Co-op preschools and working parents

[Anonymous]

Interested to hear if any of you working parents out there have successfully participated in a cooperative preschool? I've gotten mixed signals about whether working families are welcome/successful in these organizations. I have flexibility at work as does my husband and we feel we could meet the co-oping responsibilities between the 2 of us (we will have FT childcare for our younger child). I don't want my son to necessarily be excluded from what I perceive to be a really positive and nurturing approach to early "school" just because i also work. Any thoughts?

[Anonymous]

It depends on how much of a time commitment the co-oping is. We had our son in a co-op program two days a week (1/2 day program), and we ended up having to co-op roughly 3 times a month. It really wasn't all that time consuming. One caveat: a co-op wasn't the best situation for our son -- he would cling to us when we were there and cry if it wasn't our day to stay (granted, this was when he was 2-3 years old). He's done much better this year in a regular nursery school program (1/2 day, 3 days/week) with two FT teachers and no parent co-oping.

[Anonymous]

My husband and I both work fulltime outside the home, but our dc is in a co-op preschool. And while many of the moms at the preschool are SAHMs, there are several of us who are WOHMs - so it's possible. As long as your work allows some flexibility. I think it's a great program and you get a chance to experience the classroom first hand. And the preschoolers really take pride in having their parent come and be the special helper for the day.

[Anonymous]

My husband and I both work full-time, although we have somewhat flexible work schedules. The co-op has been a great experience for us and for our child. It is great to know exactly what your child is doing at school since you get to assist in the classroom. The person who makes the "schedule" for our child's class asks ahead of time if there are any conflicts and she works around those conflicts in scheduling us.

[Anonymous]

DS is in a co-op 3 mornings a week, and we need to work there usually 2 of those days per month. I'm a SAHM and DH works FT, but he's the one who does it. He loves it, and the school said they love when dads do the co-oping. (I guess dads are more playful with the kids and bring a different element. Certainly true with my DH-- He's a big kid himself!) I think if you have the flexibility with your work, it's great. We love the other parents, the community feel at the school, and the lower tuition really lets us put more $$ toward 529, museum memberships, etc.