About Us
Who We Are
Hello! My name is Sonja Hill and I am the Owner and Director of Hansel & Gretel Daycare & Preschool.
Thank you for taking the time to visit our website.
I am a wife and proud mother of two adult children. I have an undergraduate Degree in Early Childhood Education and pursue continuing education. I possess over twenty five years of daycare and preschool experience and have operated Hansel & Gretel in its current
location for over twenty four years. I am proud to introduce you to my small but mighty little school.
Hansel & Gretel is my passion. I created it to be the epitome of what discerning parents want in a daycare and preschool experience. Hansel & Gretel is what I was unable to find years ago when looking for care for my own children. I wanted a place where my children would LOVE to go each day. I wanted a place where my children would be nurtured, well educated and intellectually stimulated with a variety of activities. I wanted a place that was clean and well supplied, with plenty of toys for all of the children. I wanted a place that was culturally diverse, with educated and well qualified staff, whose love of children showed in their demeanor and actions.
A lover of reading myself, I wanted a facility that would help foster that love in my children. A place with lots of books that recognized the powerful impact learning to read has on a child's life and intentionally
focused on teaching students to read. Simply put, I wanted an all-inclusive experience, the Best of the Best.
And that's just what I've created with my little school, Hansel & Gretel Daycare & Preschool.
About Us
Hansel & Gretel Daycare & Preschool is a State licensed, home based facility located in a large home in a quiet court in the beautiful City of Hercules.
We offer innovative and well researched thematic curriculum, filled with fun and exciting activities, planned lessons, measured benchmarks tied to Common Core Standards, S.T.E.M. activities, Spanish and Sign Language instruction and more.
A multicultural facility serving children between the ages of two through six, we pride ourselves in consistently delivering the absolute best in both daycare and preschool. Our specialty is providing children with exciting and challenging structured activities delivered in a well organized and engaging environment - the best mix for learning. Our classroom is designed especially to suit the needs of preschoolers, conducive to both independent exploration and teacher directed activities that reinforce and enrich needed skills and concepts.
A Nurturing & Stimulating Environment!
ABCs & 123s and so much more...
Our Mission
My core belief is that if given a variety of engaging, fun and challenging learning activities, presented in nurturing and secure environment, children will naturally thrive. Our mission is to light the fire of learning in the children in our care. We prepare our students to successfully enter kindergarten and, further, to become lifetime learners, inquisitive about and eager to engage the world around them.
Rather than subscribing to one early education philosophy, my approach is to mix the best elements of several philosophies, with lots of personalization thrown in. I incorporate the hands-on learning approach and classroom tools of Montessori, the nurturing, group learning and rhythmic repetition principals of Waldorf, and the range of my curriculum is very similar to that of The High Scope program. When combined with much researched and self-developed ideas and curricula, the end result is a unique program tailored to the educational, social and emotional needs of children that works!
We don’t just claim to have an excellent program, we prove it! Our living letters of recommendation are the children who are thriving under our care and excel in school, and their happy, well-satisfied parents. I put my heart and soul into Hansel & Gretel, and I am proud of the result. In the world of daycare and preschools,
our little school not only holds its own, it excels.
If you are looking for the BEST, you’ve found it!
Activities
At Hansel & Gretel Daycare & Preschool, we offer action packed days full of fun activities. All of our activities aid in the social, emotional and academic development of our students. Children learn best when they are having fun! We tailor our lessons to each child's unique learning style. Whether your child is a visual, auditory, or Kinesthetic Learner, our activities will engage and inspire!
Our activities include:
- Reading instruction with heavy emphasis on phonics and phonemic awareness
- Early Math
- S.T.E.M. and Early Science
- Letter and Number Recognition
- Social Development
- Lending Library
- Cooking Activities
- Spanish Instruction
- Sign Language Instruction
- Story time
- Arts and Crafts
- Musical Instruments
- Large and fine motor skill development
- Character building activities
- Hula Classes
- Sports Classes, and more...
Upcoming Openings:
Very limited 2024 availability. Contact us now for information on enrollment and scheduling an interview