Pocket of Preschool - Jackie Kops

I’m Jackie, your go-to girl for early childhood inspiration and research-based curriculum. You’re not in this alone. After teaching for 14 years in both a half-day and full-day multi-age preschool classrooms, I am here to create play-based activities, resources, and curriculum to make teaching easier, effective, and fun for you and your students. I'm here to help you unleash your teaching super powers! You're not in this alone.

Teaching little learners is HARD (and sometimes messy). As an educator, you are constantly thinking up new and engaging centers for every theme, creating visual supports and finding activities to meet the needs of all your little learners. In addition, you are talking with parents, taking care of kids when they are hurt, doing assessments, creating bulletin boards, maintaining portfolios, going to meetings and so much more. You LOVE teaching! You want your students to love learning, and you STRIVE to make learning fun. When I taught full-day multi-age preschool, most of my students are in my classroom for over eight hours a day. When I taught half-day multiage preschool, my students were there for almost four hours. I love making my classroom a warm and inviting home for little learners to explore, create and discover new things! I want school to be a safe place where students feel loved, valued and confident. The classroom is a child’s third teacher. The materials evolve and change as our studies/themes change. I am very intentional with the materials I set up in my classroom. I feel it is my job to nurture my students’ excitement for learning by creating developmentally appropriate, engaging and challenging lessons and activities so they become lifelong learners.

I am a proud graduate of Maryville University where I received a Master and Bachelor of Education (M.Ed. and B.Ed.) in Early Childhood and Elementary Education. I served on several committees to create our own school board approved early childhood curriculum using current research, best practices, state and national standards and common core standards. I also worked to develop our district’s kindergarten curriculum. In my school, I served on the Character Education Leadership Team. I created and implemented several character education initiatives receiving Promising Practice awards. My school was named a State School of Character, an honor bestowed on schools who satisfy criteria based on their implementation of the 11 Principles of Character.

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I am a mom to two amazing little boys who are my everything! I LOVE my family, and I am very grateful to have them in my life! My dream day is sleeping in, eating a late breakfast, and playing outside for the rest of the day. My happy place is the Target Dollar Spot and the Dollar Tree (seriously, I could spend hours there). I love cold unsweet iced tea, chocolate cupcakes and going to the gym with my friends.