Mama Bear Home Daycare

Our Teachers

Hello! I am Maria Payne, the founder of Mama Bear Home Daycare. I was inspired to start my own program because I have loved working with children since I was young. I am a mother of 2 and have nearly 15 years of experience working with young children. I originally started working in Childcare at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco and then decided to open up my own childcare in my home neighborhood of the Fillmore. I recently moved to Hayes Valley and can’t wait to continue my passion here for helping children to develop to the best of their potential! I am an avid reader and one of my favorite things to do with children is to share my love of books through Storytime, song and puppetry.

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Testimonials

Maria has been caring for my son since his infancy when we met in the childcare of the Jewish community Center years ago. I appreciated her ability to calm my son before I even walked out the room, and noted her attentiveness and gentle demeanor with him. I, in fact trusted her so much I requested she come and babysit for my little one on occasion. She did and even eventually took on a nanny role. She became an integral part of our family. This continued for more than a year before Maria opened up her own Home Daycare and was unable to work for us in a Nanny capacity anymore. Coincidentally, my then 3 year old was in need of more full time care and we were so lucky to have her open up a spot to us in her new daycare that year! Even luckier for us, her son is roughly the same age. Not only did we receive great care, our children bonded and have been best friends ever since. My son attended Mama Bear Daycare until he entered kindergarten 2 years later, Emotionally and academically prepared. Thank you so much Maria and Lupe!

I have no doubts your child will receive the best care and the greatest respect at Mama Bear Daycare.

Laura - Mother of Oliver

Philosophy

At Mama Bear Home Daycare, we believe that children grow, learn, and thrive by feeling safe, loved, and nurtured. During our time here at Mama Bear, we will focus on the following: use and development of language skills, use of large and small muscles, use of materials that encourage creativity and imaginary play. We will engage in active and quiet play, in both an individual and group setting. These activities will help in learning new ideas and skills as well as promote exposure to a variety of cultures. It is our goal to provide an environment that makes children feel welcomed and ready for a day of exploration and outdoor activity!

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* We have lowered our current cohort number to 4 children in the entire program which allows room for optimal safety precautions and excellent personalized care.

*At this time we are unable to accommodate part time schedules.

Please see our Health and Safety plan here:

https://www.sfdph.org/dph/alerts/files/Directive-2020-14-Childcare.pdf

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Location

Mama Bear Home Daycare is located in a warm, spacious home in the Hayes Valley. We are conveniently located close to Civic Center Bart with easy access to downtown San Francisco.

We’ve designed our care environment with play and learning areas that allow children to explore various developmentally-appropriate activities based on their interests. Some of our favorite areas include block area (for gross motor skills and problem solving), reading / cozy area (for literacy, relaxation, and respite), and music and movement area (for physical activity and cultural learning).

Children will have some outdoor time everyday at the park right outside my door! It’s great to have a space where children can run, jump and move!

At Mama Bear Home Daycare, I want to provide an enriching environment where children feel free to explore and play.

About our program

Here at Mama Bear we are a family. We believe communication and understanding are key to providing families with an outstanding personalized Daycare experience that will give little ones the confidence to grow academically for years to come. Children will be encouraged to play and explore with independence in our private and secure outdoor environment.

As we navigate these new and exciting times our low provider to child ratio will allow us to collaborate closely with your family to ensure your little one is thriving in all areas. Such a low ratio also increases our ability to diminish opportunities for COVID transmission between children and staff.

Mama Bear Teachers are fully vaccinated and extremely COVID conscious.

All SFDPH and CDC guidelines will be followed.

Mama Bear Daycare is a BIPOC Woman owned, Small Family Business.

Admissions

Join the Mama Bear Home Daycare 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 Mama Bear Home Daycare unique. Please schedule a tour or attend an Open House event.

3. Submit an Enrollment Application

If you would like to enroll, please submit an application. Please 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.