BIG STUFF OFFERS 'HOMEY' FUN FOR KIDS

FRUITLAND -- Friends who feel sympathy for Susan Todt are misplacing those emotions. While her new role as owner and director of Big Stuff Preschool and Child Care is hectic, she finds the setting invigorating.

"When I tell people this is the least stressful job I've ever had, they look at me like I'm crazy," Todt said, "but that's the truth. I'm really enjoying it. When I worked at a hospital, I was always having to go back and redo someone else's job. Here I don't have to. And here I can act like a kid without the parents looking at me like I'm nuts."

Todt opened the school Dec. 11 and is licensed to take up to 60 children. She has 11 and has no plans to ever have more than three dozen students.

"We've started off slow and I like it that way," she said. "We're not overwhelmed this way. We can see what we like and what we don't and make changes. I don't think I'd ever want to have 50 kids in here. You just wouldn't get the same one-on-one interaction."

Todt has a faculty of one. Nikki Dirnberger, a Scott City native who has a bachelor's degree in child development from Southeast Missouri State University, leads students through the Project Construct curriculum. The program was developed by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and is one of the curriculums used by the Jackson School District.

Part of the philosophy involves learning centers. These include art, housekeeping, a block area, a writing center, manipulatives and a library. The library will soon have a reading loft installed and will contain two computers.

A theme is planned each week that includes activities for the various centers. Students use hands-on experiences and interact between the centers and with each other. This allows students to develop at their own levels. Todt sees that as an important aspect.

"We don't hold back any child," Todt said. "We don't discriminate, based on who can do what. We can build from where they are when they come in."

Four or five centers are generally set up at one time. Children do not have to stay at one station for set periods of time. They are free to move from one to another.

'They can pick and choose," Todt said. "That way they don't get bored."

The new facility was "built for the kids," in Todt's words, with sinks and bathroom fixtures ranging in sizes to accommodate the entire age range of students. When weather permits, finishing touches will be done to the school grounds and playground. A 55-by-82.5-foot grassy area will include four swings and two slides in a pea gravel "fall zone." A former sandbox, meanwhile, will be filled with dirt and used to let students grow their own plants.

"I wanted more of a homey atmosphere," said Todt, who has her own children, ages 5 and 3, in the preschool. "We have wooden baseboards and other touches like that."

She and her husband, Dale, did much of the construction work themselves.

An active member of St. Vincent's Catholic Church in Cape Girardeau, Todt wants children to learn not only skills but also manners and a concept of community.

"We'll be doing some community projects," she said. 'I want them to realize there is another community outside of here."

Todt also plans to take future kindergartners on field trips to school to meet their future teachers, thus making the big transition easier.

Big Stuff takes children ages 2-12 and is open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. It offers before and after school programs for school-age students. This includes homework time and assistance. Todt also provides transportation to school.

"The buses run out here, but it's easier to take five minutes and run them to school than for them to be on a bus 30 minutes," she explained.

Big Stuff is on Highway W, just south of North Elementary. Its phone number is 243-2900.