A preschool environment promotes development and discovery while providing plenty of playtime for busy little people. Slides, swings, blocks, puzzles, crayons, paint and an abundance of friends blend together to form scrapbook memories and an activity-based curriculum.

Parents who want to witness these memories with their own eyes may want to consider a cooperative preschool. These schools, otherwise known as "co-op" preschools, require parent participation during class time. An added plus for families on a tight budget is the reduced tuition a co-op offers compared to traditional preschools.

Time for School and Parents, Too!
Most co-op preschools offer a two or three day per week school schedule, with class time being two-and-a-half to three hours. Parental volunteer duties during class time appear to be somewhat consistent with many schools across the country.

"My daughter is in a two-day, Tuesday and Thursday, class from 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.," says Sharon from Colorado Springs, Colo. Parents are scheduled to be the "parent helper" on a rotating basis. "We provide a healthy snack with a 100 percent fruit juice for the beverage. After snack, while the children are having outdoor play, the parent helper does a light clean up of the snack tables and vacuum."

Tammy enrolled her daughter in a preschool in Virginia that offers a three-day program for 4-year-old students and a two-day program for younger students. Both age groups attend school for three hours per school day. Tammy works in her daughter's classroom with eleven children once every six weeks. "The parent basically does clean up of supplies, mans a station with an art project and delivers children from the carpool line to the classroom," Tammy says.

Jennifer from Lexington, Ky. worked one morning per month in her daughter's co-op. Barb from Illinois worked two to three days every two months. Both moms played the role of teacher's aid while on duty. "I feel that schools who do not allow parental involvement at least to some degree are either too controlling or have something to hide," says Jennifer.

Other Parental Duties
"The parents run the co-op," says Barb. The Board of Directors is made up of a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Membership Chairman, elected by the participants. "The board makes all decisions for the running of the co-op with the input of the teacher and members when appropriate." These decisions include the employment status of the teacher (who always has a minimum of a four-year degree in early childhood education), the teacher's salary, membership dues, rules for members and fundraising.

At Tammy's co-op, all parents serve on a committee, which can range from fundraising to maintenance. "Each family must fulfill a maintenance requirement, such as cleaning the school on a Saturday or mowing the lawn," says Tammy.

A Positive Learning Experience
Parents have wonderful things to say about the cooperative preschools in which their children are enrolled.

"I like it because it is Christian-based, but not preachy," says Sharon. "There are children of several different denominations in the class. There is a strong focus on family." Sharon also says that the children are encouraged to do for themselves whenever possible, which has resulted in much less whining about "I can't" in her home. The kids even pour their own juice from a pitcher at snack time.

Jennifer liked the fact that she was able to get to know the other children and see what they really did at school, how her daughter acted at school and how she interacted with the other children.

"The most positive experience for me was being able to be there with my son and get to see how he fit in with the other children academically and socially," says Barb.

"I love being closely involved with the school community, participating in the activities first-hand and having some control over how the program evolves," says Tammy.

A Time to Play, A Time to Learn
Early childhood delivers the wonderful gift of mixing playtime with learning.

"Playtime IS learning time for a preschooler," says Jennifer. "The whole day was learning time with an 'exploration' based curriculum. Kids learn by doing, touching and interacting with each other and their environment." Jennifer says that her daughter's classroom had various areas with different themes. There was a kitchen center as well as centers for music, building, books, computers and art. There was a gym for large-muscle activities. Circle time was used for songs, stories and conversation.

"One of my concerns when picking a preschool was the amount of play/learning time," says Barb. "I am not one of those parents who thinks my kids need to enter school reciting the preamble to the constitution and knowing their times tables by heart." The preschool that Barb chose divided playtime with learning time equally with free time in the classroom and structured time in the gym.

Sharon's school offers two or three activity "stations" along with the option of free play with toys. "Children are encouraged to participate in each of the activities for a time, but NOT required," says Sharon. "A lot of consideration is given to different personalities of children and their play/activity preferences." If a child is playing happily and sharing well with toys during open choice time, they are not interrupted and asked to do something else.

Parents -- A.K.A. "Staff"
Odyssey O. Wofford is the director of the Lake Arrowhead Cooperative Preschool in Lake Arrowhead, Calif. She stresses the importance of the role that parents play in a co-op. "Parents are the 'staff' at the preschool," she says. "They work hand-in-hand with the director/teacher in keeping salary costs to maybe one or two paid employees." Odyssey says that it's common for parents to provide snacks, drinks, paper goods and party goodies. By serving on the Board of Directors as volunteers, parents "devote a lot of time and energy in making their children's school a better place." At the school in Lake Arrowhead, parents are required to help with the upkeep of the preschool by attending school maintenance days a couple of times a year, which helps keep costs down because outside maintenance workers do not need to be hired.

Wofford says that the cooperative preschool atmosphere is a positive one where all aspects of learning take place. Children are free to choose activities where parents and the teacher act as facilitators. "It is a warm and loving environment where children are motivated to interact, create, explore and problem solve. They learn by doing things and playing. The parents and the teacher encourage them to have fun."