Why We Offer Pre-Pre-K at CottageClass

Many of us here at CottageClass are parents. And though my own children are on the verge of adulthood, I’ve been thinking a lot about babies lately. This is probably due the recent unearthing of some long forgotten family videos.

I’ve also been thinking about what happens when parents can, or can’t, spend most of their waking hours helping their babies understand their world. At CottageClass we wonder about what kinds of options do parents want when their children need to be under someone else’s care? That’s why enrollment in some of our micro pre-schools is offered to children as young as one year-old. This might seem kind of young for “school.” And it certainly could be.

Yet we know that school, in some shape or fashion, needs to begin at some determined age in childhood. We hear a lot about “Universal Pre-K” in NYC. Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Universal Pre-K plan begins at age three. The header is “3-K for All.” Hopefully that program will someday realize so much of what has been learned historically and globally about the need for the right to childcare and pre-school by law, and across incomes. What a tremendous thing it could be for the NYC public school system to be able to offer “a seat” to all three year-olds in all of the boroughs and districts.

In the meanwhile, at CottageClass, we also think about the ways parents prepare their children for that three year, pre-k milestone. What is “childcare?” Must it be any less educational than “school?”

I was able to work part time when both my children were born. With the help of babysitters, they had daily home routines, weekly activities, playdates and simple excursions. Like all parents, I wanted them to have moments filled with talking, singing, playing, and explorations with all their senses. In fact, those home videos I’ve been re-watching remind me of the many hours in a child’s day and of the many days between each birthday. Hours when parents are either too tired to even point a camera, or more often, they simply must work to support their family. During those hours we’d like for parents to be able choose how, where and when their babies, will start their lifetime learning. Why should we — or anyone — wait?