General Questions

Where is Tinycare?

Tinycare is currently located in SF & East Bay and expanding to the broader Bay Area end of this year / early 2022 and other cities after that. If you are outside the Bay Area, fill out this form to be notified when we come to your area: www.tinycare.co/mylocation

What are your hours?

Drop off: 8:00am - 8:30am

Pick Up: 5:00pm - 5:30pm

What is the teacher to student ratio?

Infant — 1:2
Toddler — 1:3
Preschool — 1:3

Do you offer full-time and part-time options?

Yes, we offer 1 - 5 days per week for full days. Given our small sizes in each classroom, we do not offer half-days at this time. You can, however, choose to enroll full-day and then pick up your child early.

What is Tinycare's school calendar?

We have a year round schedule. Here are the days we'll take off in 2021:

Holiday	Date
Winter Break	Friday, January 1st, 2021
MLK Day	Monday, January 18th, 2021
President's Day	Monday, February 15th, 2021
Spring Break	Monday, April 5th - Friday, April 9th, 2021
Memorial Day	Monday, May 31st, 2021
Juneteenth	Friday, June 18th, 2021
Independence Day	Monday, July 5th, 2021
Labor Day	Monday, September 6th, 2021
Indigeneous People’s Day	Monday, October 11th, 2021
Veteran’s Day	Thursday, November 11th, 2021
Thanksgiving Break	Wednesday, November 24th - Friday, November 26th, 2021
Winter Break	Monday, December 20st - Friday, December 31st, 2021

Tinycare also has In Service & Team Days where our Teachers get professional development and we get to bond as a team. Tinycare will be closed for Team Days on:

Date
Friday, January 29th, 2021
Friday, April 30th, 2021
Friday, July 3rd, 2021
Friday, August 6th, 2021 Early Closure at 12 PM
Friday, September 3rd, 2021
Friday, October 1st, 2021 Early Closure at 12 PM
Friday November 12th, 2021
Friday, December 3rd, 2021 Early Closure at 12 PM

Who are the teachers?

Tinycare teachers collectively have decades of experience as lead teachers at top centers including Bright Horizons, Google Children’s Centers, and Spanish & Mandarin immersion preschools. Every teacher is background checked by the Department of Justice, has ECE units, and licensed.

We believe that empowering teachers is critical to high quality childcare, so we offer higher than market total compensation and smaller ratios, and stock options.

How do you vet your teachers?

We only give offers to the top 3% of teachers who apply to work at Tinycare. Our process includes DoJ background checks, multiple competency based interviews with teachers and our Head of Education, a sample lesson plan, and reference checks.

Are all Tinycares licensed?

Yes, each Tinycare is licensed through the California Department of Social Services.

How much does it cost?

Tuition varies depending on the program , location, and participation in the Tinycare lunch program. Please reach out to our enrollment team for exact pricing.

What does a typical day in the life of a Tinycare child look like?

Schedules are personalized to your child, and are completely individualized for infant programs. Here is a typical toddler / preschool schedule:

Time	Activity
8:00am - 8:30am	Drop-off and free play
8:30am - 9:30am	free play
9:30am - 10:00am	morning snack
10:00am - 10:30am	circle time
10:30am - 11:00am	project time
11:00am - 12:00pm	outdoor play
12:00pm - 12:30pm	family style lunch
12:30pm - 2:30pm	naptime
2:30pm - 3:00pm	afternoon snack
3:00pm - 4:00pm	afternoon outdoor time
4:00pm - 5:00pm	free play
5:00pm - 5:30pm	classroom cleaning + pickup

How does outdoor time every day work?

We try to locate all Tinycares within 5-10 minute walk of an open grassy space or a playground and take children out once or twice a day.

For outdoor safety, we use two or three seated strollers for the infant program and transition to harness backpacks with reflector vests when the children are old enough to walk.

Why should I choose Tinycare over other options?

Tinycare microcenters are the best of both worlds — blending the intimacy of a home environment with the structure of a center environment.

Compared to a center, we provide lower ratios and more personalization. Compared to a nanny or nanny share, we provide more socialization, a Montessori & Reggio-inspired curriculum, an intentionally designed environment, and more reliability.

How are parents involved in the day-to-day learning?

We believe deeply in parent partnership. There are several ways we engage your family:

1. As part of the transition process, our teachers will meet with you to ensure that they really understand your child, your family’s preferences, and created a personalized transition plan.
2. Every day, we send 5-20 updates via our mobile app with photos, videos, and details about napping, feeding, and activities.
3. There are parent-teacher conferences.

Health & Safety

How are you addressing concerns around COVID-19?

Health & safety of our entire community is our #1 priority. We have developed a set of rigorous COVID-19 prevention & mitigation strategies informed by the latest instruction from the CDC and the SF Department of Public Health. This is outlined into our 4 page document. This roughly fits into the following buckets:

• Early detection & testing: All teachers are recommended to get tested weekly and we provide them rapid antigen tests to them. All teachers are provided with thermometers to do daily health screenings.
• Minimizing contacts: with only 4-6 children per classroom, contacts are more minimal than in a larger center.
• PPE: Teachers wear masks indoors, and children 24 months and older are also recommended to do so unless they are eating or sleeping.
• Family guidelines: Tinycare families share about their risk profiles, and sign our 4 page Covid policy.
• Ventilation policies: We provide HEPA grade filters, in every space to mitigate aerosol risk and whenever possible open windows to increase airflow.

How are you protecting children from the wildfire smoke during California’s wildfire season?

We have developed a set of wildfire policies that are part of the enrollment materials you'll receive after you watch an infosession. We closely monitor the AQI throughout the day and teachers exercise judgment on whether to take children out for the day.

Curriculum

What curriculum do you use?

Tinycare’s curriculum is focused on whole child development (mind, body, heart, and spirit). Inspired by the Montessori, Reggio Emilia, and Waldorf philosophies, our approach is progressive child development rooted in the latest science. In terms of lesson plans, we balance overall structure with teacher expertise & autonomy, so each teacher also creates their own lesson plans every single week that they send to you by the end of the weekend.

What specific aspects of Montessori, Reggio Emilia, and Waldorf show up in the curriculum?

From Montessori: developing the independence of children (e.g. feeding themselves, dressing themselves, keeping their physical environment orderly), use of Montessori materials throughout the classroom, and the incorporation of practical life activities (e.g. pouring water, watering plants).

From Reggio Emilia: focusing on child centered, emergent curriculum — each week, teachers observing the authentic interests of the children in the classroom and translate them into lesson plans.

From Waldorf: emphasis on whole child development, “head, heart, and hand,” and their aesthetic of beautiful, nature themed and largely neutral toned classrooms, and recyclable & reusable materials. developing the independence of children (e.g. feeding themselves, dressing themselves, keeping their physical environment orderly), use of Montessori materials throughout the classroom, and the incorporation of practical life activities (e.g. pouring water, watering plants).

How does the bilingual curriculum work?

Some of our Tinycares offer an additional language. Most commonly Spanish and Mandarin. There are three levels of bilingual at Tinycare, from lowest language exposure to highest:

1. Exposure: ~20% that language, words, phrases, and books read in the foreign language
2. Bilingual: ~50% that language, where full days and full circle times may be in the foreign language.
3. Full immersion: ~100% that language spoken all of the time, except in some parent communication.

How do you serve students with special needs?

We are committed to serving all children. If your child has already been diagnosed with special needs, we will collaborate with you to develop a personalized plan to help them thrive; if we find that we are not able to do this to the best of our ability we will communicate this with you. If your child is too young to be diagnosed, your teachers will discuss your child's development with you in monthly learning observations and twice yearly parent teacher conferences, and if they notice any delays they will bring them to your attention to talk to your pediatrician about for a potential formal assessment.

Pods

What is a pod?

A 4-6 child group of infants, toddler, or preschoolers from families you select, taught by a vetted, licensed exceptional bilingual Tinycare teacher.

What’s the difference between a pod and a normal Tinycare?

In short, we come to your neighborhood, and you can choose the number of children and your families. Once the Tinycare is set up, it operates very similar to our existing locations.

How do I get started?

We only currently offer the pods program to currently enrolled families of children who will graduate out of their program.

How long does a pod take to set up?

Typically, it takes 1.5 - 2.5 months.

What if we already have a teacher in mind?

If your teacher wants the community & professional development at Tinycare, and wants the stability of W2 employment with health benefits even after this pod potentially ends, then let us know and we are happy to accommodate.

How much does it cost?

Costs depend on three things: (1) real estate costs (2) number of children (and thus, number of teachers) and (3) type of program (bilingual or immersion programs are more). We will provide a custom quote to you when we have a chance to chat and learn more about what you are looking for.

Do you do special programs like forest schools?

At the moment, we do not accommodate forest schools, but we would be happy to hop on a phone call with you to hear more about what you’re looking for.

Enrollment

What is the minimum contract length?

For normal Tinycares, the minimal commitment length is three months. For pods, the minimum commitment length is six months.

I am very interested, but my child is too young for a current Tinycare. What should I do?

If you know you are interested in a particular location, we encourage you to attend an infosession and apply to get onto the waitlist. Here is our waitlist priority:

1. Current families switching programs from infant -> toddler or toddler -> preschool, switching spots / day, or switching neighborhoods
2. Building + company partner families
3. Siblings of current family children
4. Applicants, ranked oldest to newest

Do you offer discounts for siblings?

Yes, we offer a 10% discount for the younger sibling, and guaranteed top of the waitlist.

We also offer discounts for pre-payment — 5% for 6 months and 10% for 1 year.

If my child is 6-9 months away from the maximum age for a program, will you kick him / her out of the toddler program then?

No, our age ranges are general guidelines. Current families get first priority for transitioning to the next age program in an area. When there is enough interest in a neighborhood for another older age program, we will open an older age program there.

How far out can I reserve a spot if there is an open spot?

If there is an open spot, we generally allow for pushing a start date 2 weeks out. If this is a challenge for you, let us know and we are happy to discuss.