About Us
Parent Involvement
Typical Day
Child’s Curriculum
Book Recommendations
Favorite Sites
Babysitting Co-Op
- Work in the classroom on a rotating basis. There are three classroom jobs that parents will be assigned; large motor, snack and floater. Please see a brief description of each of the parent classroom jobs.
- Large Motor Parent: In charge of the planning and direction of the large motor activity, with the other parents actively assisting.
- Snack Parent: Responsible for providing a nutritious snack for the class and for cleaning up afterwards.
- Floater Parent: Assumes primary responsibility of diaper changing and taking children to the bathrooms as appropriate.
- All working parents: All parents have other responsibilities to ensure the class time goes smoothly along with designated emergency tasks that are detailed on the tags each working parent wears during their time in the classroom. Most importantly, all parents are expected to be an actively participant in the children’s learning experience and have fun!
- Responsible for attending parent meetings every other month. Please note there are two parent orientation meetings in September for families NEW to the preschool. Parent meetings allow us to bring in a speaker to talk to us about a topic of interest to parents of preschoolers.
- Serve on one enrichment committee per enrolled child. The enrichment committees range from Christmas Craft Night to Membership to Bulletin Boards to Purchaser of Supplies and many more.
- Participation in annual fund raising project.Responsible for completing staff evaluations annually.
“I learned so much on how to parent by working with the teachers, other parents and kids in the classroom. What great role models those experienced parents and teachers were.”–Janet Church, CCCP Parent 9 years
There are three main participants each class period and all three of them play an important part in our school. Here is an example of a Cedar Cross Preschool day and the responsibilities of each participant - our children, our parents and our teachers!
| Children | Working Parents | Teacher | |
| Before School | All children should wash their hands before coming into class and hang their coats on coat rack if applicable. | Arrive 15 min. early to get snack prepared if assigned or to find out the set activities for the day. | Plan and set up activity centers |
| Arrival Time | Greet teacher (Parents should help involve their child in an activity) | Greet children at their assigned areas or activities | Greet children and parents. Collect necessary daily information from parents. |
| Activity Room | Engage in creative activities. | Supervise in assigned area. | Supervise classroom in general. |
| Clean-Up / Circle Time / Snack Time | Clean up, sit at tables while eating snack and quiet activities while others finish snack. Sit and participate at circle time. | Help children put away materials and clean up. Sit at snack with children. Sit and participate at circle time - help redirect or remove children that finding it difficult to participate. | Supervise classroom in general |
| Large Motor | Engage in indoor or outdoor large motor activities. | Plan and implement activities if assigned. Supervise all children during this time. | Set up planned activities for second room. |
| Dismissal | Clean-up materials. | Clean play area and put things in order for next class. Stay after class until all children have been picked up. | Help children get ready to go home. Say goodbye at classroom door and make sure that they are safely with a parent or approved adult. |
“I feel blessed to have been part of a family and child-centered preschool. The play centered learning environment has brought about such growth in my child intellectually and the feeling of warmth demonstrated byt he caring teachers has helped her emotional and social growth as well.”–Deirdre Nelson, CCCP Parent 3 years
September:
Dramatic Play Center - Home Center
Science - Mirrors, Weight, Height, Our Bodies
Sensory Table - Flax Seed Play
Pre-K letters of the week - A, C, J
October:
DPC - Pet Vet Center
Science - Fall Colors, Spiders, Our Skelet
Sensory Table - Dirt for Pumpkin
Pre-K letters of the week - H, M, G, L, D
November:
DPC - Grocery Store
Science - Food Science (measuring, cooking, food group nutrition
Sensory Table - Bean Bonanza
Pre-K letters of the week - E, I, K, S
December:
DPC - Elf Workshop
Science - The Science of Heat
Sensory Table - Oatmeal Discovery
Pre-K letters of the week - W, Z, B
January:
DPC - Community Helpers
Science - Ice & Snow, Magnets, Colors and Fire Safety
Sensory Table-Rainbow Rice
Pre-K letters of the week - F, N, O, P
February:
DPC - Post Office / Dental Office
Science - Shadows, Our Hearts and Our Teeth
Sensory Table- Clean Mud
Pre-K letters of the week - Q, V, R, T
March:
DPC - Dr. Seuss’ Birthday / Space Play
Science - Space Exploration, Rainbow Discovery and Color Mixing
Sensory Table- Green Things
Pre-K letters/Numbers of the week - U, X, Y, 1, 2
April:
DPC - It’s a Pirate Life / Pizza Parlor
Science - Egg Dyeing, Insect and Worm Discovery, Plant Life Discovery, Fossils, Dinosaurs and Volcano
Sensory Table- Molding Sand / Dinosaur Bog
Pre-K Numbers of the week - 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
May:
DPC - Camping and Fishing
Science - Ecology of the Puget Sound, Fish, Tube Worms, Sealife
Sensory Table- Water Play
Pre-K Numbers of the week - 8, 9, 10
Book Recommendations
‘Raising Self-Reliant Children in a Self-Indulgent World: Seven Building Blocks for Developing Capable Young People’ by H. Stephen Glenn and Jane Nelsen ‘Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason’ by Alfie Kohn
‘Positive Discipline for Preschoolers: For Their Early Years–Raising Children Who Are Responsible, Respectful, and Resourceful’ by Jane Nelsen, Cheryl Erwin, and Roslyn Duffy
‘Kids are Worth It’ by Barbara Colorosa
‘The Preschool Years’ by Ellen Galinsky
‘Raising Your Spirited Child’ by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka
‘Becoming the PArent You Want To Be’ by Laura Davis and Janis Keyser
‘Your One Year Old’ (Your Two Year Old…through age 14) by Louise Bates Ames
‘How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So You Kids Will Talk’ by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish
‘Siblings Without Rivalry: How to Help Your Children Live Together So You Can Live Too’ by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish
‘1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12 (123 Magic)’ by Thomas W. Phelan
‘The Hurried Child’ by David Elkind
‘Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense’ by Ellyn Satter
‘How to Get Your Kid to Eat: But Not Too Much’ by Ellyn Satter
Favorite Sites
National Association of education for Young children: www.naeyc.org
Talaris Institute: www.talaris.org/ and more specifically www.talaris.org/timeline.html
Washington Dairy Council: www.eatsmart.org
Cedar Cross United Methodist Church: www.cedarcross.org
This is a benefit for parents who want to participate in a co-op preschool, but do not have babysitting available for their younger children simple. Parents use the onsite nursery and the babysitting co-op coordinator schedules the swapping of babysitting services. This service is supported by Cedar Cross Co-op Preschool, but is run completely by the parents who utilize it and it does not have additional costs associated with it. All parents participating should plan on working in the nursery the same amount of times they are needing nursery care for their child(ren) in a given month. This service is only available to parents when they are working in the classroom.
“The babysitting co-op allowed me and my oldest son to participate in Cedar Cross’ program since we moved here from IL only days before preschool started and knew no one. It was great getting to know other preschool moms and it ended up being a playgroup for my youngest child that was built into my schedule. In fact, when my youngest starts in the 2-3 year old class, he will be with a couple of his babysitting co-op friends!” –Jen Yormark, CCCP Parent 4 years