Parent Co-operative and Parent Participation Preschools
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Parent Co-operative and Parent Participation Preschools
A parent co-op is a school where parents work in the classroom
on a regular basis, usually one morning a week, and also help to
run and administer the school. A parent participation
preschool is a program that is usually for younger children (under 3)
that children and parents or caregivers attend together.
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Parent Co-op Preschools with BPN Reviews
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Parent Participation Programs with BPN Reviews
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Feb 2007
Many of my friends and I have visited CCC, as well as other co-ops, and
we really love
the schools. However, we were curious how 3-year-olds respond to the 20
or so
different adults participating each week. Does it take a child longer
to seem at ease,
given this turn-over? I assume that after a few months they get to know
all the parents
and feel comfortable, but is it difficult beforehand? Would a semi-shy
child feel
completely overwhelmed? Thanks for any insight.
Mother of a shy 2-year-old
My two shy daughters attended CCC and had a great experience
there. The number of adults at the school did not seem to be an
issue. The children are with the same teachers each day, so that
provides a lot of consistency. Getting to know many children and
adults was a great learning experience and one that made my
girls feel more confident by the time they entered elementary
school.
CCC alum
Hi-Our not really shy daughter started El Cerrito Preschool Co-
op (ECPC) at age 3.5. It took her about 2 weeks (going MWF,
8:30-noon) to adjust to ''school.'' During that time I would
stay for the day & then less & less each day. For the first
few weeks or so, ECPC encourages this practice to give children
(& parents) time to ease into the new routine. We have shy
kids at the school & they seem to adjust just fine, even tho
the school is big, 30 kids. From what I've experienced, shy
kids tend to seek out a parent (whether they know them or not)
to hang around with each day (& that parent then assists in
helping the child integrate with other kids.) At ECPC, there
are always 6 parents & 2 teachers. Having different parents
each day was never an issue with our child. Meeting them was
simply part of adjusting to preschool. What was more important
was the interaction with the teachers who are the constant that
the kids get comfortable with & who initially reassure them
that they are in a safe, fun environment. As the school year
progresses, kids naturally bring parents into the mix. We love
ECPC & the co-op experience. Our son (age 3 in Nov) will
attend this fall along with his big sister. Feel free to
contact me if you want further info.
Debbie
I really relate to your question. My son has now been at a co-
op preschool for two years and, particularly before beginning
PS, was very slow to warm up to new situations and was
extremely shy with new people. In fact, I had officially
enrolled him in a small, home based PS for this reason. The
closer it came to Fall though, the more I had the instinct that
he was ready for something a little bigger with more options
and I loved the idea of being involved in his school in the way
a co-op allows. So, with some hesitation about the rotating
adult situation, we enrolled him in a co-op PS that we had
really liked, Albany Preschool.
Despite my worries, it has been an extremely positive
experience for him. He has become much more confident and
comfortable with new adults as well as with new kids and
situations and I attribute at least some of this growth to
getting to know new adults in a safe situation and being able
to think of them as a friend's parent. The comfort, though, has
definitely extended to his life outside of PS.
All that said, it did take him a while to get used to this
situation and, despite absolutely loving PS, he stuck quite
close to the head teacher for the first year. (Thankfully, she
really understood his approach to new situations and was
extremely patient and loving towards him.)
He still will often choose to do an activity that is led by a
parent he knows well, rather than one that seems quite up his
alley, but is led by a parent he doesn't know as well. But,
having the chance to get to know new parents at his own pace
has been a very important experience for him and now (at age 5)
he really likes to tell people about how he ''used to be really
shy with people he didn't know.'' Good luck with your own
decision.
APS parent
My daughter recently graduated from CCC. I would call her
typically shy around adults, but she had very little trouble
adjusting to co-op life. At CCC, the teachers on staff are
always present, providing a wonderful consistency for not only
the kids, but the parents working. My daughter loved getting
to know her classmates' mom/dad/grandparents and was never
overwhelmed by the rotating parent-teachers. Also, at CCC a
lot of time is put into training new parent-teachers to have
consistent and postive responses to children. Not sure how it
works elsewhere, but my daughter thrived in this setting. On
an added note, the afternoon staff maintains the same teachers
without parent-teachers -- and they are absolutely, hands-down
fantastic and amazing.
CCC fan
Dec 2006
I have been looking for a co-op preschool for my son to begin
attending in September. I've just begun my research. So far
they all seem to have similar philosophies, work loads, hours,
and fees. I have not visited any schools yet. Recently I heard
through a friend that another friend is hearing a lot of gossip
at her co-op. Most of it concerns one mother. Now I'm starting
to wonder whether this is a problem at all co-op preschools
because the parents know each other so well. Could other co-op
preschools parents share their experiences with gossip? Is this
a common problem? Could anyone recommend schools where it is
not a problem?
anonymous
It depends on what kind of gossip you're talking about. If it's
gossip about home lives, that's one thing, but if it's gossip
related to parenting skills, yes, sometimes that's more evident
in a cooperative environment. That's because parents are more
keenly aware of the behavior of individual children when they
work with them on a regular basis. In my experience, the impulse
to gossip about other parents does not arise unless there is a
behavioral issue that is going untreated at the school. If the
school is a good one, parents will be educated thoroughly and
early on the need to address matters of discipline and behavior
only with the school and not with other parents. But when the
school is not responding adequately to concerns, gossip will
surely erupt -- because parents are frustrated. Cooperatives can
be absolutely wonderful places to put your children -- the
feeling of community is so strong and so immediate, for everyone,
you, the children, the teachers. Everyone's working toward the
same end and is tremendously invested in the quality and success
of the school. Your kids will have the experience of working with
a variety of adults, each with a different personality and set of
skills to offer, and their experience will be much richer because
of it. On the other hand, any kind of cooperative business is
tricky to sustain in a healthy way. And with a preschool there
are new people and new ideas about child rearing coming in every
year; parents feel strongly about the well-being of their
children (especially when they're very young); and if the
institution itself does not maintain a consistent policy and
philosophy year-after-year, and maintain constant clear lines of
communication between the parents and the teacher or
decision-makers, then definitely destructive forces like gossip
will crop up.
Cooperative parent
I don't think there are more gossiping parents in a co-op, but I
do think there are more opportunities for people to gossip at a
co-op, just because parents are around each other more. I have 3
kids who attended 2 different co-ops, as well as other schools
later. When most parents at a school are dropping their kids off
and not hanging around, the people who like to gossip have to
make more of an effort to find receptive ears. So you tend to
hear less gossip. But when 5 or 6 parents are spending all
morning together at a co-op, even if they are busy, there are
lots more opportunities for gossip to spring up. I have to hand
it to the teachers at CCC, the co-op my 3rd son went to. They did
a good job of discouraging idle talk at school. In the 4-year-old
class, parents were not allowed to discuss kindergarten plans at
school (which, if you have a 4-year-old, can totally consume
you.) And we were often reminded that we were there to be with
the kids, not talk to each other. Parents did socialize of
course, which is one of the benefits of a co-op, but the staff
did a good job of minimizing gossip.
There are always people who need to gossip regardless of the
school. It's not so hard to avoid it, though. Gossipy people
know the ones who like it and the ones who don't, and if you
don't seem like a gossip lover to them, they probably won't
gossip to you!
Peter Pan preschool coop is great in a lot of ways, much cheaper than
other coops and I really haven't noticed any gossip. I have only been
there for 3 months, so maybe I am out of the loop, but I just haven't
heard any. The teacher is very professional; the parents nice; its in a
beautiful setting. So you may want to check it out. My son is VERY
happy there.
Oct 2003
I have my daughter in a co-op preschool 2 mornings per week, but
wondered if any of these schools in the East Bay offer a program
with some full days or close to that (basically more than the 2-
3 mornings per week that most do).
Anon
Recommendations received:
Dandelion Nursery School
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