PLANTING TOMORROW’S FLOWERS TODAY
Gayane Yahjian, founder and director of Gaya’s Schoolhouse, has over 30 years of experience working with children and their parents as an early childhood educator.
Her unique approach to a child’s development has led to decades of partnering with parents to design and implement custom protocols for their children’s care. Each child has a unique learning style, and in turn their parents are unique in their parenting.
Gaya is an expert at asking the right questions, listening and gauging what are the appropriate next steps to guide parents in tackling challenges of all kinds in their households. Communication is key in this collaboration, and she is able to convey her recommendations in a sensitive, compassionate, educational and fun way. Most of all, she has enjoyed years of positive results from her efforts.
If you are a parent or family in need of Gaya’s expert consultation, especially as you work from home while homeschooling, you may call Gaya’s Schoolhouse at (818) 957-6369 to set up a free phone assessment, after which Gaya can continue to work with you and your child by phone or video conference.
We work with children to establish and develop play, social, and communication skills, to build lifelong learning skills and create the confidence children need to succeed at home, school and in everyday life. Since 1997, Gaya’s Schoolhouse has dedicated itself to providing quality early childhood education through sensory-based experiences as part of the Play-Learn-Methodology. What sets the Schoolhouse apart further is that it’s located in the Yahjian family home, where freshly cooked organic meals, loving care and a safe and clean environment are offered to children every day.
The first 5 years in a child’s life are the most important — we are committed to making them count!
Preschool
3-5 year-olds get hands-on academic and life skills preparation for kindergarten.
Kindergarten + After-school
School-age children who are home due to school closures or need a safe place to stay after school and do homework while mom and dad are at work are welcome to join us!
Date Care
Parents get some “us time” while children play at the Schoolhouse for a few hours or overnight.
Our academics are based around materials created by Mother Goose Time, a tried and true research-based preschool curriculum that covers 8 domains:
1. Social and Emotional Development
2. Physical Development
3. Language and Literacy
4. Mathematics and Reasoning
5. Social Studies
6. Science
7. Creative Development
8. Second Language (Spanish, Bulgarian, Armenian)
Schoolhouse children learn to write and draw with workbooks created by Handwriting Without Tears, a nationally-recognized program for handwriting mastery. From HWT: “Research supports the active teaching of handwriting. Recent findings demonstrate that writing by hand improves creative writing skills and fine motor skills.”
Arts and Crafts
Every week, children draw, paint, sculpt and work on art projects using recycled materials. Each art session engages with the academic topics of the week, and children practice presenting their work to one another.
Music & Performing Arts
Children learn the fundamentals of dance through weekly courses taught by Plaza Production One Dance Studio.
Every June, the Schoolhouse puts on a graduation ceremony and performance for parents and family members. Graduates of the Schoolhouse’s Preschool program join the rest of the kids to perform songs, nursery rhymes, poems, puppet shows and short plays that they develop and practice with Gaya (who plays the accordion!) and her staff throughout the school year. All costumes and props are home-made.
Sports & Movement
At least once a month, the Schoolhouse children go on a walking field trip around the neighborhood where they make discoveries about their community while working their muscles.
Children also participate in a gentle weekly yoga class and soccer practice, where they learn “principles and life skills like confidence, respect, honesty, and teamwork” while scoring goals, running and cheering each other on.
We like to take dance breaks throughout the week to get energized to the fun videos and music of Mother Goose Time’s Dance ‘n Beats movement program, which “helps children learn 21 movements that increase muscle control and encourage physical fitness.”
A typical day at the Schoolhouse consists of structured educational activities, indoor/outdoor playtime, a nutritious, organic, home-cooked lunch and afternoon snack, a restful 2-hour mid-day nap and lots of learning and creating in-between!
Children do not watch television, eat junk food or play with computers or devices. We believe that the first five years of a child’s life are prime time to explore the world around them using all five senses, developing hands-on, imaginative and social skills that will set them up to be confident, communicative and curious teenagers and adults.
In order to establish a healthy environment for children’s sensitive immune systems, children do not wear shoes indoors. All Schoolhouse staff wear separate indoor and outdoor shoes, and visitors to the Schoolhouse are asked to remove their shoes at the door. In this same vein, any child that displays symptoms of sickness is immediately sent home to get well soon!
We teach children to work with one another to solve problems, brainstorm ideas and foster a culture of respect, kindness and understanding.
We have over 20 years of experience working with children with special needs, particularly high-functioning Asperger and Down Syndromes, hyperactivity, attention deficits and delays in speech and/or social interaction skills. Our experience has shown that children with special needs thrive in a structured environment where they can engage with non-disabled playmates of different ages. We welcome special needs families to come to the Schoolhouse to benefit from our speech, social interaction and academic programs.
We are a vendor with the Frank D. Lanterman Regional Center and proud participants of their annual “Holidays are for Sharing” fundraising drive for special needs families in need. Our vendor number is H25203.
Gaya’s Schoolhouse operates Monday-Friday from 7:30am – 5:30pm.
Extended hours are available by request and at additional cost from 6:30am-6:30pm.
We are open all year round with the exception of most major holidays.
A typical day at the Schoolhouse consists of structured educational activities, indoor/outdoor playtime, a nutritious, organic, home-cooked lunch and afternoon snack, a restful 2-hour mid-day nap and lots of learning and creating in-between!
We are licensed by the State of California to operate as a child care educational center. Our license number is 198003698.
Words cannot express how thankful I am to you for your love, dedication, and expertise in the care of my children and for creating such a beautiful second home for them where they are so happy and well taken care of!! It means the world to me and to them. Thank you also for always being available, even on the phone giving advices for solving health or behavior problems!
-Hripsy D.
It was important to me that my daughter was in a home environment for the first 5 years of her life before she went to an institution called ‘school.’ Gaya’s ‘Schoolhouse’ gave us the perfect combination of a great learning environment in a homey setting. Gaya’s family, her husband, and her two amazing daughters are also very invested in the Schoolhouse. They help out every year with the events and are a big support system for all of us. Coomy Kadribegovic
As her name suggests Gaya is like a mother for all the little kids in her wonderful Schoolhouse. She incorporates creative play, cooking, nature experiments, puppet shows, music lesson, acting, singing and dancing in order to nurture the natural curiosity in the kids. The result is a child that not only excels academically, but also thrives in a social environment. I am so grateful to Gaya for all of the loving care she provided for our son. We couldn’t do it without a good childcare and Gaya’s Schoolhouse is the GOLDEN STANDARD in the industry.
I’ve been at Gaya’s schoolhouse since I was a kid and I stopped by today to say hi and I felt welcomed by my favorite teacher and friend Gaya. This is where I started my childhood and Gaya’s Schoolhouse has always been a second family to me. I will never forget all the fun memories I had at Gaya’s Schoolhouse, I love Gaya’s Schoolhouse with all of my heart!
-Kirby Rook
As a first time mom, I was really anxious about turning my baby over to someone else, but it wound up being a very easy transition. It was so clear on day one just how much Gaya and the other teachers love all the children. Not once, in all the time that she has been there, have I ever had to deal with a child crying because she didn’t want to go to school. Instead, every morning she wakes up and asks when she can go to see “her guys.” But it’s not only that the Schoolhouse has created a safe and loving environment for my daughter; I give a lot of credit to the schoolhouse for the fact that she is well ahead of her peers across the board in her developmental and social skills. Laura Hebert
We love and trust Gaya, Gohar, and Aida. Our boy is so well behaved and we know it is due to the love and discipline at Gaya’s. Every day he brings home art. At school they participate in music, zumba, soccer. Our son loves it there and we love that when he sees classmates in and out of school the first thing they do is hug! It really is run like a large family. Gaya will call to check on your child over the weekend if they are sick. He has been attending since 7 months old and now is almost 3. We have no reservations about recommending this place. 5 stars–woohoo, as good as it gets!Sid Rajbandari
My son had a very bad case of eczema. Gaya had done lots of research, talked to professionals, and continues to give priceless advice since then. Some of his first words were “Gaya,” “Aida” and his friends’ names 🙂 We never have difficulty to take him to school, even on Mondays! Their approach to the kids was the most important factor for us to make up our mind. Besides that, excellent early education, very clean environment and delicious homemade healthy food make the schoolhouse perfect! Pelin Ersavas
Gaya takes a genuine interest in the welfare of our child. She always has time to talk to us about how the day went, what kind of progress was made, how he is feeling, what he needs to continue developing with regard to his goals. The way she loves our son is like that of a family member, not a child care provider. It’s so comforting to know that there are still people like Gaya in the world. Gaya we love you and consider ourselves truly blessed to have found you.
Our older son will be going to Kindergarten this August. When he started attending Gaya’s Schoolhouse, he didn’t speak English fluently, was reluctant to communicate with new people, and didn’t know how to approach children and initiate games with them. Thanks to Gaya, who has an individualized approach, gives individual attention to every child, and guided us in what we needed to work on, our son changed a lot. He is eager to speak with new people. He speaks English fluently, knows all letters and sounds, can write simple words in upper and lower-case, began reading simple Dr. Seuss books, and performs simple additions and subtractions. Most importantly, he likes to learn how to read and write and shows interest in learning more. Tanya Yanovsky
My daughter – now grown-up and successful communicator in STEM – went to Gaya’s Schoolhouse when she was in her formative years. There she learned that science is fascinating, that working together as a team makes you happy, that you should treat others with respect and that you can always succeed when you put your heart in what you do. Gaya knows how to approach a child and to make them see the world around in a new and beautiful way.
-Svetla Hristova
Founder + Director, B.S. in Early Childhood Education,
CPR + First Aid Certified
Gaya has enjoyed engaging with others to improve their minds and the world around them for over 40 years. She graduated from the University of Blagoevgrad in Bulgaria with a degree in Early Childhood Education in 1985. Moving to the United States, she then worked as a preschool teacher and private tutor until the opening of Gaya’s Schoolhouse in 1997, where she enjoys working with all children and their parents in developing their hearts and minds. Dedicated to offering the best environments and services possible, Gaya is devoted in nourishing the Schoolhouse children with love and affection, care and understanding, and a place which allows them to thrive.
Teacher’s Assistant
CPR + First Aid Certified
