“Please remember when you are a working parent that the teachers need you to post your activity or snack 2 weeks in advance of the work day.” We’ve been hearing this at least once a week, and maybe we, as parents, need some help in this area. With that in mind, I offer the following FAQ:
Q: Where do I sign up for an activity or snack?
A: Right on the sign-up calendar, on the line below your name. A very brief description will do, i.e. “play outside” or “make kites” or “clay table”. Or, in the case of snacks, “muffins” or “berries”.
Q: Then I just show up that day?
A: Not quite. We ask that a week or so before your working day, you briefly get with the lead teacher for your work week and check in. The teachers try to get with you, too, but if both sides try, you’ll be sure to connect. Remind the teacher of your plans. The teachers will often plan other activities around parent ideas, and this is a great way to get the whole team on the same page.
For example, once I did a craft where the kids colored their favorite kinds of ice cream, and made up new flavors. Mrs. Lori set up an ice cream stand that same day, so the kids “sold” the ice cream they had colored back and forth all morning. Another mom had planned to put on a puppet show, so the teachers made a big deal of the kids going to the show, and needing tickets, etc.
Q: Help! How do I decide on an Activity?
A: Remember, this is a play-based and child-driven environment. Your activity doesn’t need to be anything fancy, and will hopefully be something you enjoy. I’ve included a list of ideas for springtime here to help jog your imagination. Or ask the teachers for an idea—they’re full of them! Or ask another parent, or go into the supply closet and pray for inspiration, or check out the idea shelf in the hallway…
As for me, I try to remember the stuff I liked as a kid. Playing doctor with the dolls, playing restaurant, dress-up, painting, running races, dancing… one of my most successful working days was when it was cold out and I brought in a CD of kids music, and we just danced around.
And remember: the weather and the kids could make you ignore your planned activity anyway! That’s the way the Co-op bounces….
Have more questions about being a working parent? Please reply to this post, and we'll be happy to answer them!
We are grateful for your support of our recent and successful family variety show at the State Theatre. If you could not attend, please take a moment to imagine the joy and laughter emanating from the children in the audience.
As you know, your business was recognized in appreciation on promotional materials before, during and after the show. It is our hope that the community acknowledges your presence with new or more visits to your business. Meanwhile, we would like to share with you what we have accomplished with your help.
Thanks to each of you, despite a challenging economic period and an established competing fundraiser, we are delighted to have raised roughly $2700 for our scholarship fund among cash donations, tickets & raffle sales. We also wish to thank businesses for the post-Co-opalooza fundaisers that send profits from Cooperative Playschool-related purchases to our scholarship fund. We also greatly enjoyed the wonderful food and flowers donated for our After Party, and the special goods and services donated for our raffles, give-aways and Co-opalooza publicity.
It was thrilling to celebrate 60 years of play-based pre-school education with the State Theatre, our sponsors, our Co-op families, and the State College and surrounding communities.
At 9:50 am, children at the “Co-Op” are busily stacking blocks, drawing on blueprint paper and pouring water through funnels at the water table.“Watch out! Here comes the lava,” shouts one of the children.A small group is preparing bouquets for a princess wedding while another child is talking to felted snow fairies as she weaves them in and out of fabric-draped branches adorned with crystal beads.Everyone is lost in their own world of imagination, exploration and self-expression.A teacher sings,“Ten minutes ‘til clean up time.”
Five year old Jolie earnestly responds, “ I can’t yet because first I have to work on this important thing that has to go in here like this. . .” her voice trailing off as she bends to pick up an uncooked noodle that has fallen under the table.She has a basket full of noodles, sparkly pipe cleaners, a pile of cotton batting and a blue scale lined up on what had been the nature table just twenty minutes before.
By the end of clean up, the noodles are on the scale, the batting is draped over a felt bird and the pipe cleaners are loosely twisted around the scale’s top.Ten minutes later, it’s no wonder Jolie says she’s tired and needs a snack for “new energy.”Play is hard work!
While it seems obvious that children’s play is their work and that having fun can promote learning, there’s more to it than meets the eye.Dr. James Johnson, professor-in-charge of Early Childhood Education at Penn State, says that play contributes to the emotional, cognitive, physical, social and over-all development of the child.He adds that teachers and parents can help children reap the promises of healthy self-directed play, namely:knowing one’s self and others better, heightened creativity and imagination and problem-solving skills, greater emotional and personal and spiritual well-being, self-motivation and will- power to control one’s experiences, achieving and maintaining a sense of contentment, having confidence and a good moral compass and, finally, being a compassionate and a loving person. All these promises are possible for our children when the power of play is unleashed, and harnessed.
Providing opportunities for children to engage in rich, imaginative play doesn’t have to be costly or require a full schedule of play dates.Simple household props, toys that have open-ended or multiple uses and some quiet time and space are often all that’s needed for a child to launch into rich, self-sustained play.Quality children’s literature is also an excellent springboard for imaginative play.
For more information on the importance of play visit: www.earlychildhoodnews.com, www.aap.org (American Academy of Pediatrics, keyword: play), www.npr.org(Article: Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills.) The public is also invited to attend, “The Power of Play” at Schlow Regional Library on Sunday, March 29th from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.The free program is sponsored by The Cooperative Playschool of State College and the library.Info at: www.cooperativeplayschool.com.
