Koop Academy

Cooperatively said .. Or how children grow and learn in one cooperative school. Recently in Sofia a new space was opened for children and parents, based entirely on a new model - the co-operative principle. About the idea and how hard is to put new practices in our national education, we talk to Petia Gieva, founder of the Cooperative Academy and their new project Growers.

How did the idea for Cooperative kindergarten come up? The idea of such a place has evolved naturally as an extension of parental cooperatives we are developing for a long time with our team and had gained enough experience. Over the past few years we put quite energy to the cooperative cause. Now we integrate the best cooperative practices in a larger scale and thus Growers came up. Home-like environment, direct parental involvement, non-violent teaching methods, teachers, who are friends - all that comes from parent cooperatives. Luckily we have contacted several German cooperative centers, with which we established a partnership. They also gave a lot of support and inspiration, and we are extremely grateful to them.

What are the advantages of cooperative care to other educational formats? Cooperative care is widespread in many countries due to several simple things. First, parents have a natural right to participate, contribute and develop such social spaces for their children. In this way they have all the information about what happens to their child, share responsibility for them and receive expert partners in the face of teachers and staff. Alternative and innovative methods of working with children is another benefit of the cooperative care. Small group, the actual individual approach to each child, nonviolent communication between large and small home environment - all this creates a wonderful atmosphere for mutual open communication, development, creativity.

LEARN GROW LOVE. We believe in this and we strive to promote it as an inspiring practice child care. Many parents are looking for and want better care for their child, but do not have the time to devote to participation in such organization. What is your position on them? Our child care form includes the parent as an active participant on the day of your child. We have set many types of parental involvement that are flexible and different demands and needs of the parent can be met. Parents are encouraged to share the day with the child directly in its social environment, spending more time with them. Each parent enlist in a schedule of daily parental visits.

During his visit the parent can get to know his or her child's environment, the dynamic of the group, speak with the teacher, have fun ... Parents have the opportunity to occupy "positions" in Growers with appropriate responsibilities.

Such posts may be eg. support staff for cleaning and hygiene maintenance master gardener and others. They are not time-limited educational situations and can be performed in non-working hours.  For us it is important to empower parents to keep their relationship with their children in their social environment. Parents are our partners. Only with close friendship between teachers and parents, we can keep the quality of the child care.

How do you achieve this friendly atmosphere with the parents? Family of families - this concept is the basis of cooperative PRINCIPLE. We share everything with their families - difficulties, program conflicts and together we seek solutions to all the tasks. The parent has access to all the information for the child and we do not save anything. Everything about the children we note in the diaries, pictures, we make personal meetings, inform by newsletter about upcoming educational topics .. Each month we hold parent meetings to resolve important administrative issues and organize one social event for the community of Growers, eg . we recently planted orchard in the park, we made picnic the mountain Vitosha, volunteering on a farm where children and mommies were feeding horses and cows and dads hauling straw bales .. We had a small theater play by parents for children and all a lot of fun. Each month, we host an informal community events. They are fun, lighthearted and nobody accepts them with pouting face. In this way we build sincere relationships with families and work goes easier. And children are more motivated to participate in the educational process when they see Mom and Dad have fun in the kindergarten ...

What are the common adaptation crises that children experience when they enter kindergarten How to help them to overcome them? We strive to break the myth that adaptation in a kindergarten is going through a lot of stress and tears, and not necessarily traumatic for both the child and the affectionate parent. In Growers we use a system to adapt any child and parent need to give time and courage. Usual for adaptation takes about two weeks has been very smooth, positive and needed a bag full of tricks. It is important that children feel friendship request opposite and parent to recognize the continuation of home in our school. For example, one of the tricks that works: Each family prepares emergency kit for the child, but instead of tape and bandages they use the box for objects that bring emotional comfort and solace to the child - pictures from summer vacation, homemade cookie, a favorite blanket, a small toy surprise, scarf with mummy's perfume. Everything that parents think it's appropriate. Thus, the child always has something familiar and dear to him.

Tell us a bit more about the new garden! How does a day in the Growers go? We open the doors in the morning and gather together while preparing children's "sensory bait". This is a box of treasures that we upgrade each day with new things - beans, wire, fungus, cooked spaghetti, colored salt, cones, shells, foams, bottle caps, sandpaper, feathers .. Basically anything can be used for "bait". The meaning of our treasure box is to awaken the natural curiosity and imagination of the children in the morning. So the day begins with a special charge.

When we are all together, we set on a journey with yoga, dance or dynamic games different on different days. Follows breakfast often you prepare yourself, and the story circle - our central educational situation in which we explore the theme of the week. After comes the art craft, purely a creative endeavor. The rule is this - what have we learned in the story comes out in our hands - we shape, paint, make collages and much more. We have no restrictions and rules on how and what is the creative process of children. Important is the process, not the final product. After the creative craft comes the game in the forest. Every day we go outside. Here at Growers there is no such thing as bad weather - in the forest we have a special place for mud puddles and fun in the rain winter - there is no better than snow. We're just well equipped for all conditions. It is important for us to spend as much as possible quality time in Nature, we believe that Nature is our best teacher.

In Growers we are trying to follow the natural rhythm of children. All activities rely on the immediate motivation of children taught through game. Our teachers are specially trained to communicate with children in methods of nonviolent communication, empathy .. Certainly, for such purposes are needed quite different teachers. How do you find followers in this direction? It is not difficult to work with a young and motivated staff. The work with children is rather a cause. We want to make a difference, to set a new standard for child care. In Growers we believe that the time has come for a different communication and development of education in early childhood. This puts the need for new teachers, new instruments and philosophy.

Our teachers are more like friends of the children, partners to the parents and allies of the idea of Growers. In Cooperative Academy, one of the leading partners for Growers, we provide a training course for teachers, innovators with a lot of psychological orientation. People who work with our children are not perfect nerds waiting to pour knowledge and skills in the children's heads, but friends above all. Our teachers believe that in order to give something to the children, we must first developed it in ourselves and the work with children requires a lot of work on ourselves.

We communicate with many people who want to create and play with children. We've opened a program that invites visiting volunteers every week. We recently organized visits of a large IT Company, which was sent staff members to read stories to children and spend time with them in the herb garden in the yard. We like to think of Growers as a wider social project, open to the community.

And what happens with the state standards? Ministry of Education? In Growers we cover all required state standards - we have medical office, fire safety, bedrooms and bathrooms ... We are still in the process of obtaining a license from the Ministry of Education, and soon it will be ready. In terms of safety and hygiene standard of physical environment - there is nothing different from a normal, regular school. Differences rely on the views management model, educational methods, cooperative principle .. We do not run away from best practices in Bulgarian education, on the contrary - we embrace every reasonable and good idea.

On food you have a special policy. You are supporters of the vegetarian idea? Yes, we are. About healthy eating for children is an important priority. Vegetarian diet is closely related to a more environmentally friendly and conscious stance on global state of nature and we support it with both hands.