I'm hoping to gather a few like-minded families to form a cooperative group this fall for ages 4 to 6 (did you know Kindergarten is not mandatory in Virginia?). I am thinking of Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 to 1. I would be happy to host the entire thing at my home, or we could rotate homes and teachers. Depending on how many kids participate (I'm hoping for around 8), I'd like to have a teacher mom and an assistant each day. Moms would be welcome to stay the whole time, or to drop off their kids.
The cost would be maybe $15 per month (to cover supplies and food for lunch) for all moms willing and able to take turns teaching. If a family wants to do drop-off only, we would charge an extra fee, which would be split between the teaching families--just to make it fair. (This remains to be seen, but it would still be very inexpensive compared to commercial preschools).
The themes for the weeks and months would come from the world around them, along with a value we could focus on each month. I would like to include a field trip each month related to the theme.
The monthly themes will be:
September - Animals
National Zoo or Leesburg Animal Park
October - Birds and Trees
Huntley Meadow- Fairfax County park
November - Marine Life
National Aquarium - Baltimore (the big one) or DC (the little one)
December - Human Anatomy and Physiology
January - Physics: Heat, Light, Gravity, Magnetism, Electricity, Motion (this may spill over into February--so many fun things to do with these!)
Maryland Science Museum - $5 in January, Baltimore
February - Earth Science: Rocks, Volcanoes (may spill over into March)
March - Reptiles, Dinosaurs, Amphibians
Natural History Museum
April - Astronomy, Weather
Maybe the Science Museum of Virginia–2 hours away so it would be an all-day affair (I'd like to do a Planetarium)
May - Bugs and Plants
State Arboretum of Virginia - 45 min away
The values will be things like honesty, respecting others, being kind, and these will be tied into the nature themes by a central book that we'll read several times during the month. For example, we could do Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey when we do birds, and the value could be obedience--or something along those lines. I've got several book lists that go along with these topics, so I'll have to go through them. I'd also love suggestions.
A day at this playschool would look something like this:
Gathering time with either a game or group activity
Activity centers - children choose between puzzles, building toys (Tinkertoys, Duplos, K'Nex, etc.) imaginative toys (kitchen, costumes), and logic games (Thinkfun, pattern blocks, attribute blocks, Mighty Mind, Cuisenaire rods, Memory).
Outdoor play (whenever possible) - running games, playset, riding toys, looking at nature and the changes that are happening through the year in our five acres of woods and stream. When the weather isn't cooperating we can go in the basement and do some active games (races, throwing and catching, etc.)
Focus time - learn about the theme of the month from pictures, books, short science videos, and hands-on activities of all sorts (having taught science co-ops to homeschoolers for 15 years at least, I've got a million ideas AND my home is full of interesting rocks and crystals, dinosaur bones, insect collections, math manipulatives, big posters on every topic under the sun, etc.)
Table time - art projects, sensory play, whatever we think is fun, which goes along with the unit--or not (this is a Waldorf thing).
Story time - several read-alouds on the unit topic (or not) with children taking an active part through narrating back sections of the story, guessing what happens next, etc. (this is a Charlotte Mason thing).
Lunch time - the children take turns preparing lunch and serving their peers (this is a Montessori thing).
Clean-up time, then a "clean" activity like music or a group game
Throughout the whole time there will be activities going on, but no child will be pressured to join in if he doesn't want to. To as great an extent as possible, the adults will be in the background, letting the children be in charge. We may let an extrovert child lead the games after they learn them, We will encourage the kids to share what they see in nature to the extent they are able (each will have a nature journal). We will establish a few rules, but the pressure will be off. Which may mean for some that there will be few art projects sent home. Having had two foster kids in day care part of last year, I'm quite aware that many of the things that the child supposedly created were really no more than "Here, put your hand in this paint and then press it on the page and then run and play again." Really a gift from the teacher to the parent--there will be very little of that dynamic.
Yes, we will work in some math, writing and reading, but it will not be readily apparent to the casual observer. The math will focus mainly on logic, discovering the attributes of numbers, and making patterns (believe me, this is far more important to long-term math success than memorizing that 3+4=7). Reading will be encouraged as we sound out words together in the stories we read. If you'd like to work on academics at home to stay up with what the schools are doing, I'll point you to some things I've liked using in past years (like the Explode the Code series). But I'd recommend that you read some of the articles I've linked in the side bar while considering what else you'd like to add to your child's days.
So if you want your young kids to have some new learning opportunities without being pressured by academic expectations (and quite possibly setting the stage for later academic excellence), this is the group for you.
