About Us

The #1 reason our members say they love Waltham Cooperative Playgroup, formerly Infancy to Independence:

"It's more than just a playgroup. It's a community!"

Our Mission

To foster parent support and positive child-parent interaction. The Waltham Cooperative Playgroup helps parents to find and grow a local community of families with children between birth and kindergarten.

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What the kids get out of it:

Children have the opportunity to:

Play with and learn from other children in both group and individual activities,
Acquire skills through use of various creative and educational materials,
Prepare for school by learning social skills necessary for dealing with other children in organized and free activities,
Develop a positive image of grown-ups after relating to adults who are consistently warm, friendly, and understanding,
Become independent, kind, responsible young people who can advocate for themselves and others.

Our History

The Waltham Cooperative Playgroup, formerly known as Infancy to Independence (I to I), was founded in 1975 in New Orleans by Joan Spivey, a parent interested in reaching out to other parents of young children. Since then, the program has continued to grow and was brought to Stow, MA by Dottie Hilbert in 1986. In the spring of 1987, Stow became legally incorporated as a branch of I to I, Inc. In the fall of 2001, I to I relocated from the First Parish in Stow to St. Matthew's Church in Acton.

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What parents get out of it:

Parents have the opportunity to:

Learn more about child development and parenting techniques,
Watch how others parent and maybe slowly allow others to guide their child children as well.
Learn tips and ideas to handle situations more effectively with their children,
Meet new friends and gain support with a network of other parents with whom to share similar joys and concerns,
Spend quality time with their children,
Enjoy discussion time with other parents and practice gentle separation from their children,
Learn ways to develop more confidence in their parenting abilities, helping them enjoy the challenge more.

Everything you need to know:

The Waltham Cooperative Playgroup is a cooperative program for families with children from infancy through the preschool years. We work together to find ways to make parenting easier and more enjoyable. "A cooperative is an organization that is owned and controlled by the people who use its products, supplies or services. Although cooperatives vary in type and membership size, all were formed to meet the specific objectives of members, and are structured to adapt to members changing needs. Self-reliance and self-help are the hallmarks of cooperatives."-- the Center for Cooperatives University of California, http://shawnewald.info/aia/pro_coop.html.

For more details on how our program is run, please take a look at our handbook.

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