Cooperative Nursery School

Preschool Open House

2012-02-02T16:55:00.000-06:00

Visit the Cooperative Nursery School on Thursday February 23, 2012 from 5 - 7 p.m. or on Friday February 24 from 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. for our 2012-2013 Enrollment Open House! The Cooperative Nursery School was established in 1946. Today our school is still parent owned and operated! The parents of the children enrolled can choose to assist in the classroom about 3 mornings per month or they can choose to be non assisting.

Our class sizes are kept small to create a more intimate and focused learning environment. Our adult to child ratio averages 1:4 which is well below NAEYC accredited standards. Coop follows "The Creative Curriculum" which allows children to learn through play. The curriculum, along with the outstanding adult:child ratio at Coop, helps the teacher to create and teach learning activities so that each child's individual needs are met. The curriculum allows the children to learn at their own rate and adapts the environment to encompass all learning styles.

Our teachers are accredited and meet all of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services requirements.

So please stop in for a visit on Thursday February 23 from 5-7 p.m. or Friday February 24 from 9:30-11:30 a.m!

Post Office fun in Preschool!

2012-01-28T11:23:00.000-06:00

We've been studying community helpers this week. Part of our study was visiting a local post office.
After visiting the Post Office, we decided to create our own Post Office in the classroom. It was a huge success! The kids had so much fun writing their "letters" and delivering them to their friends and families. Earlier in the week we had made mail carrier bags out of brown grocery bags. We'll keep these mailbags for our Valentine's Day celebration!

As you can see our Post Office was a busy place! Lots of writing, sharing, and language going on!

You can see our mailbags and mail boxes in this picture.

And of course, a post office wouldn't be complete without a sign!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-11T17:00:00.003-06:00

Making graham cracker gingerbread houses in the 4's class.

It's been a long time since I last posted! We've been very busy at Coop! We held another successful winter concert right before break. The children worked very hard to learn their songs and they performed beautifully!

The two year old classes went on a field trip to a local post office. They had a great time learning about how a post office works. The three year olds and four year olds will be visiting the post office in January!

Enrollment and open house information for the 2012-2013 school year will be posted soon!

Human size spider web in preschool

2011-11-05T11:41:00.000-05:00

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

2011-10-14T10:18:00.000-05:00

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!

2011-09-04T16:44:00.000-05:00

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!

2011-07-30T11:42:00.000-05:00

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!

2011-06-08T13:37:00.000-05:00

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

2011-05-13T16:04:00.001-05:00

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!

2011-05-08T16:00:00.002-05:00

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

Preschool Teacher needed!

2011-04-22T17:39:00.001-05:00

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!

2011-04-17T13:27:00.000-05:00

Leprechaun trap!

2011-04-10T12:30:00.000-05:00

First we build the trap!


Then we add the bait.

Poison Prevention

2011-03-31T17:28:00.007-05:00

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

2011-03-14T15:50:00.006-05:00

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

2011-03-05T21:05:00.002-06:00

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!

2011-02-19T15:14:00.007-06:00

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

2011-02-10T16:03:00.002-06:00

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!

2011-01-21T09:31:00.002-06:00

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.......

2011-01-07T15:51:00.006-06:00

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

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T16:51:00.001-06:00

Sending out wishes to all for a wonderful, healthy, and loving new year! Enjoy reading the linked blog post on a new year's list for tired parents.

http://takomacooperativeschool.org/2010/12/a-new-years-list-for-tired-parents/

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-20T10:24:00.001-06:00

Singing among snowflakes! The teachers and Board of Directors wish all of our families, current and past, a wonderful holiday season!

Keeping active during cold weather

2010-12-12T11:38:00.007-06:00

It's fun to walk like a crab!

It's been awhile since I've posted here. We've been so busy doing lots of fun things! We celebrated Thanksgiving with lots of fun activities! Recently the weather has been very cold and that keeps us from going outside to play. We have to find fun things to do inside that will stretch our large muscles and use up some of that "holiday" energy! We're very lucky to have had a visit from a local gymnastics coach for children. He did some great activities with the children to burn up some of that excess energy while focusing on their listening skills and following directions.

This is our last week of school before winter break. The children will soon be delighting the parent audience with some winter tunes at our annual winter concert! It's so hard to believe that the first semester is nearly over! Looking forward to a fun, educational, and adventurous second semester!

Fun with Science!

2010-11-06T17:28:00.004-05:00

Cornstarch and water is so much fun!

Playing with helium balloons and weights.

Our four's class has been investigating science this week. They've studied gravity and air, solids and liquids, and chemical reactions. We've mixed cornstarch and water, played with vinegar and baking soda, and had one of our dad's come in to explore gravity with the children! It's been a busy week!

One of our favorite activities this week was making Irish Soda Bread. After exploring what happens when you mix vinegar and baking soda together, we made the bread. If the bread turns out right, which ours did, then the children will see holes in the baked bread very similar to the holes left in the baking soda after dripping the vinegar onto the soda.

Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients:

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vinegar

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Mix milk and vinegar in cup and set aside for about 10 minutes. This will curdle the milk.

In the bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and baking soda.

Stir the milk mixture into the flour mixture until smooth.

Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a floured surface.

Form dough into disk shape and put into pan.

Bake for approximately 15 minutes.

Have the children observe the air pockets in the bread. Discuss how the mixing of the baking soda and vinegar created bubbles. The bubbles in the bread happened to become stuck in the dough.

Spiders, Spiders, Everywhere!

2010-10-31T12:39:00.003-05:00

It's always fun to build a human spider web!

Busy October!

2010-10-19T16:35:00.002-05:00

We've been having lots of fun this October! All of the classes have visited the local pumpkin patch/apple orchard. The 3's and the 4's classes visited the local fire department's fire safety activities during the first week of October. They had lots of fun watching and participating in the puppet show, learning about crawling low in smoke, practicing stop, drop, and roll, and many other activities.

In the 4's class we spent the entire week learning about fire safety, doing science activities about fire, and lots of art! One of the science activities the class enjoyed was taking a candle, lighting it, and putting a jar over it to watch the fire go out. Really demonstrates to them that oxygen is one of the things needed for fire to burn. They really liked when the jar was pulled away just as the fire is going out only to magically re-light!

The next big event for the school is our annual Halloween party! Should be lots of fun!

Ending the month will be a visit from the Champaign County Forest Preserve doing an enrichment activity on "Trees". All of our classes will participate in this enrichment presentation.

Shaving cream!

2010-09-23T16:45:00.003-05:00

Gotta love shaving cream in a preschool classroom! So many wonderful things to do with shaving cream! You can use the shaving cream as mortar between unit blocks, put it in your sensory table, fingerpaint with it, mix it with glue and paint for puffy paint pictures, and my very favorite (thanks to the "Ooey Gooey Lady" for this great science idea) is shaving cream on water in a clear container and take eye droppers of liquid watercolor and drop the liquid watercolor in the shaving cream. Fun for the children doing the dropping and fun for the children watching the liquid watercolor break through the cream into the water. Pretty cool!

Good Beginnings!

2010-09-16T20:43:00.002-05:00

What a fantastic turnout for our Good Beginnings playgroup last week. Good Beginnings is a parent/child playgroup sponsored by The Cooperative Nursery School. A parent with a child/children between 6 weeks to 5 years attends one morning per week from 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. We currently have playgroup on Wednesday and Friday mornings. Our Wednesday morning group is full for this first session. We may have a few openings in our Friday morning session. Please call the school, 384-1128, for more information!

The playgroup is a great introduction to preschool but with the security of having mom or dad close by! There is a teacher that facilitates the playgroup. The teacher sets up an art activity for the parents to do with their child, she also conducts a short circle time with songs, fingerplays, and stories. The parents take turns bringing snack for the class each week. There is a small fee for this class.

Visit our website, www.coopnursery.org, for more information about our school!

Children, parents, and teachers working together!

School starts!

2010-09-10T17:44:00.004-05:00

What a great first week we've had! It was busy and fun! Thanks to all the parents that cleaned and made our classrooms sparkle! Parent orientation went smoothly! And the Welcome Back to School picnic was so much fun!

The children are getting to know each other and their teachers. We're having fun playing while we learn. So many fun things to do in each classroom!

A little bit about our teachers!

2010-08-13T07:57:00.003-05:00

Anna Cech, Director-4/5's Teacher

I joined the staff of Co-Op in September 2003 as the Four/Fives class teacher. In December 2004 I assumed the role of Director and continue to teach the Fours and Fives class. Previously to joining Co-Op, I owned and operated a family childcare business in my home for 13 years. I believe that preschool should provide an educational, safe, loving, and fun environment for children. The main focus of the classroom should be on social and emotional development with individualized academic instruction so that all children grow and learn at their own pace.

Brenda Carter, 2's and 3's Teacher

I graduated from Eastern Illinois University and Majored in Family Services with emphasis on Early Childhood. I began at Co-op in the fall of 2004. After working in the full time child care centers I decided to work part time so I could spend time with my own children also. I have worked in the child care field for 26years and have taught a variety of ages. Cooperative Nursery School is a great place for children and families who like to be involved with their children's education. In my classrooms I provide a safe, interesting learning environment for children and their families.

Welcome to August!

2010-08-09T12:09:00.001-05:00

We're gearing up for a great year! The first day of school is Tuesday September 7 at 9 a.m. We still have a few openings in each classroom, so call today for a site visit! The new Board has some exciting ideas and look for a few subtle changes coming to Coop in the future! This is a great time to become involved in your child's education!

Children, Parents, and Teachers working together!

2010-07-08T10:56:00.002-05:00

The Cooperative Nursery School still has a few openings in each classroom for the 2010-2011 school year. If you want a truly unique and wonderful learning environment for your child, then Co-Op is perfect for you!

For more information or to schedule a site visit:

Visit our website: www.coopnursery.org
Contact us: coopnursery@ aol.com or 217-384-1128

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-05T16:42:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th of July! We are currently on summer break. Lots of things to do, time to relax and have some fun!

We're looking forward to a great 2010-2011 school year!

School's out for summer!

2010-06-02T22:00:00.002-05:00

What a great year we've had! School is officially over! We had a wonderful end of year picnic at a local indoor playground and a very touching promotion ceremony! The children sang two songs, one with spanish words and the other one they wrote some of the lyrics! The children were each given a certificate and the graduating 5 year olds were given a certificate and photo album while wearing some very cute graduation hats that they made that morning! It was a great day!

Literacy

2010-05-06T16:51:00.004-05:00

The 4's class had a local children's author visit today for an enrichment activity. It was wonderful and the children were such good listeners. After she was done she asked if anyone had questions. There were some questions. But what was really great was when one of the students asked if she could read her the story she wrote in her journal. And, of course, the answer was yes! And what made it even better was the author read her story! She was so proud, as was I! The children's journals are available to them everyday in my classroom. Some draw pictures, some write stories, whatever they feel like doing!

A second girl decided to tell the author her story!

Block building is so much fun!

2010-04-28T16:09:00.002-05:00

Hard at work!

Such a great imagination! These two boys built desks out of the blocks! Then they got the appropriate materials to make an office environment, including a telephone! They did all of this with absolutely no coaching from any adults present. Block building is such an important part of the daily curriculum in my classroom!

Back at it!

2010-04-06T15:37:00.003-05:00

Spring break is over and we're hard at work in the classrooms again! It's hard to believe that there are only 8 weeks left for school this year! Wow! Time surely does fly by!

All of the classrooms are busy! The Four's class is learning all about Spring! The three's class will be starting a construction unit soon and the two's class is learning about night and day! Our new music teacher started today! She did a great job with the 2's and 4's today, despite a few nerves! Tomorrow she'll be enriching the 3's!

There are so many fun activities for spring time!

Science:
Sink and float with plastic eggs. We put water and plastic eggs in the sensory table and gathered small items that would fit in the eggs and guessed which items would make the eggs sink or float. One boy discovered that if all the weight was on one end of the egg, the egg stood up in the water! This fascinated all the children so off they went trying to get their eggs to stand up too!

Art:
Today we made lily pads. We started by fingerpainting with blue and yellow paint. After it dried we cut out a lily pad shape. We then used eye droppers and liquid watercolors with small coffee filters to make our lily. Tomorrow we'll make a jumping frog to put on our lily pad out of construction paper and accordion folded legs.

Spring Weather!

2010-03-18T18:10:00.002-05:00

It's been a beautiful week of weather in our part of Illinois! I believe the adults have had as much fun playing outside as the children, maybe more! My class visited the Spurlock Museum on the University of Illinois' campus last week. We've been studying Native Americans and the storyteller at the museum was fantastic! They also made a talking stick craft too! This community has so much to offer!

Next week is Spring break! We'll take the time to regroup and get ready for the final two months of school! This year is flying by!

Another great field trip!

2010-03-03T20:50:00.002-06:00

The 4's class had a great trip to the Parkland College Planetarium earlier this week! They learned all about the stars. The 4's will be learning about Outer Space for the next couple of weeks and then will do a unit on Native Americans with another field trip to a local museum. We are truly blessed in this community to have one major state university and one junior college that offers us many opportunities for learning!

One activity for outer space that all of my classes enjoy is using an older lite brite to make star consellations. I use black construction paper and the children push the colored pins through the paper. When they are done with their design, they connect the holes with white crayon and then name their constellation.

One easy way to remember the order of the planets from the sun is to teach the children a little rhyme.

My Very Eccentric Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas.
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.

OPEN HOUSE

2010-02-28T17:55:00.002-06:00

Our enrollment open house is Thursday March 11 from 5-7 p.m. and Friday March 12 from 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. Everyone is invited to come and see our classrooms, meet the teachers and Director, talk with parents of children currently enrolled. We are accepting enrollment applications for the 2010-2011 school year. We have classes for two year olds, three year olds, and four-five year olds. Toilet trained is not required. For more information on our Co-Op, visit our website: www.coopnursery.org

Miss Sara is leaving

2010-02-20T21:02:00.002-06:00

We were so sorry to hear that Miss Sara, our music teacher, will be leaving in March to move to Boulder, Colorado. Though we wish Miss Sara the best, we are going to miss her so much! Sara came to us from New Orleans via the library graduate program at the University of Illinois a year and half ago. Sara has done a fantastic job with music enrichment for our children! Good luck Miss Sara and keep in touch!

What is a parent cooperative preschool?

2010-02-12T20:38:00.002-06:00

It's a wonderful learning environment for preschool children! There are different types of parent cooperative preschools. Some are full cooperatives like ours and others are partial cooperatives. Full participating cooperatives are truly parent owned and operated. Parents serve on the governing board, they assist the teachers in the classroom, they plan special events, organize and participate in fundraising activities, and maintain the school environment. Partial participating cooperatives usually have parents on the governing board, parents implement and organize fundraising activities, special events, and maintain the school environment. But the one thing that is lacking in a partial parent cooperative is the parents assisting in the classroom. I believe that the parents in the classroom everyday is what truly makes for a wonderful preschool environment! Parents bring their talents into the classroom which enriches the curriculum! They bring a natural caring and nurturing aspect into the classroom. They get to know their children's playmates and develop long lasting friendships with the other parents in the school. Research has proven the importance of parent involvement in their child's education. At our school parent involvement is an everyday thing! Parents that enroll their children in a cooperative preschool do work hard, but the hard work is all for their children!

February

2010-02-08T16:05:00.002-06:00

February is only one week old, but we've had a lot of fun! A local percussionist and former Coop parent visited the school last week for a percussion demonstration for the children. They loved it! I heard kids drumming on things in the classrooms all week!

Our annual Valentine Disco Dance is this week! It's a fun party with music and dancing and of course, food!

We're all hoping for an early spring, though the groundhog is said to have seen his shadow! But there is nothing that says we can't hope!

In the future the classrooms will be busy learning about outer space, dinosaurs, spring weather, and many more things!

Busy January

2010-01-28T19:25:00.005-06:00

Wow, we've been busy! The classes have been learning about winter and community helpers. The 3's class visited a local shoe store and learned all about how to make shoes and how to repair shoes, they had a great time!

The 3's and 4-5's classes visited a local Childrens Science Museum this week. They learned about reptiles, specifically a box turtle, two bearded dragons, and a corn snake. They spent the rest of the morning playing in the exhibits.

Next week a well known, local percussionist, and a former Coop parent and teacher, will visit the school for an enrichment activity on drumming.

February is looking to be just as busy as January!

Art Activity:

Hibernating bear in cave;
Paint a styrofoam cup brown and glue some cotton balls around it for snow. Be sure to make a small opening in the top of the cup for the cave entrance, glue the cup, upside down to a small paper plate and glue a brown or black pompom in the cave opening and you have a bear in a cave!

Book:

Bear Snores On written by Karma Wilson

I have a dream

2010-01-18T09:41:00.001-06:00

I have a dream.
* Martin Luther King said these powerful words, “I have a dream.” I too have a dream. I dream of the day when teachers will be acknowledge, honored, and respected for the key roles they play in building the future. I dream of the day when parents will look at you who work with children and realize how important your work and your influence are in the lives of their children. They will respect you and want to work together as a team on behalf of their children.I dream of the day when lawmakers will respect you, the work you do and the difference you make in the lives of children, and hear your collective voice before making decisions that influence your lives and the lives of children. I dream of the day when the corporate world will acknowledge you for the key role you play in preparing their future employees.I dream of the day when you will walk inside a room filled with people and when someone says, “What do you do,” you respond, “I’m a teacher,” and they will applaud you and thank you for the important work you do. I dream of the day when students will come into your schools and classrooms with newfound respect passed on from their families and salute you as a huge difference-maker in their lives.Thank you Martin Luther King. Your words inspired us to dream, too. You inspired us to dream about the future as we build a better world for children.Have a great day and a wonderful week.* I have sent this message several years in a row. I pray for the day that this dream comes true.Maryln

copied from Maryln and More Blog, Applebaum training institute January 18, 2010

One more week!

2009-12-13T16:32:00.002-06:00

It's very difficult to believe that there is only one week left to our first semester! These 4 months have sped by! We had a wonderful winter concert last week. The children performed beautifully and even the papparazzi (parents with cameras) didn't scare them! Thank you to all the parents that helped with setup, cleanup, and donating goodies for after the concert!

The 3's class had a visit from Santa last week! They were awestruck! It was so nice of Santa to take some time out of his busy schedule to visit with our three year olds! Thanks Santa!

With the new year quickly approaching, I want to thank all of our current families and former families for devoting so much time to Coop and their children! Coop is such a wonderful place for children and the parents involved make the teacher's jobs easier! Thank you!

Welcome December!

2009-12-02T14:54:00.002-06:00

Wow, it's December already! This is the time of year that makes preschool life sometimes difficult! It's best for parents and teachers/caregivers to remember that keeping to normal routines as much as possible is vital for children! It can be difficult. Whenever possible limit holiday excitement. I know this can be difficult. Does anyone watch TV? Holidays are all over the television world. There are parties, concerts, shopping, gifts, so much to do and so little time! Take the time for your children, it's so important!

The four's classroom is busy this month learning about rhyming through nursery rhymes and related activities. Each day a new rhyme is introduced and the activities that day center around the nursery rhyme. At circle time we identify the words that rhyme and we find other words that rhyme with the common rhyming word introduced. The kids are having a lot of fun doing this. It's OK if the word they rhyme is a nonsense word. The focus is on the rhyming sound and identifying it.

Today we did Jack be Nimble, Jack be Quick. They identified all kinds of words that rhyme with quick and stick. We practiced jumping over a candle stick and other ways of getting over and around the candle stick. For art we made candles by painting a toilet paper tube white and sprinkling it with gold glitter. We glued the tube to a small paper plate and put in a red tissue paper flame. The candles turned out beautiful and can even be a great holiday decoration!

November Happenings!

2009-11-19T15:55:00.001-06:00

November is flying by! Since my last post we've had a visit/demo from a local Tae Kwan Do studio. The kids loved it! It amazes me how they listen so well to the instructor during this enrichment activity. I also like how the instructor talks with them about stranger awareness. You can never talk to little about that topic with young children.

We also had an enrichment activity from the U of I's Vet med's wildlife department. They brought two owls and a hawk. The kids were very interested in them, but then one of them "pooped" and you should have seen the excitement. Come to find out that it wasn't "poop" at all but urine. Very interesting!

Our fundrasing event at a local department store was another great success! Thanks to our parents that pitched in and worked in the store and selling the coupon books! Coop couldn't be such a success without the parents!

Thanksgiving art:

Take a clear latex glove, fill the fingers with different colored tissue paper, fill the thumb with red tissue paper, fill the body of the glove with rice or sand and voila, you have a turkey!

Love this community!

2009-11-02T20:14:00.003-06:00

Our school is very lucky to have a large, prestigious University in our community. Last week the four year olds visited the University's poultry barns. They had a great time learning about chickens, their eggs, and playing with baby chicks. The two educators, a husband and wife team, were extremely knowledgable about the chickens, and they were wonderful about educating at the children's level. A wonderful time was had by all!

The school's Halloween party was a great success! Lots of food, games, prizes, and costumes were enjoyed! It's always nice to see our student's entire families having a great time too!

We went to the zoo,zoo,zoo! How about you?

2009-10-24T12:48:00.002-05:00

Wow! It's been such a busy October at Coop! The three's and four's classes went to visit the Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington this past Monday. We all had such a great time! The day began with gray, windy, and cool weather but it warmed up and became sunny as the morning went on. The sea lion and otter feeding was fun to watch! We enjoyed a picnic lunch in the park before heading back to C-U! Thanks to all the parents that helped on this trip! We always appreciate the extra help!

This week we'll be celebrating Halloween! It's hard to believe that we're almost two months gone for this school year! The Fall season always flies by!

A Zoo Book:
Though there are lots of great zoo books my 4's really enjoyed:

"The Zoo" by Suzy Lee

Zoo Song:

One Elephant went out to play,
on a spider's web one day.

He had such enormous fun,
that he called for another elephant to come!

Begin this with one child who walks around the inside of the circle of children, acting like an elephant is fun, he selects another child, who selects another child, and so on and so on and so on.

An easy Zoo craft:

Lion mask - Paint a paper plate brown, curl strips of yellow construction paper around a pencil, glue around the plate to make the lion's mane. When paint is dry draw on nose and mouth. Cut holes for eyes and attach to a tongue depressor. Very cute!

October

2009-10-08T16:56:00.002-05:00

We've been learning about Fire Safety this week. I am always amazed at how quickly 3 and 4 year olds acquire and keep the knowledge of fire and its dangers. It is important to keep reminding them to not hide from fire but rather make their presence known (if they can't get outside) by standing near a window and yelling as loud as they can so that help can find them. They have a fun time practicing "Stop, Drop, and Roll". Our 3 and 4 year old classes went to a local fire department's puppet show and activities. They have such a fun time and really learn. The fire department does great job relating to the kids! Way to go Urbana, IL Fire Department!

A cute song to sing that helps kids learn about Stop, Drop, and Roll:

To the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"

What do you do when your clothes catch fire?
Three simple steps to put out the fire.
STOP where you are,
Don't run,
DROP to the ground, and ROLL all around.
What do you do when your clothes catch fire?
Three simple steps to put out the fire.

An art activity: Fire Painting

Paint yellow, orange, red, and black on a piece of paper, use globs of paint, cover the paper with wax paper and rub. Remove the wax paper and see the fire!

A good book:

Barn on Fire written by Heather Amery and illustrated by Stephen Cartwright
Look for the little yellow duck hiding on each page!

New Year

2009-09-20T15:37:00.001-05:00

The 2009-2010 school year is underway! We've been busy in all three classrooms learning about ourselves, our families, and our friends! This week we'll begin a unit on "Germs". On Monday the C-U Public Health's "Germ Busters" will be visiting our three year old and four year old classrooms. We'll continue doing the activities on keeping germs at bay the rest of the week in our classrooms. We'll learn about proper handwashing, covering our noses and mouths when we sneeze and cough, learn about the importance of sleep, exercise, and healthy foods in keeping germs at bay!

A cute book is "Wash Your Hands!" by Tony Ross

A cute activity is taking a small paperplate and having your child draw their face on it, trace around their hand and cut it out, attach a tissue to the hand and staple the hand to the plate so that when it sneezes, it cover the mouth!

A science activity to demonstrate how a sneeze lets the germs fly through the air:

Take two balloons, put some hole punch confetti in each, blow one balloon up and tie it off, leave the other balloon deflated. Talk with the children about the importance of "catching" or "blocking" the germs when sneezing and coughing. Blow up the the deflated balloon and hold a tissue in front of the opening, let the air out and the confetti will go into the tissue. Then take a pin and pop the inflated balloon and watch the confetti fly!