Recent experience at Nomura Preschool - too academic?

Hello! We've been searching for a full-time play-based preschool for our almost 3 year-old in the Richmond/El Cerrito area and wondering about Nomura Preschool. We recently did a virtual tour and the campus looks very nice, but the entire day seems very structured with little time for free play or outdoor play. Does anyone else who leans more towards play-based preschools have recent experience there? Did it feel too structured and academic? For a school that's been around for so long I was surprised to see so few reviews on BPN. 

(Just fyi we've also looked into The Good Earth School in Kensington and Centro Vida in Berkeley as well as El Cerrito Preschool Cooperative but strongly prefer something closer to home if possible. We live in Richmond.)

Thank you for sharing your experiences!

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  We had two kids there, and our youngest just started kindergarten this year.  We initially had similar concerns, but did not find it to be overly structured, it just seems to be emphasized that way in their marketing.  Yes, they have some academic time, but they have a huge amazing playground and each class gets time out there every day.  They also have time to play in the classroom, the teachers were great and know that kids that age can't be in a structured environment all day long.  We felt like it was a good mix of play and learning, and Nomura had both of my kids ready for kindergarten since they do need some structure once they reach school.  We enjoyed our time and the community and would recommend them!  

My child loves it there. She actually loves the learning aspect of it and relishes in showing off her skills (abcs, new songs, numbers, history, tiny bit of science.) She seems to have a good about of time to just play both inside and out.

The downsides for us have been teacher turnover, variability in instruction and expectations from classroom to classroom, and lack of transparency about what’s happening in the class day to day. 
 

Overall the kids seem happy, the teachers seem to really care, and the parents are lovely. The vacation schedule is reasonable and the hours are pretty good. I’m happy to answer any other questions you have. 

Hello, I highly recommend looking into the Early Learning Center at Contra Costa College in San Pablo.  It's a play-based program for the two traditional classrooms and they have one Montessori classroom. My son is currently in one of the traditional rooms.  Wait list might be long for any of the rooms but it's worth finding out more about this program if play-based is what you are looking for.