Play Learn Achieve Academy LLC

I would be lying if I said I wasn't sad today... I definitely miss the kiddos! I hope all my school aged kiddos have a wonderful year and I hope my still in prek kiddos have so many opportunities to play! Love you and miss you all!
Miss Carina 💕

Norman's retirement trip Colorado 💕🏔️

https://www.dyslexia.yale.edu/dyslexia/signs-of-dyslexia/

https://instituteofchildpsychology.com/?

https://www.stateofdyslexia.org/

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BjWVSU2Hc/?mibextid=wwXIfr Sold a Story

https://www.landmarkschool.org/landing-pages/reading

It's that time of year... Last PLA Graduating Class 😭

Happy Mother's Day 💐

For the families asking for my recommendation... This center will be opening before next school year. I reached out to Molly this morning and her teaching philosophy most aligns with mine. Play based, child centered, and process art. Check out her website 💕
https://www.nurturedgrowthchildcare.com/?fbclid=IwY2xjawKJwEVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHn3FXljqu3Akwu6bTICeOWQRozqiPdLNKOJ3_z948UH3cK9jIl9e45N-yHSt_aem__e7nwH_abDuhA8zAfrzvQg

Nurtured Growth Childcare Inc. | osage beach childcare | 5751 Parkside Village Court, Osage Beach, MO, USA Nurtured Growth Childcare is premium childcare serving 50 children in Osage Beach with a focus on physical activity, good nutrition, and play-based learning.

When you have had an emotional couple of days and a sweet mommy gifted you a Sonic gift card you surprise your sweet preschool friends with a special lunch!! ❤️

When do you say when? When is it time to throw in the towel? I was open for over 11 years… I feel like I did fulfill my dream… it is still so hard to stop doing something that you believe in and love so much! That being said there has been a shift and things aren’t like they used to be.
Parents are struggling to pay bills, and private play-based preschool is not always the best fit for working parents.

The price of everything has gone up, groceries, rent, insurance, supplies. I don’t feel like raising tuition is the answer when I couldn’t stay full at my rates now.

Parent involvement… feeling like they are part of our team/PLA Family has gone away. Parent advertisement has always kept us full I don’t feel like our name gets thrown out there as much and I’m not great at hyping my program myself. I’ve been told so many times we didn’t know your program existed…

Kids are not the same… I’ve never had so many “hard kids” we have had toys thrown at us, rocks thrown at us, been called names daily, cussed at... I feel like our whole day is putting out little fires all over the school and never just getting to enjoy hanging out with the kiddos like we used to… I grew up in a time where we respected teachers… I’m all about children having a voice and speaking up for themselves… this is not it.

The public-school preschool program became 5 days a week full time… and just keeps expanding. We lost our most supportive group of parents.

I’m sorry to the…
“Bad Kids” - that won’t get the opportunity to find your place and love for school in a play based child centered place
The Creative Kids – that will be told what your art should look like and not being able to explore your creativity through process art, and my favorite… child directed Floor Art
The Sensory Seeking kiddo - that won’t be allowed to safely run their body into a wall, put paint all the way up their arms, relax your body in the swing, or feel the sand, rice, or playdough whenever you need it
The math, reading, and science kiddos that will be told when they can build with blocks, make magic potions, look at books, make a book, and explore the why

I am so proud of my little Play school and the little ones who attended. They graduated with the skills to be great students… confident, independent, responsible, creative, critical thinkers.
I still believe EVERY child would benefit from a play based preschool, but I can’t force parents to bring their kiddos to me… since year 2 I’ve always ended the year with over 20 kiddos enrolled this year I have 13. It’s time… No one who has over 25 years of experience would work for free… that was the reality this year and with the low enrollment I also couldn’t keep mom so I was doing the work of 2 people… I’m not willing to rebrand PLA… play based preschool is where my heart is. Bottom line I can’t compete with school based preschool programs with cheaper or no fees.
I do feel like I did get to live out my dream and it’s time to see what the next chapter has in store. Thank you for all the support from my family, friends, and community! Thank you to my mom Miss Vicki Barrett that was there from the beginning, my daughter Em Blair that poured her heart into the kiddos for a few years, and of course Miss Chelsea Brock who has been by my side for 7 years. There will be tears locking up the doors for the last time. It’s been a heck of a ride!
Miss Carina
Play Learn Achieve Academy LLC
PLA
October 2013 – May 2025