Lending parents an extra hand

Willy wandered into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes and yawning. He took a moment to look around and then crawled into his day care teacher's lap. He nestled his head of curly black hair into her shoulder, inviting her to rub his back. With one hand she complied. With the other hand she began drawing on the construction paper that covered the kitchen table. Willy gave her his full attention as he watched her draw cars and animals. His teacher appears to be like any other loving, caring day care teacher. \nBut this teacher is Willy's mom. \nWilly and Kafi Johnson, along with six other children and their parents, are members of the Sunflower Plant Cooperative Day Care. One of two on-campus cooperative day cares, Sunflower gives parents a reduced rate in exchange for 10 hours of work each week. Tim Dunnuck, coordinator for IU Child Care Services, described co-ops as an alternative for IU students, faculty and staff who are able to put in the extra time.\nSunflower accepts children ages one through six and costs $115 per month. Other non-cooperative child care centers provided by IU charge as much as $150 per week. \n"Students and staff have a hard time paying for day care," Dunnuck said.\nBut these co-ops give them a way they can. The nearly all-parent staff and the lack of a state license account for the cheaper price. \nIn addition to the 10 hours of work per week, parents at Sunflower attend monthly meetings to discuss voting in new families, changing policies and the development of the children. These meetings are mandatory and help the parents take better care of the children. All the members know which words one-year-old Ava can say, when Willy learns how to count and when two-year-old Allen enters his "biting stage." \n"They all have a biting stage," John McGuire said. \nMcGuire, the underwriting producer for WTIU, has been involved with Sunflower for more than two years and has enrolled both of his children. McGuire said he likes being able to participate in his children's child care and enjoys being involved in the decision-making process. \nThese co-ops are often popular with foreign families, McGuire said. International students are typically older than American students and already have families. McGuire said many foreign children come to Sunflower not knowing any English, but leave bilingual. \nIU's other cooperative, Knee High Day Care, currently serves 13 kids. Choonhuin Jeon, a part-time graduate student, brings both of his children to Knee High. Sophie Jeon, 5, comes in the mornings before kindergarten while her two-year-old brother stays all day. Choonhuin and his wife, a high school Japanese teacher, choose to split up their 10 hours of work at Knee High, he said. \nBoth day cares try to have only three children to every parent and pride themselves on that ratio. They also operate on a strict schedule of play and learning time along with outside activities, naps and snacks. \nEach business employs several work-study students, but they never work without a parent present. Tanika Starks, an elementary education major, is in her second semester working at Knee High. \n"I enjoy being able to work with the parents," she said. "You don't get to see families interact in a regular day care." \nDunnuck said six day care co-ops were started on campus in the late '60s. Only two have survived, and Dunnuck said their unique philosophy is the reason they are still in operation. Parents like knowing what their kids are doing all day and who they're interacting with. He said they take comfort in knowing the other parents who are working with their children. \n-- Contact Staff Writer Sarah Walden at sawalden@indiana.edu.