Welcome to Huron Playschool Co-operative! We are a secular co-operative school located in the Annex neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. We have been a vital part of the community since 1968, offering nursery school programs, summer camps, childcare, and after-school programs. Please check our current programs for more information.
In our co-operative playschool, the staff and caregivers work closely together to help build each child's self-esteem and to develop their social, intellectual, and physical skills. We believe children are competent, capable of complex thinking, curious, and rich in potential. Each child should feel that they belong.
Huron Playschool Co-operative is a member of the Parent Co-operative Preschool Corporation (PCPC).
Our Philosophy
Huron Playschool Co-operative, through our staff and the active involvement of the caregivers, provides a safe and nurturing environment where children are encouraged to develop their cognitive, social, emotional, and creative capacities through play.
Co-operative members are responsible for everything from maintenance to the budget, in different ways, including assisting in the classroom during regularly scheduled "co-op days", providing a snack for the class in scheduled rotation, or for administrative duties.
Being a part of a co-operative demands time and energy, but the rewards are well worth the investment! We learn from each other, support each other, and develop close and lasting friendships. It is a unique experience for everyone involved.
Program Foundations
We aim to provide a gentle start to a child's school years. As a co-operative school, caregivers and teachers work closely together to help develop each child's confidence and independence as well as social, intellectual, and physical skills.
Our program foundations are:
Belonging: Encouraging each child's relationships with other people, providing them with a sense of being valued and making contributions as part of the group, the community, and the natural world.
Well-Being: Addressing the importance of physical and mental health, and incorporating capacities such as self-care, sense of self, and self-regulation skills.
Engagement: Encouraging active involvement and focus. When children are able to explore the world around them, with their natural curiosity and exuberance, they are fully engaged. This promotes the development of problem solving, creative thinking abilities, and innovative skills, which are essential for learning and success in school and beyond.
Expression: Recognizing that expression and communication takes many forms. Through their bodies, words, and use of materials, children develop capacities for increasingly complex communication. Opportunities to explore a variety of materials supports creativity, problem solving and mathematical behaviours. Language-rich environments supports growing communication skills, which are the foundations of literacy.
Our Space
Our classroom setting is a very large “L” shaped room that has allowed us to set up an incredible multi-use space. We also have a separate office/kitchen (for preparing meals and for administrative work) and a children's washroom with two toilets.
Within our multi-use classroom we have:
- A large arts and crafts area with lots of paper, markers, scissors and tape and even a separate easel for paint fun
- A sensory area that's perfect for our playdough or playfoam exploration
- A dramatic centre with puppets, a toy kitchen, and lots of baby dolls
- An area for building with many different sizes and shapes of wooden blocks
- A reading area with a big comfy couch, bean bags and lots of books
- A puzzle and fine motor toy area with legos, trains, gears, and towers to stack
- A science area (past experiments have included oil and water, alka-seltzer bubbles, and lots of fun cooking adventures)
- Water and sand tables for sensory exploration, which we love to add toys, beads and scoops to
- A gross motor area with soft mats, a slide/rocking boat, hopscotch and more
- Lots of tables and chairs for meals and for focused activities
- Child-sized sinks for easy clean up
We love to spend as much time as we can outdoors! Our location gives us access to many nearby green spaces: Robarts Library, Innis College, Woodsworth College, New College, and other University courtyards. We spend our mornings and afternoons, weather permitting, at the enclosed park across from the school at the corner of Huron & Washington.