While it offers all the advantages of a good nursery school, the special value of the cooperative is that it provides a developmental experience for both children and parents. By including parents in the school situation, we enable the children to more easily bridge the gap between home and school. They learn about the experience of being part of a group in a warm and supportive way.

Children begin to share their parents with school friends on the day of participation. We call this your child's "special day". Youngsters truly look forward to having their parent in school. On this day, the child is the helper who will often assist in setting the table, ringing the clean up bell or leading the group to the playground. These responsibilities help to foster feelings of mastery and positive self esteem in the young child. Self confidence and a sense of belonging to the group are encouraged.

Participation offers to parents the opportunity to observe the behavior of their child in a group and also of young children in general. Parents begin to note which traits are common to most children of a particular age, and which are unique to their own child. In this way, parents are able to gain insights, new ideas and outlooks. They also become familiar with the equipment and creative materials at school which can be used to advantage at home. In addition, they learn through parent education meetings, conferences with teachers, membership meetings and books and pamphlets borrowed from our library.