JACKSON PRESCHOOLS OFFER SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE; CHILD CENTER BOASTS PARENT PARTICIPATION

Susan Baker, left, and Kaitlyn Thompson play Valentine Bingo with the children at the center.

Chad Gantz, left, and Austin Sievers play with building blocks.

When dirty diapers, teething and midnight feedings are safely in the distance, many parents face the wrenching decision of which preschool is best for their children.

There are many different preschools that accommodate countless diverse needs but the Child Development Center in Jackson runs apart from the pack.

When Ken and Cynthia Hotop of Jackson were looking for a preschool for their second daughter, they were pleasantly surprised to hear that this type of center existed.

"It must have been the best-kept secret in town," said Cynthia Hotop. "No one knew anything about it, it wasn't advertised or anything. Somebody told us by word of mouth.

"If we had known it was there, we would have put our oldest daughter there, that's for sure."

Started by a group of concerned mothers in 1969, the center has one advantage over other preschools -- the parents participate in teaching their children.

"Each day one parent comes in to help me," said Kristi Seyer, who has been teaching at the center for the past year. "I think it's good that they do that. It shows that the parents are interested in their children's education."

Parents lend a helping hand by assisting the children with their daily activities and, in the process, become more personally involved with their child's education from the very beginning.

Parents are also required to bring a light nutritional snack and help supervise play.

A different parent volunteers every day, saving the center much money that it would have to spend on additional help. The parents are not only involved in the learning process.

They answer phones, help clean up and do many other duties. This is how the center is able to keep tuition low. For a 3-year-old, the cost is $40 a month, $45 for a 4-year-old.

"The reason we can keep it that cheap is because that parents are involved in it," said Ken Hotop, who is also president of the center.

In certain ways, the center is like many others, focusing on counting skills, colors, the alphabet and numerals, basically getting the children ready for kindergarten, which is very important these days.

While public schools can't legally require children entering kindergarten to know the alphabet, their home phone numbers or how to tie their shows, most schools do hope children have a certain degree of knowledge coming in.

The Jackson Primary Annex gives a worksheet guideline to all interested parents on what would be beneficial for the children to know. Such knowledge as arranging household items, measuring temperature and time, word games, numbers and colors are encouraged. Social skills such as cleaning up, learning to listen, getting along with others and dressing ones self are also stressed.

Children attending the development center will be more than ready to meet these challenges.

There are three sections of classes, two for 4- to 5-year-olds and one 3- to 4-year-olds. The 3- to 4-year-old classes meet three times a week, while the younger class meets only twice a week.

Each class is set up fundamentally the same way. The day begins at 8:30 with a learning exercise of some sort, Seyer said, such as working on letters, matching or writing.

"We talk about what day of the week it is, what day of the month, what the weather is like and how many days we've been in school," Seyer said. "We count pretty high by doing that. We're up to 60 now."

There are different "stations" where there is some sort of activity, such as an art project, writing or cooking project for the children to work on, Seyer said.

The Hotops value preschool parent participation and both take their turns teaching at the center.

And apparently the center makes learning fun.

"After she started going there, my daughter grew to love it," said Cynthia Hotop. "When there's a snow day, she's really disappointed."