Our History

Our playschool has been in operation since 1970. It is a non-profit, parent run cooperative affiliated with the Hounsfield Heights/Briar Hill Community Association.

Our Philosopy

Children learn through play and learn best in a safe environment of trust. The term “play” refers to any activity that a child chooses freely and can change or stop at any time.
Our goals are:

• To provide a play-based, enriching environment, which encourages each child to develop socially, physically, emotionally, intellectually, morally and creatively.
• To nurture self-respect, self-control, self-expression and responsibility for self.
• To promote respect for others and the environment.
• To expand the knowledge base, interest and problem solving in mathematics, science, social science and language arts through play.
• To expand experiences and interest through special activities such as music, movement, drama, physical education, stories and visitors.

The lifelong development of self-discipline is an integral part of learning and cooperating. Since every child is unique with distinctive strengths, weaknesses and interests, every situation must have an individualized approach where the Teacher takes a flexible approach to discipline. In our Parent-child Cooperative Playschool, the Teacher's special role is to help the child develop a secure and constructive foundation for the important learning which has and will occur in the home and community as well as in the school. The overall atmosphere of the classroom should be happy, stimulating and playful, enabling each child and adult to maintain their healthy, natural desire to cooperate and learn from each other. Achieving these goals requires the enthusiastic participation of every individual in the Cooperative.

Our Purpose

To provide a safe, caring environment where children 3 to 5 years of age can play and learn. To encourage parents to understand, enjoy and participate in their child's learning. To bring child, parent and teacher together in order to foster a lifelong interest in learning.

The best way to foster a life-long love of learning is to make the first experience at school fun, interesting and engaging. We provide a stimulating and safe environment that includes water and sand tables, puzzles, books, crafts, blocks, science games and lots of dress-up items and toys. Most importantly, we maintain small ratios of children to teachers; our teachers are excellent and parents play an important role in the playschool.

In a safe, nurturing environment, children are encouraged to develop:

• Social skills
• Language skills
• Problem solving skills
• Self expression
• Cooperation
• Fine motor skills
• Respect for people and property
• Decision making skills
• Self esteem