Parent-Toddler Classes
Take a moment to slow down, unplug, and connect with your child and other families during our welcoming morning play groups.
Take a moment to breathe, unplug, and connect with your child and other parents and caregivers during our morning Parent-Toddler classes. These simple, sweet, and playful morning gatherings are held in our school's cozy parent-child classrooms, a welcoming child-centered environment that invites exploration and play. We also spend time outdoors (weather permitting!) enjoying the play yards and gardens on our school’s 10-acre campus.
For young children, parent-toddler classes are a gentle, supportive way to start socializing with other children and exploring the world around them. For parents and caregivers, the classes are an opportunity to connect with other families, discuss parenting and Waldorf education, and learn more about their child by quietly observing them at play.
Open to families with children ages 15 months to 2 years 9 months old. For babies under 15 months, please see our Baby & Me Program for families with children birth to 14 months. This winter, we have two Parent-Toddler program options.
Register for the Winter Session Below
Wednesday Parent-Toddler Program
with Jennifer McKinley
January 14 - April 1 (11 Wednesdays)
8:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
$550
Program Full
Register for the Wait List
Friday Parent-Toddler Program
with Jennifer McKinley
January 9–March 27 (11 Fridays)
8:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
$550
Program Full
Register for the Wait List
Note: Cancellations are accepted up to one week before class begins and are subject to a $100 cancellation fee. Thereafter, cancellations may result in a forfeiture of the entire free.
Meet Our Instructors
Jennifer McKinley
Since joining the staff at Marin Waldorf School in 2012, Jennifer McKinley has taught in both the Parent-Toddler and kindergarten programs, in addition to leading the grades 1-8 gardening program. Jennifer is currently completing her Waldorf teacher training program at the West Coast Institute in Vancouver, Canada, and she has also completed trainings with Lifeways and Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training (Foundation Studies). She double majored in creative writing and art practice at UC Davis, and held a wide range of jobs before she began teaching, including semi-truck driver, wilderness guide, and organic farmer, to name a few. Jennifer loves being in and on the ocean, playing with her family, being outdoors, making things, food in general, travel, reading, and working in her garden.
Monica Martinez
Monica’s passion for supporting healthy child development began over 30 years ago with the birth of her two sons. Inspired by her time with young children, she became a certified Waldorf early childhood teacher and RIE (Resources for Infant Educarers) educator. She has founded and directed several Waldorf-inspired early childhood programs in Mexico, blending outdoor education and bilingual learning, and has also mentored and trained teachers in Waldorf and early childhood education. In 2021, she founded Banyan Forest Kindergarten in Austin, Texas—a Forest-based, bilingual (Spanish–English) program rooted in Waldorf principles. Alongside her teaching, Monica offers workshops for parents on early childhood development and guidance for educators. She is also a certified Family Constellations facilitator.