Human size spider web in preschool

Every year when we study spiders in the 4's classroom we build a human size spider web.  The kids love to build it, they need very little direction, and then they spend the morning playing in the web.  It's a great experience for them and fun too!

Fire Safety

It's so important to discuss fire safety with your children.  Have an evacuation plan for your home.  Make sure your plan includes an outside meeting place.  Emphasize to your children, not to hide if a fire happens in your home.  They need to make noise so that the firefighters can find them.  Be sure that your evacuation plan includes an outdoor meeting place and that no one should ever go back into a burning building for any reason.  Preschools in our area are required to do monthly fire drills.  Practice, practice, practice!

The First Day of Preschool is upon us!

The first day of school is right around the corner!  There are exciting new changes to our staff and curriculum at the Cooperative Nursery School!  We welcome Jenelle Keene as our 2's teacher and Good Beginnings teacher.  Robin Newhouse is joining Coop as our 3's teacher!  We will continue to offer music enrichment to each of our classes and welcome Miss Joanna as our new music teacher!  For the first time we will be offering spanish language learning to each of our classes!  Miss Azucena will be our spanish teacher!  It's going to be a great year for our students and their families!

Cooperative Nursery School Summer Update!

Summer is flying by!  It won't be long and the quiet hallways and classrooms will be filled with children's laughter once again!  I can hardly wait!  Even though the children have been gone there has been lots of things going on to prepare for the new school year.  We have two new teachers on staff for the fall.  Miss Jenelle will be teaching our Monday/Wednesday and Tuesday/Thursday 2's classes and will remain the facilitator of our Good Beginnings Parent-Child playgroup that meets on Friday mornings.  Miss Robin will be our new Monday/Wednesday/Friday 3's teacher and she will be assisting me in the 4/5's class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  I hope to have some new teacher bio's posted in the near future.

We are in the process of accepting applications for a music teacher.  Miss Genevieve left us to pursue her PHD at our local university.  We'll be offering spanish enrichment classes and art enrichment classes this fall too! 

It's going to be a fantastic school year!  We still have openings in our Monday/Wednesday 2's and our 3's and 4/5's classes.  Visit our website for more information http://www.coopnursery.org/ or call the school on Tuesday or Thursday mornings from 9:30-11:30 for information or to setup a site visit.

Pre-K moves on!

It's the end of another great year!  As the teacher of the 4 and 5 year olds pre-k class, it's always a little sad for me to see the year come to an end.  When you're the teacher of 2's or 3's you know you'll see your little ones next school year.  But when you're the pre-K teacher you know that the fun and work you shared with your students comes to an end on the last day of school.  I am comforted in the fact that I know my kids are ready for the next huge step in their lives, kindergarten!  But it doesn't make saying goodbye any easier for me!  Over the past 21 years I have had many children leave my care.  It's rewarding that some of my past families still remember me and send me updates on their children.  I am thrilled that 2 of my former kids (from my family childcare home that I had for several years) graduated from high school this year and their parents sent me an announcement and invites to their graduation parties.  It is so nice to be remembered!  So here's to the class of 2011!

Fantastic Field Trip

What a great time we had at the Ropp Jersey Cheese farm!  The children were able to feed baby calves, llamas, goats, milk a cow, and enjoy a hay rack ride!  They observed the cheese making process and tasted some samples, YUM!

Happy Mother's Day 2011!

Wishing all of Coop's past, present, and future Moms a very Happy Mother's Day!  YOU ROCK!

Preschool Teacher needed!

The Cooperative Nursery School is seeking a PT preschool teacher, M-F
 8:30 am - 12:30 pm to start Fall 2011.  Applicants must be DCFS Head Teacher & Director qualified.  Experience with Creative Curriculum preferred.  Send resume to:  Cooperative Nursery School c/o Personnel Chair, 602 W. Green St., Urbana, IL. 61801.  Resumes are due by Friday May 13, 2011.

A typical day in our Pre-K class!

Leprechaun trap!

First we build the trap!

Then we add the bait.

Poison Prevention

STOP!

DON'T TOUCH!

TELL A GROWNUP!

We are so lucky to have parents involved in our school! Our former parents are still very supportive and frequently enrich our classrooms long after their children have graduated! This week our classrooms were lucky to have a former parent visit to teach our children about Poison prevention. She does a wonderful job and the children learn so much from her short visit! Thanks M, we appreciate your support and expertise!

The Mitten

Every year my 4's class participates in a special project. Each project is based on the children's interests. Sometimes it's an invention unit or an architecture unit or an art unit (this was a great unit which ended with a gallery showing of all the children's art) or a play. This year's class loves to perform so a play was perfect! We performed "The Mitten" by Jan Brett. The parents made the costumes with child input. We did have to create a few extra characters since we had more children than animals from the book. So we added a cat and a bear cub. Ms. Anna was "Baba" since she is old already! :-)

Open House

Visit Coop at our Open House on Friday March 11, 2011 from 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. Meet our Teachers, observe our 3's class and parent-child playgroup in action! Coop is the preschool where children, parents, and teachers work together!

Site visits are available! Please call the school 217 384-1128 or email coopnurserycu@gmail.com to schedule yours today!

Busy 4's!

We started the week with passing out valentines to our friends! Group projects can be fun! We taped long paper to our long table used wood blocks to make sides and then we used ping pong balls to paint with. We used our hands, our mouths, and straws to move the balls around on the paper. It really was beautiful when completed!

We worked on set design for our class project/performance "The Mitten".

Since we're getting ready for "The Mitten" we're learning about plays and imagination. We started at circle time with the flannel board story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Then during work time the children took turns performing Goldilocks. They were careful to include the correct props, 3 beds (though ours had 4 beds "Just in case we need an extra bed" (always thinking of others) 3 chairs, and 3 bowls of porridge. We had an audience and plenty of actors! The stage was set and the performances drew standing ovations!

Open Enrollment

Coop has begun accepting applications for the 2011-2012 school year. We offer half-day classes for 2 year olds, 3 year olds, and 4 year olds. We also have a parent-child playgroup that meets on Friday mornings. Potty trained is not a requirement of our program. Visit our website: www.coopnursery.org or telephone the school: 217 384-1128 for more information.

We will be holding two informational open houses on Wednesday February 23 from 5-7 p.m. and Friday March 11 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. Please stop in and meet our teachers!

Open House!

The Cooperative Nursery School will be holding their informational open house on Wednesday February 23 from 5-7 p.m. We will begin accepting applications for the 2011-2012 school year on Tuesday February 1, 2011. You can visit our website www.coopnursery.org to download an application. We are proud to state that we are a preschool where children, parents, and teachers work together!

Awww Play.......

Our preschool uses the Creative Curriculum. Alot of what you see going on in our classrooms looks like play and it is, but the learning is tremendous! I am proud of the fact that the children in our school make up games, create and act in their own plays, problem solve, learn to take turns, and use materials in the classroom creatively!

I hear people complain all the time about insensitivity, rudeness, anger, just bad behaviour in general in our communities. Perhaps it's because we've forgotten how to play. My best childhood memories are about play. We played from the moment we got up on a summer's morning until the fireflies went to bed. We came home when we heard our mother's call and ate our meals as a family at one table and then back outside we went! In the winter we escaped to our basements, porches, bedrooms to use our imaginations for hours. We didn't need TV's, computers, video games to entertain us and stay out of our parent's hair, we just entertained ourselves and did a great job at it. We learned to make up games, rules, and to settle arguments. Yet we knew we always had the safe haven of our parents arms to run to when the going got a little too tough for us to handle.

The New York Times recently published an article about the movement to restore children's play. Click on the link and enjoy!

The Movement to Restore Children’s Play Gains Momentum - NYTimes.com