Your child's teacher
Mohini Madhavi — Maral
I opened Krishna Scholars because of my own son.
He was three, at a large preschool, ten hours a day. One afternoon I watched a teacher scold him for something a three-year-old cannot help. That was the moment I stopped trusting them — and started thinking about what I would want instead.
I wanted to know he was eating well. I wanted to know someone was actually paying attention to him. I wanted him growing up inside our culture, away from screens, learning to respect people older than him and look after the ones younger.
I teach here every weekday. Parents meet me at drop-off and at pickup, and I am the one who tells you how the day actually went — what your child ate, what they built, and what they found hard.
Background
- Eight-time National Chess Champion of Turkmenistan
- Competed at World Chess Championships
- Master of Sports in chess
- Coached young players to national-level success
- BSc Computer Science · MA Journalism
- Twenty years in the Vaishnava (ISKCON) tradition
About the school
A home, not a facility.
Krishna Scholars is a licensed home preschool in Blossom Valley, San Jose, for children from 14 months to six years. We are licensed for twelve preschool places — not twelve per room, twelve in the whole house — which is the single thing that shapes every day here. During school breaks California also allows us up to two school-age children on top of that, which is when our summer camp runs.
Mornings begin together with Sanskrit shlokas, then move into letters, numbers and the work of getting ready for kindergarten. Chess, kirtan and stories from the Ramayana and the Bhagavad-gita run through the week. Every meal is cooked in our kitchen, pure vegetarian, and offered in our tradition before it is served.
You do not need to be a Hindu family to belong here. Several of our families are not. Children leave us ready for kindergarten at any school in San Jose, and they leave knowing a few stories and verses most of their classmates will never hear.
The learning room in daylight, or the backyard. No faces needed.
How we care for your child
Four things we hold to.
No screens, at any point in the day
Not as a reward, not to fill a gap, not on a rainy afternoon. Learning happens through play, stories, conversation and hands-on work. With twelve children we never need a screen to hold the room.
Every meal cooked here
Pure vegetarian, without onion or garlic, prepared fresh each morning and offered in our tradition before it is served. No lunchbox to pack and no outside food, so every child eats the same food at the same table.
Nothing unkind is ignored
If a toy is snatched, it goes back — and we practise asking for it properly. If one child hits another, we stop it and show them what gentle looks like. Not a single unkindness passes without an answer, which is how children this age actually learn to be kind.
Clean hands, cared-for space
Handwashing before every meal, tidying up together, and looking after your own belongings. Small habits, practised so often they stop being instructions.
Program details
- Ages
- 14 months – 6 years
- Hours
- Mon – Fri, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
- Group size
- 12 preschool places
- Ratio
- 1 adult per 6 children
- Meals
- All included, cooked here
- Tuition
- See our rates →
- Licence
- Facility #434416594
- Location
- Blossom Valley, San Jose
- Availability
- Current openings →
Starting here
The first month is a trial — for both of us.
Time for your child to settle
Most children find their feet within two weeks. Some need longer, and I take the time — one family had me spend nearly three weeks easing their daughter in before she was happy to be left.
And time for me to be sure
A month tells me whether this is the right place for your child and whether they are settling well alongside the others. If either of us feels it is not working, we say so and part without penalty.
Come and see the space, and meet me properly.
Please bring your child — I want to meet them too. Tours run weekday evenings, 5:30–6:00, once the children have gone home, so you have my full attention and the children have theirs during the day. Call or text 608-338-9270.