In many preschool classrooms, when children are playing with a set of blocks and another child wants a turn, they are taught something we’ve all heard before: sharing is caring. But at Imagination Station inside St. Vincent de Paul Dayton’s Women and Families Shelter, children are taught to respond with something different.

“That’s my work. You can ask to be next.”

While it may seem like a small distinction, it carries particular meaning for children whose families are experiencing homelessness.

Some of the children participating in Imagination Station come from larger families where belongings, space and other resources are already frequently shared. In the classroom, giving children ownership over what they are doing, even something as simple as a set of blocks, gives them an opportunity to make choices, communicate their needs and solve problems with other children.

“They work it out surprisingly,” said Early Childhood Education Coordinator Cindi Rosengarten. “We work a lot on problem-solving skills of, ‘What would work? What do you think? What do you think you might want to do?’”

It’s one example of the philosophy behind Imagination Station, a weekday preschool program that gives some of the shelter’s youngest guests opportunities to learn, play and build academic, social and emotional skills. While their families work toward greater stability, the program provides a consistent space where children can continue learning, discovering their strengths and simply being children.

Building a Space for Children at the Shelter

Imagination Station launched in September 2024 for children ages 2½ to 6 staying at the shelter. The program runs from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Monday through Friday and typically welcomes seven or eight children each day.

Cindi was hired specifically to develop the program, drawing on decades of experience in early childhood education. Its curriculum is based on Ohio’s early learning standards, incorporating early literacy, math and science alongside a strong emphasis on social-emotional development and kindergarten readiness.

“My goal is to listen and be there and to support them and to make them feel good about themselves,” Cindi said.

She spends one-on-one time with each child, assessing where they are developmentally and finding opportunities to build on what they already know.

Discovering What Children Can Do

Cindi says she can sometimes see changes within days.

Children who initially ask her to write their names on their artwork soon begin practicing themselves. After hearing Cindi read aloud each day, they start requesting books or exploring the classroom library on their own. Open-ended activities encourage them to sort, count, identify patterns and solve problems.

Cindi has also been surprised by how quickly children begin teaching one another, showing newcomers everything from how to take turns with materials to how much glue to use.

“They are learning from each other,” Cindi said.

Some of the most meaningful moments, however, come when Cindi discovers a strength a parent may not have had the opportunity to notice.

She remembers a 4-year-old who could complete increasingly complicated math problems in their head, as well as young children who arrived already able to read. When Cindi shared what she was seeing, their parents were surprised.

For families experiencing homelessness, those discoveries can be particularly meaningful. Parents staying at the shelter may be focused on immediate needs, from finding housing and employment to making sure their families have food and other necessities. Amid those pressures, there may be fewer opportunities to slow down and notice a skill or interest beginning to emerge in their child.

Cindi makes a point of sharing those discoveries and recognizing parents’ efforts, whether she is celebrating an academic milestone or simply telling them about something kind or helpful their child did that day.

“When I can recognize a strength in a child that the parent didn’t see and help them build on it, that to me is an incredible thing,” Cindi said.

Learning Beyond the Classroom

This summer and fall, learning has extended outside with new raised garden beds built through volunteer and community support, including five lower beds designed for the children.

Throughout the season, children learned how plants grow, what belongs in a compost pile and how to care for vegetables, flowers and herbs. They harvested tomatoes, onions, peppers and herbs to make homemade salsa and used other produce to make refrigerator pickles and a fresh vegetable dip.

Cindi has even watched the children begin sharing their new gardening knowledge with others. When they spotted a staff member near the garden one day, two children quickly offered some guidance: “Miss Cindi says we only touch with one finger. We don’t yank things off the plants.”

“It was fun to see them picking up all the words I use and then sharing that with other people,” Cindi said.

Along the way, they painted rocks and pavers for the garden and collected seeds to plant again next year.

The experience is one way Cindi incorporates hands-on learning into the program, something she hopes to expand with additional STEM and science activities this year.

A Community Supporting Young Learners

Community partnerships have also helped expand learning opportunities and support for the shelter’s youngest guests.

Partnerships with the University of Dayton’s psychology and early childhood education programs bring interns into the shelter to support activities and develop resources for parents. An after-school program serves school-age children, while a partnership with Head Start helps connect pregnant guests and families with infants and toddlers to additional support.

Grants and donations have also helped furnish the classroom and provide learning materials. Most recently, support from the PNC Foundation helped add durable outdoor musical instruments to the shelter playground.

For Cindi, one of the program’s greatest ongoing needs is consistent volunteers. Having additional support in the classroom creates more opportunities for one-on-one attention and individualized learning.

“I am a firm believer that every moment can make a difference in the life of a child,” Cindi said.

Interested in supporting Imagination Station? The program welcomes consistent volunteers, community partners, and donations based on current needs. Individuals or organizations interested in getting involved or providing needed materials can contact Cindi Rosengarten at crosengarten@stvincentdayton.org to learn more about how they can help.