Fall of 2023 – We are excited to offer a TK/Pre-K class (“Owls”) 5 mornings a week, in addition to our Pre-K class (“Bears”) 3 mornings a week, and our 3 year old class (“Chipmunks”) 2 mornings a week.
Please contact registration for more information.
We shine bright at John Knox Co-op Preschool!
John Knox Co-op Preschool is a parent-cooperative preschool aimed at providing a stimulating and enriching experience through a play-based curriculum. Our passionate teachers work to develop each child’s confidence, problem solving abilities, and love of learning.
John Knox Co-op Preschool is all about:
- having fun and experiencing new things
- allowing each child to grasp ideas at his or her own pace
- fostering open play and encouraging self-direction and curiosity
- sharing experiences with peers and team work and making friends
- learning new skills through games, science, music,crafts, stories, building, puzzles dramatic play and circle times
- a blend of emergent curriculum and educational curriculum including handwriting without tears and gem science
- developing kindergarten readiness skills
- learning to be confident, have fun and be independent
- coming home with paint on your clothes and a smile on your face
Meet our staff!
The staff at John Knox has many years of experience teaching at the preschool level. They are knowledgeable, loving and supportive to the children, parents, and families. Many of our staff members are former parents and board members of the school. The teacher/student ratio is 1:4 to 1:5 depending on the class.
Parents Corner
Now that parents are getting to know us while working in class alongside us- some great questions have come up. I am so glad that parents are reaching out to us with these questions. Please feel free
to use us as a resource for ideas to help with your little one. Please feel free to ask us questions while working in the classroom.
No child likes the word “no”. It is one of my least favorite things to say to a child but if we give a child everything they will become entitled. We give our children more than the things they want, we give them the tools to handle real life- those tools include hearing now and becoming more resilient when something doesn’t go their way.
Each child is unique and special. In this age of instagram and social media it is natural to compare with others. Please remember that no one posts the tough things so social media has an artificial image of real life. The truth is all of us, even adults, are always learning. And each of us are learning different things at different times. So while some children are resilient, others have more developed small motor or large motor or more language etc.
How long should a time out be?? Sometimes you do need timeouts but it’s best to try to use them sparingly and mostly when your child needs a break in the action to calm down. Time outs should be short ( 2-4 minutes) and should end with a conversation about the mistake they made and that you know they will try harder next time. At school we say let’s take a moment and we ask what the child thinks they did wrong … .we say we all make mistakes but we need to think about it a little bit so we remember to try harder. If you need your child to stay in their room or any area to play while you get things done, don’t call it a time out. too many time outs desensitize your child and then they will become ineffective.
Potty training sometimes goes smoothly and sometimes becomes a battle of will power. If you need some pointers just ask a teacher. The goal is to trick your child into choosing to use the potty themselves. And when they do lots of praise. Do not stress about it…no 5th grader is still in diapers-it will happen.
Please feel free to ask us any questions as they come up.
Check us out!
