A L A S

T O D D L E R C O - O P

The co-op’s learning environment should be open-ended, where your child learns through discovery, play, and guided exploration. Through discovery and play the child can engage in their world as a pint-size scientist who observes, experiments and tests their ideas, or an artist who exercises their imagination through dance and drama. Discovery and play will help your child develop a sense of control over their environ-ment and simultaneously enrich and expand their vocabulary and social skills. In guided exploration the mother/caretaker works directly with their child, modeling actions/play/discovery for their child, creating a dialogue about what they are doing, and provide the opportunity to observe how their child engages with the activity, and modify or adjust as necessary. The teacher’s/parent‘s role is to support the child’s individual learning, foster excitement and curiosity about their world and environment, and encourage growth socially, emotionally, physically, and intellectually.

Learning Environment

Discovery, p lay, and gu ided exp loration• Age appropriate learning and development in the areas of science, art,

language arts, math, music, and yoga • Artistic play and creative movement• Sensory play + bins and bottles• Parachute games and songs, bubbles, and shadow theatre• Group story time read alouds and circle time

• Active Involvement: As a mom you will be actively involved in your child’s learning and development. You will observe your child’s learning environment, and be able to directly in�uence and share in the experiences that help your child grow and develop at the meetings and at home. Each mom will teach 1-2 lessons a month (roughly 10-15 minutes each), and can also help on a monthly basis to organize the lesson themes, the supplies, and potential �eldtrips. We also provide community snacks at each meeting so please sign up to bring snacks once a month.

• Sharing the Wealth of Knowledge: You will learn from other talented and intelligent moms who have a breadth of knowledge to impart upon you and your child. You likewise will be able to reciprocate this by sharing your knowledge, interests, and passions.

• Non-Judgment Zone: As moms we all put enough pressure and stress on ourselves to ensure our children are the best they can be. We all come from di�erent walks of life, are at di�erent points in our lives, and yet we are all here because we are parents to a blossoming toddler. As moms we want this to be a supportive, loving, and respectful environment where we feel safe to share our highs and lows. After all, modeling this for our children is how they will learn to be respectful and a good friend to others.

• Student-Teacher Ratio and Dues: We will have an extraordinarily high teacher-student ratio and a�ordable monthly dues!

Goals for Cooperative 's Meetings : The moms

• Individual Acceptance: A child needs to be accepted as he/she is. Each child is helped to develop his own capabilities at his own rate of progress.

• Child-Oriented Environment: A child needs to find herself in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere where she can explore, share, play, and communicate with other children her own age. Socialization and learning how to positively interact with others begins to take on more importance as a toddler and interactions with other children will encourage their development.

• Repetition: Repetition of content and activities is important to the child’s brain development, connectivity, and mastery of the subjects. The repetitive content is beneficial to their neurological networks, provides the child with familiar and predictable events, which they can anticipate, and supports their ability/confi dence in participation.

• Freedom with Limits: A child needs to know that there are limits beyond which he cannot go. He needs order to his day. He also needs freedom to his play. His imagination and curiosity need room to wander.

• Co-op Experience: A child needs to feel that the co-op meetings are a happy experience. In creating a safe environment for learning, the child will gain confidence and security, which supports them in trying new things. In addition, the teachers will be trusted friends, and we hope to encourage the children to learn and follow directions from other adults.

• New Friends: We all want our toddlers to make new great friends and feel part of a community.

Goals for Cooperative 's Meetings: The Children

• Attendance: The success of this co-op depends on everyone being proactively involved and contributing, following through on each one’s duties, and a commitment to attendance.

• Dues: Dues are currently $20 a month and to be paid on time and at the �rst meeting of each month. Dues include rental fees for rooms ($30 a class at the church), plus reimbursements for activity supplies.

• Illnesses: Please be courteous of others and keep your child home if they are sick.

• Teaching your lesson: You will be asked to teach 1-2 lessons a month, and the dates of your lesson will be decided the month prior to when you will be teaching. Please communicate with Annalisa about your lesson one week prior to when you will teach to ensure you have what you need.

• Missing your lesson: If for some reason you can’t make your lesson please contact Annalisa via text or email as soon as you know you won’t be able to make your lesson. Arrangements will be made to switch a class or someone will teach it for you.

• Schedule Changes: When any schedule change occurs, you will be given as much notice as possible.

• Respect: This group is not religious or culturally based, however, please uphold utmost respect for everyone’s cultures, religions, and backgrounds.

• No Nuts, Egg, Dairy: When brining snacks please make sure it has no nuts, eggs, or dairy becasue of allergies within the group.

Basic Gu idelines

• March: springtime-shapes/colors• April: animals and sounds (farm/aquatic/safari) • May: body parts • June: food• July: modes of transportation• August: insects and summertime• September: shapes and colors • October: animals (farm/aquatic/safari) and falltime • November: body parts• December: food and wintertime

Monthly themes and potential fieldtr ip s

ArrivalCircletime (approximately (30-40 minutes)

Introduction songsRead Aloud: thematic bookLesson BubblesLesson BClosing songs

Open play in room (approximately 1 hour): each child can bring a few toys to share

typ ical lesson and meeting