About Us

Welcome to Bakersfield Parent Nursery -
a cooperative preschool

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About Us

Bakersfield Parent Nursery, a parent, cooperative preschool was started in 1952, by a group of mothers who regularly met at Heritage Park. Soon they had organized their playgroup and joined the California Council of Parent Participation Preschools. Next they hired a Director/Teacher, found a building and gave the school its official name, Bakersfield Parent Nursery.

Membership in a cooperative preschool is a family experience. The education of parents and teachers are considered equally important. Our purpose is to provide a program of parent education through many aspects of adult participation. This will further the understanding of child growth and development, family life, human relations and the assumption of responsible community leadership.

For our children, we offer many opportunities for the preschooler in experimentation, problem solving and the use of imagination. Our aim is to contribute to the cognitive developlment of children and stimulate a curiosity and desire for learning that continues through adulthood. BPN encourages both children and parents to share and learn from individual differences. Our school welcomes all cultures, races, genders and religious beliefs, as we explore different lifestyles, family traditions and individual uniqueness that makes us special. BPN strives to teach acceptance for all who live in our community and our world.

Why choose a co-op?

Co-ops allow parents to participate in the child's learning environment, opening the door to sharing and extending the experience outside of the classroom.
Parents are further rewarded with the opportunity to meet others from their neighborhoods dealing with similar parenting issues.
Introductions made in the classroom often extend beyond the classroom as friends, connections and parental resources in daily life.

Goals For Our School

For our children, an opportunity:

To develop at their own rate.
To express their creativity using art and play material freely, constructively, and creatively.
To learn to be independent – to solve their own problems and do things for themselves.
To enjoy a preschool experience, which will simplify adjustments in elementary school and social situations.
To learn to establish close relationships with adults other than their family.
To learn limits of behavior regarding safety, health, and respect for the rights of others in a healthy, safe, and nurturing environment.
To extend and enrich their understanding of the world and other cultures.
To increase their ability to handle their emotions constructively.

For parents, an opportunity:

To share your child’s first experience away from home.
To become more aware of the child’s world and to understand, his or her behavior based on knowledge of growth and development.
To achieve a more positive approach to the child-adult relationship through professional guidance and shared experiences with other parents.
To learn techniques of working with children and insight into human relationships through participation in the parent-education program.
To grow in understanding of the needs of the other adults and the needs of the group.

For the school, an opportunity:

To provide the best preschool experience at the lowest possible cost.
To utilize the diverse interests and skills of all the parents.
To accept, without discrimination, families seeking membership who are willing to participate wholeheartedly in membership discussions, presenting thoughts openly, and working toward consensus decisions.
To maintain the highest possible standards for the preschool, by sharing our ideas to raise the standards of parent-participation pre-schools

Curriculum
Bakersfield Parent Nursery’s curriculum is based on The Creative Curriculum^® for Preschool. It is a comprehensive, scientifically based early childhood curriculum that has been shown to improve cognitive and social/emotional outcomes in young children. It is linked with a valid and reliable assessment instrument,

The Creative Curriculum is based on the latest research on how children learn best and has been shown through experimental and quasi-experimental studies to improve classroom quality and promote the school readiness of preschool children. The Creative Curriculum meets all of the standards put forth for effective early childhood curricula by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (NAECS/SDE).

2-3 Year Old

Color recognition

Shape recognition

Movement activities to develop large muscles

Acclimate to school environment

Exploring arts through creative material

Music instruction with qualified music teacher

Pre-K

Alphabet recognition and beginning sounds

Counting numbers 1-30

Recognition of numbers 1-10

Develop scissor and small muscle skills

Early listening/story time

Following simple classroom instructions

Exploring arts through creative material

Develop social/relational skills

Keyboard and music instruction with qualified music teacher

Music Program

Our music program, taught by Harmony Road Music School, has been a great success! The children are enjoying learning about music and having fun!

Research shows convincing connections between music training and academic achievement. Source: Baby Teacher, Rebecca Shore