Cooperative Preschool: The Parent-teacher partnership

Suburban Cooperative Nursery School // Rocky River, Ohio

Welcome to Suburban! We would love to take a moment to share a bit about our program. We are a State Licensed, Non-profit, Cooperative Preschool for 3 and 4 year olds located in Rocky River, Ohio. Our facility is located in the lower level of Good Soil Lutheran Ministries. Though our space resides with in a church building our program is completely non-denominational and not religiously affiliated.

What is Cooperative Preschool? The Cooperative Preschool experience at Suburban is a special one. It allows parents, grandparents, or family caregivers to have hands-on experience in educating your child. We like to refer to this relationship as the “Parent-Teacher Partnership”. Our classroom is managed by our licensed Teacher, Jan Lorko. Everyday a helping parent will assist our teacher on a rotating basis. Helping parents execute activities, engage students in learning and play, and provide snack, and oversee clean-up in the classroom. Suburban’s families have the opportunity to share in the operation of the school by becoming a board member or participating in special committee activities. This is the gift of the parent-teacher partnership, the ability to take part in shaping your child's educational experience.

To maintain Ohio State standards, we have a second employee in the office monitoring our needs throughout each class period. She is fully background checked and bonded.

Cooperative Preschool offers many benefits for your child. When you are helping in our classroom, your child gets to practice their leadership skills: welcoming classmates into the classroom for the day, leading classroom and circle time activities, passing out snack and assisting in snack cleanup. Most importantly, they will have their parent or caregiver participating with them, actively involved in their learning. The children will continually practice their social skills of working together, sharing, expressing their emotions, and supporting and caring for their peers. They will also learn valuable lessons in patience, waiting, taking turns, and respecting others.

We wholeheartedly believe in learning through play and hands-on activities. In our 3's program, the majority of your child's day is rooted in free-play, paired with a supervised craft or learning activity. As your child progresses to our 4's program, more Pre-K curriculum is incorporated to prepare them for Kindergarten (learning their phone number and address, working on early reading skills, etc.). Our children learn their fundamentals—numbers, letters, shapes, and colors—through crafts, art, music, role-playing, and movement. All of their activities reinforce what they're learning, making their first encounter with education fun and rewarding.

Suburban Cooperative Nursery School offers both an enriching experience for parents and children as well as a great affordable option for educating your child.

Contact us for more information or to schedule a tour!

More summer fun books to share with your preschooler!

Summer's not over yet!! Here is an new list of fun summer reads to share with your preschooler.  Summer is a great time to spend some extra time together with a good book. Reading with your child promotes reading readiness, language skills and bonding. 
Pick up a good book and enjoy some summertime fun together!

These are the titles and authors of the selected books from left to right.

  1. The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant
  2. Fred and Ted Go Camping by Peter Eastman
  3. Summer by Nuria Roca
  4. Mouses First Summer by Lauren Thompson
  5. Arthur's Family Vacation by Marc Brown
  6. Maisy Learns To Swim by Lucy Cousins
  7. Beach Day by Karen Roosa
  8. Curious George Goes Camping by Margret Rey
  9. Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle
  10. Just Grandma and Me by Mercer Mayer
  11. Ruby Learns To Swim by Phillip Gwynne
  12. The Whale In My Swimming Pool by Joyce Wan

The Benefits of Preschool Arts and Crafts

At Suburban we make art and crafts an important part of our daily routine! These  activities for promote growth and development of your child's fine motor skills, creativity, and confidence. Painting or drawing are always available at the easels, but our Teacher Jan Lorko also provides a special craft during each class that connects to the daily, weekly, or monthly theme. These projects are created for the age and level of your preschool child to engage them and build confidence in their skills. They are are fun activities for your children and a give you (the parent) a wonderful visual timeline of your child's development.

Here are some great articles and resources promoting the benefits of arts and crafts for preschool aged children:
PBS Parents: The Importance of Art in Child Development
Scholastic: Preparing for Preschool: Art
Education.com: The Value of Art for the Preschool Child

Parents here is a list of everyday supplies we collect throughout the year for some of our art projects:

  • Newspaper
  • Pringles lids
  • Rinsed juice and milk cartons
  • Paper grocery bags
  • Paper lunch bags
  • Magazines
  • Construction paper