Our School

History

The Petaluma Parent Nursery School was started in 1947 as families in our community were making the transition from focusing on World War II, to the needs of their home communities in the United States. Imagine the feeling of entering a time of peace and building strong foundations for the future of our children, instead of focusing on the frightening and unsure present and future of war! As families in the Bay Area turned to the needs of their young children, nursery schools were created where parents played a vital role in their children's first school experience. Today, we continue to honor the value of parents in education and the role of adult education to empower parents to become their best selves.

Who Are We

We are a parent participation nursery school program for children 2-5 years of age. Our program is part of the Petaluma Adult School in the Petaluma district and is directed by a credentialed teacher who enjoys teaching both the children and the adults. Our program is unique in the way it strengthens families by building self esteem in children and adults through the education that we as parents receive both in weekly parent education class and in the administration of the nursery school program.

Goals for Our Children

Goals for our children include: develop a positive self image, know that they are valued, learn how to act independently and with confidence; develop and strengthen social skills, learn to recognize and express feelings appropriately; learn to be responsible for choices and actions; establish a foundation for good health and safety habits; build strength, muscular coordination and physical skills.

Child–centered Learning Environment

There are two types of learning environments: teacher-centered and child-centered. The environment in our program is child-centered. Of these two, this one takes the greatest investment of time. We create a child-centered environment because of the results we see in student learning. Research shows that children who are actively involved in choosing what they learn, and when they will learn it, have tremendous success in their education. In our program, there are no adults with whistles around their necks, shuffling children from one center to another. Instead we offer an environment rich in learning where children choose the activity that is exciting to them and stay with that activity as long as it engages them.

Child-centered environments look like this:

Long periods of uninterrupted free time
Few restrictions
Adults acting as facilitators
Lots of outdoor time

Adult Education

Monday night Adult class gives us parents the skills that we use during the preschool day and at home within our own families. The class uses a combination of outside professional lecturers, and helping family techniques directed by the teacher to problem solve issues. We learn so much from each other as we take the time to evaluate our parenting techniques and our children's interactions with each other. As we learn new skills to use with our children in the classroom and at home, we feel successful and encouraged.

Click here for Adult Education Program Website (Petaluma City Schools)