The first day of school brings a moment many parents dread: watching their child’s tiny backpack bounce off toward their classroom, the adults feeling at once proud and devastated that their little scholar didn’t turn around for one last goodbye.

But maybe it doesn’t have to be that way.

Enter the cooperative preschool, an early-learning model that uses caregiver involvement to keep part-time child care costs low while introducing kids to the routines and discipline they’ll need for classroom learning. Caregivers, like parents, grandparents and nannies, can also find community while building their kids’ independence.

Gina Masarik-O’Connor is president of the board at the Catonsville Cooperative Preschool, which two of her kids attend. She’s loved seeing them learn firsthand rather than reading progress reports from drop-off-style preschool.

“You know who your child is at home, but especially in the early ages, you have no idea who your child is in an academic setting,” Masarik-O’Connor said. “To be not only aware of it, but such an intimate part of that experience, is incredibly rewarding.”

At two cooperative programs in Baltimore County, costs range from $265 to $720 per 16-week semester, or between $16 and $45 a week, depending on a child’s age and the number of days they attend. That’s hundreds of dollars less per week than the average cost of traditional full-time child care for children between 2 and 4 years old.

Liz O’Conor takes her 2-year-old daughter, Grace, to the Toddler Cooperative of Baltimore County to a class for 1- and 2-year-olds. She’s already put an older child through the program and was drawn by its affordability.

“That’s really what I look for in toddler stuff,” O’Conor said. “Because you just never know if it’s worth it, if they’re gonna get sick, if they’re not gonna want to go.”

Sharing the load

Parents say cost isn’t the only factor drawing them to these programs.

Donning an apron and cutting up strawberries for snack time, Mike Boushell, a stay-at-home dad, said the parent participation model at the Catonsville Cooperative was exactly what he and his wife were looking for.

At Catonsville, kids in the 2s class are accompanied by an adult to every weekly session. But in the 3s and 4s programs, kids go to school two and three days a week, respectively, and their caregivers rotate shifts so that there are three adults per three-hour class, plus the teacher. Boushell’s 4-year-old son, Bowen, goes to the school and will soon be joined by his 2-year-old twin siblings, Allison and Archer.

Boushell is the snack coordinator for the co-op, working with local growers and farmers to source snacks like the plate of strawberries, blueberries, coconut yogurt and whole wheat bread with pumpkin butter he plated on a cold Wednesday morning in December.

Parents being in the room can keep teachers from having to pause class when lessons go awry. Erin Furth was able to push through reading “The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!” to her 2-year-olds during circle time while parents wrangled a few distracted toddlers. One dad offered to read a Clifford book to his son who had wandered off, keeping him engaged even if not on task.

“It was my favorite when I was little,” the dad said, opening the book in a corner.

Another parent, Deanna Patterson, asked her daughter Ellis if she would be willing to dance with the class if mom continued holding her.

“I don’t think she’s quite as naturally inclined to jump in,” Patterson said. “So I can step in and encourage it.”

Lindsay Glorioso teaches at both the Toddler Cooperative and a Lutheran preschool. When she first started at the co-op, she was “scared to death” that parents might be a distraction. But 30 seconds into her first circle time, she was sold.

If a child gets sidetracked, hurt or starts crying, their caregiver can take over.

“I love having the parents here,” Glorioso said. “I don’t have to do any disciplining. I don’t have to change any diapers. That’s kind of nice.”

A structured but soft approach

Cooperative preschools tend to offer more kindergarten preparation than informal play groups or even some traditional child care.

At both Baltimore County co-op programs, kids typically start their day with some free play and themed activities like coloring turkeys or sorting gingerbread people by size. But there’s also some routine building through circle time, reading stories and repetitive songs and dances that kids memorize for snack time and washing their hands. Kids learn to sit — in the younger classes, usually in their parents’ laps — listen and share, skills they’ll need for kindergarten. They can start to master their shapes, colors and numbers.

To fully get ready for kindergarten, kids may need to spend more time in a classroom setting. The Catonsville Cooperative is considering bumping its 4-year-olds to five hours a day from three, and adding an extra day for 3-year-olds.

Still, Masarik-O’Connor, who put her now second grader through two years at Catonsville, including a virtual year, said he was “incredibly ready” for kindergarten academically and socially. And she likes that her 4-year-old has a day in between lessons to apply what he’s learned at home. After learning about the life cycle of pumpkins, he came home and applied it “in such a little brother way”: He drew the life cycle of Link from the video game Zelda after watching his older brother play.

“There might not be learning or having as many things presented to them as a five-day program,” Masarik-O’Connor said, “but they’re taking it in deeper because they have more time to sit with it and rest with it and then apply it in their own unique way.”

A community for life

Even with fewer hours in the classroom, co-ops demand more of parents than drop-off programs; many of the parents volunteering at the cooperatives during The Banner’s visits were stay-at-home or worked remote or part-time jobs. Others sent in grandparents or nannies.

But Boushell at Catonsville said the school makes it flexible, giving out the schedule “way ahead of time” so caregivers can map out what days they can or can’t volunteer. And you get out what you put in, he added.

“I think if everybody pitches in that little bit here — you really get that community feel from each person,” Boushell said. “A lot of the parents here, even the ones that work full time, are still heavily involved enough that you kind of get to know them pretty well.”

The community does seem to endure. At Catonsville, all three teachers are former program moms. Glorioso at the Toddler Cooperative started as a parent 22 years ago, putting three kids through four years each at the school. She still talks to the moms she met while her children were in the program.

After she served as treasurer and president of the co-op’s board, “they realized that I was never leaving.” So Glorioso added the teacher title to her Toddler Cooperative resume 14 years ago.

“I have never had a bad day in this room,” Glorioso said.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.