Since winter has so far brought us several days of very rainy weather, the children have had some extremely wet puddle fun outdoors along with a little more time indoors than usual. Fortunately, Miss Katy and the parent volunteers have been resourceful about coming up with creative inside activities to keep the little ones happy and engaged on the those dreary days.

Grow With Me is holding a fundraiser! Instead of selling cookie dough or candy, we are selling organic produce, fresh eggs, True South Pimento Cheese, Annie’s Bakery Bread, Dynamite Roasting Company Coffee, Roots Hummus and other edible products grown and made by local businesses through Mother Earth Produce.

Online you can order a small, medium or large bin of organic produce and other food items from Mother Earth Produce and they will deliver it to your front door. Bins cost $26-$50, depending on size. Along with the food, participants will have access to recipes provided by Asheville-area organizations and businesses that support the local food movement. There is no long-term commitment – participants buy as few or as many bins as they choose – and orders can be customized.

Participants must live within 60 miles of Asheville. For the first 100 veggie bins that are ordered using the school code GM954, Grow With Me preschool will receive $4 per bin. After that, the school earns $2 per bin through May 31, 2013. Bins are the same price whether you order with the code or without – Mother Earth Produce donates part of the bin cost to Grow With Me.

For details on Mother Earth Produce or to participate in the fundraiser, go to www.MotherEarthProduce.com, register and order your bin. Upon check out, type the code “GM954” into the “Enter Coupon Code” line and click “Submit Coupon.” So easy! We hope you will participate!

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One of the loveliest things about being a part of the Grow With Me learning community is the steady rhythm of work and play that each classroom day and week follows.

The children know that important transitions in the daily routine (i.e. moving from the classroom to the garden area, or preparing for snack) are marked by well-loved songs sung by Miss Katy and the classroom parents. Children join in with their own voices as they clean up toys or put on their shoes for outside play.

Everyone knows that on Wednesdays bread dough is mixed and kneaded, and every Thursday the bread they made will be eaten for snack. They even look forward to washing their napkins in the washtub and hanging them to dry on Thursdays.

Being able to count on this gentle rhythm makes school a safe and comforting place for our littles, and gives them the confidence to be bold explorers of the big, wide world.

Welcome!  We are still enrolling for the fall 2011-2012 school year, which will begin September 6th.

Our program, inspired by the Waldorf values of Reverence, Repetition and Rhythm, strives to provide a gentle transition for children, ages 3-6, from the home to a group environment.

Grow With Me Cooperative is a community of young children and parents seeking to create a cooperative learning program that facilitates social, spiritual, emotional, physical and intellectual growth in a loving, supportive atmosphere.  We nurture a respect for self, others, and nature, while providing a safe environment for our children to stretch their imaginations and to explore their interests.

Our cooperative teaching environment offers children a continuous thread of experience, bridging school and home, fosters a deeper relationship between parent and child and helps families better integrate their child’s personal needs and interests into their school environment.

We believe children have innate wisdom, and that it is our responsibility to honor and cultivate this power within children.  Therefore, imagination and play experience are keys to the young child’s development  at GWM.

Our program, conveniently located in East Asheville, also offers:

~ trained teachers

~ quality programing

~ affordable tuition

~ natural play materials

~ arts & crafts

~ cooking projects

~ circle time

~ storytelling

~ exceptional classroom & outdoor play spaces

Our program meets Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9-12:30.

If you are interested in enrolling, or learning more, please leave a comment on our Contact page.