Family Preschool

Family Preschool is a cooperative, play-based preschool that has served the Triangle community for over 50 years. With our cooperative preschool model, parents experience their child’s early years of development through direct engagement in the classroom. Our experienced teachers provide a nurturing environment for children ages 1-5 to learn, play, and grow alongside their parents and loved ones in a half-day setting.

Why Choose a Cooperative Preschool?

Family Preschool is a true village for the 21st century, connecting participating families and forging lasting friendships and support networks.

• Children take pride in working alongside their parents in the classroom.
• Parents have a unique opportunity to observe and interact with their child during the school day.
• Parents observe  their children’s daily growth and development at school.
• Low adult-to-child ratio.
• Learn valuable parenting techniques from experienced teachers.

What is a Co-Op?

At Family Preschool parents share in the operation of the school and are actively involved in the classroom. With our cooperative preschool model parents experience their child’s important early years of development through direct engagement in the classroom. The time parents spend in the classroom alongside their children is precious and treasured by parent and child for many years to come.

Parent participation includes:

• Working in the classroom as a Helping Parent 1 to 2 times a month
• Maintaining an on-going co-op project
• Attending several work days for school maintenance and cleaning
• Contributing to fundraising events

The Co-op Model and Working Parents

A cooperative preschool provides important  benefits for both parents and children. Family Preschool strives to make sure these benefits are accessible for families with one or two working parents. Co-op jobs are classified as “small” or “large.” At the start of each year families select two small jobs or one large job. Many jobs are well-suited for a working family. Making play dough, cleaning paint pots, or taking the wash home every Friday are examples of some co-op  jobs that provide the opportunity for a working family to reap the benefits of a co-op without interfering with their day job.

Helping Parent days are scheduled according to a parent's availability. Parents  select the days they are available to help in the classroom via an online poll. Care is taken by the scheduler to make sure all requests are met.

Fundraising

Family Preschool holds a number of fundraisers throughout the year to raise money for scholarships and fund improvements to the school. But don’t worry; you won’t be selling popcorn or wrapping paper at Family Preschool! Our annual fundraisers are fun and relevant, including our Fall Festival, community garage sale, social events at local restaurants, and babysitting events.

Family Preschool is one of the only preschools in the area using the Project Approach Model

Family Preschool is a half-day, play-based preschool serving children ages 1 to 5. Learning through play is critical to the healthy growth and development of young children. As children play, they learn to solve problems, to cooperate with peers, and to develop fine and gross motor skills. Play-based learning also creates enthusiastic, successful, lifelong learners.

Theme-Based Curriculum
Teachers of our 1 and 2-year old classes build unique theme-based curriculums that align with the children’s current interests. FPS follows the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) recommendations for curriculum, which supports an approach to learning based on the constructivist theories of Piaget and Vygotsky. In this model, teachers plan activities designed to promote children’s reasoning and problem solving skills. The children are also encouraged to design their own activities where the teachers are active participants.

Project Approach
In the 3 and 4-year old classrooms, teachers use the Project Approach model developed by Lilian Katz and Sylvia Chard. During a Project, teachers guide students through in-depth investigations  of real-world topics. There are three distinct phases in project work.

1.  Teachers establish what children already know about a topic and the children share their experiences through personal narratives. During this time, children’s questions and wonderings are recorded.
2. The class investigates the topic using books, art projects, manipulatives, experiments, guest experts, and field work. Throughout the project, children and teachers record observations, collect data, and represent what they learn by posting it in the classroom.
3. Teachers and students prepare for a culminating event during which the children become experts and share with others what they have learned. This usually involves guiding parents on a classroom tour of their project work, performing a song or play for a parent audience, and/or inviting parents to a project-related community event.

Family Preschool 
4907 Garrett Road
Durham, NC 27707
(919) 402-1500
director@familypreschool.org
www.familypreschool.org

Business Review

“Choosing Family Preschool is one of the best decisions we’ve made as parents. Our son loves FPS because of his friends, amazing teachers and the best playground in town. We love it because our son is thriving and the parent run co-op model allows us to really get to know the teachers and families, and trust that our son is in the best hands. Helping in the classroom and seeing our son play and interact with his friends is the best part of my month and something I will miss tremendously when our time at family preschool is done.”