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New pre-school opens up

Above her garage on South Beach Road Teresa Cosgrove has brought together a rich collection of toys and tools to help toddlers and preschoolers develop the skills they need to thrive when they start school.

“There’s lots of stuff to see and do,” Cosgrove said of her new Carriage House School preschool. Next to a puppet theater and a table full of water to play in there is an easel and shelves full of art supplies and books. At a small vanity table there is a basket full of sunglasses and a tray of old cellular phones. There are miniature versions of kitchen utensils and pots and pans and other familiar objects. “One of the ways children play is to take things from every day and use them in their imagination,” Cosgrove said.

For the first few weeks after the Carriage House School’s opening in late August, Cosgrove said she’ll be letting her students play and watching what excites them. “We’ll develop the program around them,” she said. As an example she described a program she developed at another school, inspired by some of the students’ fascination with elephants. “We read stories about elephants, we made little books about them and watched videos,” she said. “We did really concrete things ­ we painted elephants ­ and language things ­ we talked about elephant skin. You do it until kids have a sense they’re happy with what they’ve accomplished.”

Building a program driven by the children’s own interests gives the momentum to their learning. “It’s my job to see the process build the skills they need ­ literacy, social skills, cooperation, creativity,” she said.

Cosgrove is trained as a Montessori teacher and holds an associate’s degree in early childhood care and education. She is now completing a master’s degree in human development specializing in early childhood education.

The Carriage House School offers a three or four day preschool program for children two-and-a-half to five years old Monday or Tuesday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon.

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