Dragonflies
Dragonflies meet Monday though Thursday 12:00pm - 3:00 pm and tuition will be $415/month for 2023-2024. Dragonflies must be at least 3½ by July 31st for the Fall start of class. Some children will opt to do a second year in Dragonflies, called a Dragonfly Leader year.
What do dragonflies learn?
By the time a child reaches age three or so, they have begun to engage in cooperative play on a large scale for the first time. With the support of loving parents and a head teacher, the dragonflies learn to negotiate conflicts that inevitably arise in their play, they learn to utilize the social skills they've been role playing in circle, and they learn to navigate the ever changing world of friendships. In addition to learning important lessons in community living, they also have the freedom to develop their own sense of self. Every day dragonflies are offered a myriad of different mediums to choose from. They choose how to express their innermost self---whether it be through story dictation, constructing buildings, painting on the easels, clay sculpting, or dancing to music. Academic areas such as reading and writing and science and mathematics are integrated deliberately into the every day activities. Children thus receive the message that learning is always available in the here and now. And it is useful and practical and it is something they are wired to do. Dragonfly parent alums have testified that their children thrive in kindergarten because not only do they leave LCP with appropriate academic skills, they also leave with an emotional awareness and assertiveness that allows them to negotiate strong relationships with other children and adults.
Example Daily Class Schedule
(May vary due to COVID limitations)
kids arrive!
Wash Hands
Teacher greets children and parents/caregivers as they get signed in
Teacher and Working parents help the children with the transition into class
Teacher(s) and working adults will facilitate free play and activities until Welcome Circle starts
WELCOME CIRCLE
We will meet at the beginning of each day to welcome children into the classroom. After singing and talking about the day’s activities, the teacher and assistant teachers will transition the children into free choice activities.
Free Choice Activities
This is the most important part of the day! During this block of time, the children will choose among art and sensory activities, blocks, the water table, the dramatics center, puzzles and games, the library center, and much more. Many of these activities will relate to our present theme; some will be daily activities that are available throughout the year. Each child may choose to participate in several activities or concentrate on a particular center. The choice is up to the child.
Circle Time
We will meet for a few minutes each day to share news in the children’s lives. This time may also be spent acting out stories, reading, reciting finger plays and poems, and moving to music and rhythm.
OUTDOOR TIME
At the Teacher’s discretion the class will usually cross the street to play at Lakewood Playground with swings, sandbox, play structure and playfield.
Additionally, LCP has access to two enclosed outdoor play spaces with a sandbox, diggers, balance and building toys, garden tools, and plenty of room to move.
SNACK TIME
Dragonflies currently bring their own snacks from home.
After washing our hands, we will sit down to a snack. Dragonflies currently bring their own snacks from home. Snacks should be simple, nourishing finger foods. All working parents are to sit down with the children at the tables where they can encourage the children to talk with one another and to help the children as needed.
After the children have cleaned up their snack area, they will have the opportunity for more play time in the classroom.
Good-Bye CIRCLE/Song
Parents are welcome to come into the classroom for a last song and good-bye to our classmates.
From Katie Vos
Dragonflies Teacher
It is great fun to be a teacher! I began with camps and ski school in high school and college, followed with work for a terrific Inclusive Schools Research Project after college. I returned for my Masters in Teaching at Seattle University, then taught fifth and sixth grade for six years in the Lake Washington School District. Once my first daughter was born, I left the elementary classroom and taught seminars for teachers in the area of math instruction. As I went on to experience my two daughters growth and development I found myself irresistibly drawn into teaching at the preschool level.
“The energy and sincerity of the kids is just unbeatable!”
Much of what I've learned in teaching older learners transfers well to the preschool classroom; the planning, individualizing, managing behavior, and much more. It is exciting to work together with children and their families in the preschool classroom. It is full of change and often surprise, and therefore, lots of learning. I enjoy doing this among the committed and supportive people at our co- op. I hope your expectation will also be that there is room for you to learn among the children, parents, and others that make up this community.
Teaching Philosophy
I believe these preschool years are so critical for children in establishing their norms and expectations about relationships, their sense of self and emotional literacy, and their orientation toward learning. The first and foremost vehicle for all their learning at preschool should be through simple play. Whether make-believe or messy, gooey exploration, kids experiences in play and in their interactions surrounding that play make their learning meaningful to them. My role as teacher, as I see it, is to build relationships with and among the students, and to see that their play is rich and rewarding. I believe that by making thoughtful, deliberate decisions about classroom activities and conversations, our kids will become more and more skilled as thinkers, problem-solvers, lovers-of-learning, and in their relationships with family and friends.