MULTI-AGE CLASS
AGES BIRTH TO 5
SATURDAY; 9:30-11:30AM
Our Multi-Age Class meets weekly at our South Seattle College campus location, September through May.
-Co-op membership also includes access to parenting seminars held 3-4 times each month in the evening, occasional events such as family concerts, 1:1 parenting consults, and resource sharing.
-Tuition: $91/month; need-based scholarships are available.
Teacher Bio: Kiki Penoyer
I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I signed my wiggly little potato of a son up for the SSCCP Infant class–and certainly had no idea I was about to stumble upon my calling in life. Growing up in the 90s/early 2000s with undiagnosed ADHD, I certainly would never have thought of “teacher” as a possible career move–but stepping into that Co-op classroom, and you could practically hear Aladdin crooning ‘A Whole New World’ from inside my brain.
As a parent, Co-op provides a place to create deep and lasting connections with other adults in the same stage of child-rearing as you are. For the children, it provides an opportunity to play and learn with peers in a variety of ways *and* a chance to learn from a variety of other caring adults invested in their success. That kind of loving, nurturing environment was lifesaving for me as a brand-new, very clueless mom–and it’s what I aim to create in my classroom every day. Your children are there to play, to try, to have fun, to create, to discover–and to do it all with up to a dozen other grown-ups looking out for them. They say it takes a village to raise a child, after all, and what could be better than a village of other children and parents who all want to take care of each other?
When I’m not rolling around on the floor in the classroom, I’m probably rolling around on the floor at home with my son and two cats. If they’re all asleep, I’m reading, writing, playing video games, or putting that Theatre Education to good use in a rehearsal hall somewhere in town.
Multi-Age Program:
Each week, Teacher Kiki will lead your child/ren through a wonderful, child centered play curriculum that includes:
- High adult:child ratios allowing for plenty of individualized attention
- Sensory play
- Cooperative dramatic play
- Gross motor development
- Hands-on art projects
- Social/emotional skill building
Through play in small and large groups, children encounter real social situations and learn to regulate their emotions and solve problems. In imaginative play children put themselves in a variety of settings where they can experiment with new behaviors, learn to collaborate with each other, and negotiate conflict.
Caregivers enrolled in Co-op:
● Stay and participate in class each week
● Attend one or more quarterly seminars – some held virtually, some in person – on the parenting topic of their choice
● Choose a preschool job that fits their interest, skill, and time
● Experience how their child learns, get to know their child’s friends, and develop friendships with families that last beyond preschool years