Goals At Kent Meridian Cooperative Preschool

(Taken from our preschool handbook.) Our goal at KM is to help children learn how to be learners, to develop a life-long love of learning and a positive sense of self. What we concentrate onat KM is brain development, not teaching isolated facts like ABC's and 1,2,3's. This brain development is essential. It, in turn, will enhance and enrich children's learning and their lives. Our curriculum is based on active learning and discovery that help children learn the important skills for the challenges ahead. These include: How to think Problem solving Investigating Creativity Experimenting Conceptualizing Testing Cooperating Responsibility Questioning Organizing Observing Constructing Communicating Listening Imagining Initiating Sense of Self The activities we provide will also stress the beginning development of specific cognitive skills for kindergarten. These include colors, shapes, sizes, letters, position words, rhyming, opposites, counting, writing and more. Much of the activities are child initiated and child directed. Trust your children to succeed. They will learn those ABC's and 1,2,3's in due time and will also, then have the necessary foundation to put it all together for success in reading, math and the academic activities that lie ahead. Pushing these concepts at an early age can create inadvertent problems and do more harm than good. Remember, in middle school it will not matter who was first to know the alphabet. KM is an academic preschool but we are "appropriately" academic. It is our goal to develop the basis of life-long learning. Do your research and you will find that experts agree young children do not need ABC's and 1,2,3's. They need play! Play builds the brain, the foundations of learning and even leads to the ABC's. So remember, everything in a play-based preschool is academic and will help develop that foundation for success in later years-that is, a brain ready to learn and a child that is eager. When looking for a preschool, keep these criteria in mind.

Welcomed

Welcome Earth Parents! This blog is being created in hopes of offering us a place to find helpful, hopeful and supportive information as parents of preschool children (and beyond!). As a parent I loved the cooperative model of preschool education for my kids. I felt welcomed into a special community of loving and enthusiastic parents. Now, I am lucky enough to get to listen, observe and empathize as a parent education facilitator at that same preschool. My hope is that in posting themes and concepts presented in our parent education discussions we will create a shared resource for years to come. Parents and teachers are encouraged to share "best practices" and useful information, books and websites relating to all aspects of child rearing: nutrition, health & safety, positive disipline, personal experiences and lessons learned, fun things to do with kids, art projects, etc. This is an invitation only blog for our cooperative preschool only. While there are an overwhelming number of parenting resources on line already, I hope this can be a personal, high quality and practical place dedicated to the cooperative preschool model and parenting philosophy.