Back in the game

MOSES LAKE — The Big Bend Cooperative Preschool is back.

The preschool, which had operated on the Big Bend Community College campus since the 1960s, was -- like so many other things -- forced to shut down in the summer of 2020. Now it’s found a new home at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Moses Lake.

“We were part of the college,” said preschool Board Member Jennifer Hickock. “And then we leased a spot at the college and the college, right before COVID, canceled our lease. And so we had to find a new place to be. Of course, it was during COVID, where are you going to go? It was really hard to keep open. The previous board actually made the decision to close because there was nothing we could do.”

The preschool wasn’t the only casualty of the pandemic, however. Immanuel Lutheran Church also operated a preschool, which also had to close under the depredations of the coronavirus.

“What happened was the pandemic has shot us down,” said the Rev. Walter Klockers, pastor at Immanuel Lutheran. “The teachers moved on, and we had a difficult time getting it back together … We lost momentum. We lost our teachers, and the writing was on the wall after almost 35 years, which is really sad.”

The Big Bend Cooperative Preschool currently occupies two rooms at the church, plus an outdoor space with playground equipment. School administrators are planning to set up a garden outside when the snow is done, said teacher Stephanie Gregg.

“If we have family events, which we do a few times a year, we could do something downstairs,” Hickock said. “There's a nice big fellowship room, and they said we are welcome to use that if we have like a taco party or pumpkin carving party.”

Currently, the preschool is trying to rebuild its enrollment from scratch, which is why it held an open house Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Shortly after the doors opened Tuesday morning, there were already three children busily at play at the school. Playing, and learning.

“We're actually a learn-through-play program,” Hickock said, “we're not an academic preschool.”

“When we say we're a non-academic preschool, that doesn't mean that your child is not going to learn all about math and all about literacy and all about life skills,” explained Gregg. “They're going to learn all of that here, just in a very different way. And the cool part of my job is I get to point out to parents what your kid is learning when they're doing certain activities. Like, I've had parents complain to me that little Johnny just wants to swing on the swing; he doesn't want to do anything else. And I get to step in and say, ‘Well, this is what Johnny's learning when he's on the swing: he's learning about momentum, and gravity and spatial awareness. And he's working out those fine motor muscles with his big, strong hands holding on and his gross motor skills, and then he's learning how to fine-tune and finesse his body. So all those things work together. It's just a different way of looking at early childhood education.”

The preschool offers classes for three age levels: 18 months to 3 years, 3 years and 4 to 5 years. Kids are given age-appropriate, hands-on activities to learn from, Hickock and Gregg said.

“We'll always have a Play-Doh center,” Gregg said. “Play-Doh is really important for early childhood development because it strengthens all those muscles. Before kids can start writing and using a pencil they have to do Play-Doh. And we're always gonna have some sort of math activity or a math center. Painting is another really important activity for kids. Again, they're getting that spatial awareness, they're getting an opportunity to express their creativity, they learn what happens when you add too much paint to paper. So it's very much a science experiment as well.”

A daily family-style snack is also a learning experience, Gregg explained, where kids learn some basic planning and calculation skills in their own way.

“Instead of giving them their portion of food, we're allowing kids to get their own personal food,” she said. “So maybe like at the beginning of school, they dump a whole bunch of goldfish on their plate. But by the end, they've learned through them doing it that, oh, I only need one scoop of goldfish because that's all I'm going to eat. So every single thing is a learning activity. We're helping kids learn for themselves.”

“We let our kids use too much glue so that they can find out what happens when they use too much,” she continued. “We let our kids get messy. We love glitter.”

Because it’s a co-op, the preschool requires parents to take a hands-on role as well. Toddlers’ parents are present the whole time their children are, and parents of older kids rotate times when they are there to help out. The plan is to have two parents in each room, Gregg said. Parents also attend monthly meetings to strengthen their parenting methods. This level of parental involvement lets moms and dads network with other parents, Hickock said, which can be a real support.

“I was 40 when I had my one child,” Hickock said. “And my life totally shifted when I had him, obviously, well, my friendships changed. All my friends were like me, they didn't have kids, and all of a sudden I have a child. I had no friends, I joined the co-op preschool. That is my social group, still to this day. My son is 8, and they’re still my core friends. I still see them and we still rely on each other.”

Gregg said she felt like the aspects of making friends and community building were lost during hte pandemic.

“My son went to preschool during COVID, and we weren't allowed to take our kids into class. We weren't allowed to be a part of their daily lives. So my child went to school with these kids for two years and I never met a parent, because it was all ‘Stay in your car, pick up your kids, drop off your kids.’ This is a completely different experience that parents will have now post where they get to come they get to see their kids play. They get to meet other parents, they get to exchange phone numbers,” Gregg said.

Klockers said opening the church to the community in multiple ways was an opportunity.

“This is … another opportunity for ministry, for a preschool, and it just makes me so happy to know that's going to happen,” Klockers said.

The bottom line, Gregg said, is that children have to learn, well, like children.

“You have to let your kids be kids and they have to run their own marathon in their own way, at their own pace, and we have to just support them,” she said. “ They learn something through everything they do, and they learn best through play.”

Joel Martin may be reached via email at jmartin@columbiabasinherald.com.