Wallaby - a family development center

Unlike many other parent & me classes, our sessions run for a full semester during the school year (with a special discounted school year option, plus a 10-week summer session), and classes are offered twice a week, giving young children for whom Wallaby is probably their first school-like experience the opportunity to develop real relationships with the other children and grownups in their class, and to fully engage in the important confidence-building and joyful experiences that will support their eventual transition to preschool.

Although some young children are more adaptable than others, all young children benefit from consistency and repetition, and generally take several weeks to become completely familiar with and comfortable in a particular environment or relationship.  You may notice that when you first start your session at Wallaby, your child may hang back and watch intently while some of the other children and adults engage in the wide variety of individual and group activities we offer.  Over time and as your child comes to think of Wallaby as a safe and familiar space filled with fascinating objects and activities and friendly adults and peers, he or she will take pride and pleasure in actively joining in and developing close and lasting relationships with others.  Granting your child the time to have these pressure-free confidence-building experiences is an important part of supporting his or her transition from babyhood to toddlerhood and beyond.

Equally important is the fact that the longer sessions offer participating parents and caregivers a unique and much-needed opportunity to meet and truly connect with other adults who are experiencing the same joys and challenges related to caring for young children.  Wallaby’s longer sessions will allow both children and their grownups to develop close friendships that can last a lifetime.