Yosh and Larsen each has in her arms another, younger child. Both toddlers are squirming to get free and join their brothers in the growing ring of children and teaching assistants gathering for "Circle Time," the daily greeting ceremony. In another year or two, these tots will be ready to take their places alongside Kaleb and Nathaniel as the most recent members of the family to spend their pre-school years at MiWuk.

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