Sunflower Learning Loft

Our Teachers

Tarah Owen, the founder of Sunflower Learning Loft is a California native, a San Francisco resident since 2009, and mother of 3 children!

Tarah originally majored in Fashion Marketing yet ended up studying Child Development and Family Studies. As an Early Childhood Educator she has spent the last five years in corporate child care contracted with a major tech company in downtown San Francisco. Previous to that she taught in a trauma informed Head Start program. Based on her various experiences she was inspired to start her own in home micro center to create a learning environment that balances all the formality of a large center with the individualized attention of a small group in an in home environment.

Tarah has 7 years of experience teaching children 0-5 including children with learning disabilities and various challenges. She is well versed in early childhood learning philosophies including traditional, play based, and Montessori. Her program is a balance of all three.

Philosophy

Sunflower Learning Loft is a child-centered, play based, mixed age school. We believe that children grow, learn, and thrive by feeling safe, loved, and nurtured by providing an environment that helps each child to feel confident and capable. In our program, children will feel empowered to follow their own interests in a safe space with a healthy balance of play based child led activities as well as intentional teacher directed learning moments.

Sunflower Learning Loft places equal emphasis on all areas of learning and development: cognitive, physical, and social-emotional. Our goal is to provide parents and caregivers monthly milestone observations and documentation to track each child’s progress and interests.

Location

Sunflower Learning Loft is located in a bright, cozy loft apartment in the SOMA neighborhood between Civic Center and Mission Bay, conveniently located minutes from 101 and 280. Unmetered street parking along Harrison Street makes dropping off and picking up a cinch.

Our learning environment has been intentionally designed with children’s learning at heart. Some of our favorite areas include our cozy reading area for literacy, relaxation, and respite - our sensory area, for spatial awareness and learning through the five senses - and dramatic play area for self-expression and empathy.

Children will have outdoor time everyday at local playgrounds or on community walks.

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About our program

As a new child care program to the SOMA neighborhood, Sunflower Learning Loft is where young children feel empowered to actively explore their interests and build a solid foundation for later learning in a safe and high quality environment. We believe that early childhood learning is a collaborative partnership between families and teachers and strive to build a community to connect, support, and encourage.

Admissions

Join the Sunflower Learning Loft community in four easy steps:

1. Explore our website

We’ve provided information about our philosophies and offerings to help you decide if our program may be right for your family.

2. Tour our program

Come see what makes Sunflower Learning Loft unique. If we are currently hosting tours, you can request or schedule a tour at the top of this page. If we are not currently hosting tours, you’ll see a “Request Info” button at the top of this page; if you submit your information using this button, we will notify you when we start host tours again in the future.

3. Submit an Enrollment Application

If you would like to enroll, please submit an application at www.wonderschool.com/sunflower-learning-loft-4912/apply – note that we require tours for all prospective families. Please do not submit an application if you have not visited the program.

4. Enroll

After reviewing your application, we’ll send an enrollment invitation. Upon accepting your invitation you’ll pay your enrollment fee, fill out enrollment documents and review our Parent Handbook.