Welcome to PCN!
"PCN is awesome! My oldest attended a few years ago and now my second is attending the billingual class. The interaction between the teachers, parents, and students is wonderful. It's great to be able to be involved as my children start their school years. The price is right, the location is good, and the opportunities can't be beat!"
-Valerie
PCN - Plymouth Cooperative Preschool is a hands-on experiential learning preschool for ages 3-5, located in Canton, Michigan. We also offer a bilingual (Spanish / English) class for not only preschoolers, but kindergarteners as well.
At PCN, children are learning and gaining critical life skills by doing one of the things they do best – playing. We encourage independent decision-making and open the door for social, emotional, physical, and intellectual development through a play-based learning curriculum.
Don't just take it from us at PCN - Plymouth Cooperative Preschool, visit our Testimonials page and see what parents of our students have to say!
What is Play-Based Learning?
Formally, play-based learning is defined as, “a context for learning through which children organize and make sense of their social worlds as they engage actively with people, objects and representations” (Early Childhood Care & Education). More simply, play-based learning utilizes the five senses to teach children about the world around them in a way that is meaningful to them.
For example, children may learn to identify a pumpkin if you show them a picture of one. But if you bring in a pumpkin, let them hold it, open it up, feel it, taste it, make pumpkin art projects and even take a field trip to a pumpkin patch to see where they grow, the children will understand what a pumpkin is. And while they are learning about pumpkins they are also recognizing the color orange; sharpening fine-motor skills, creativity and expression during the art projects; learning how to wait their turn while the pumpkin is being passed around; gaining the understanding of basic biology concepts such as how pumpkins grow in the ground from seeds; and discovering more about their world as they to try new things.
Most importantly, they are having fun, fostering an enjoyment of school and learning from the very beginning.
Below are just some of the examples of play-based learning utilized at PCN:
- Play Dough – Helps develop sensory perception, cause and effect, creativity, spatial reasoning and thinking skills.
- Painting, Drawing and Coloring – Foster self-expression, help develop fine-motor skills and enhance early reading and writing skills.
- Dramatic and Free Play – Develop social skills, cooperation, imaginative thinking and self-discovery.
- Books, Songs and Finger Plays – Promote reading, provide visual and audio stimulation and logical thinking.
- Blocks, Puzzles and Counting Cubes – Encourage spatial reasoning, math and counting skills, memory development and fine-motor skills.
- Gross-Motor and Outdoor Play – Enhance large-motor development, imaginative play and social skills.
Why Play-Based Learning?
Aside from allowing children the opportunity to learn through playing and doing activities they enjoy, play-based learning arms children with crucial skills they will utilize throughout their lives. Children learn best when they are engaged, interested and involved in activities that matter to them. Play fosters this engagement both with the activities and each other. Play encourages rational thinking and problem-solving. It fosters creativity and develops social skills and cooperation. It provides a setting for questioning, imitating, dreaming and connecting with people, ideas and the world.
For more information on the importance of play-based learning see the following links: