About the Nonprofit
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The Wonderland Nursery School is a Family Program of child and adult activities; a cooperative workshop in human relations where parents, children, and teacher learn to live, work, and play together. Each group represents a spectrum of ethnic and experimental backgrounds and many members have a particular skill, talent, or enthusiasm to contribute to make a successful cooperative program.
Wonderland offers parents many opportunities to become more aware of their child. Seeing this child in a group of children the same age helps parents to understand and interpret development and behavior. Parents can become more at ease with the fact that a child does not always grow and change at a convenient pace or by a regular schedule and at the same time can come to realize that much of what their child does is not necessarily unique or different.
Through discussion and observation of other adults in specific instances parents can often develop new ways of solving problems and can apply this at home. Parents can learn of new and enriching experiences for their child and can contribute ideas of their own for the benefit of other parents.
The family-centered program offers children an opportunity to grow intellectually and emotionally. The children can learn to make social contacts in groups- small and large, supervised and informal. They can learn to cooperate, to take turns, to share, to verbalize their feelings, to defend their rights, and to respect the rights of other children. They can learn to develop initiative and leadership, and also learn respect for themselves and others. Children can also develop open, happy relationships with other adults without becoming overly dependent on them.
At nursery school, children have a chance to explore the world around them through first-hand experiences. A wide variety of materials and activities are provided for this purpose: Playground and climbing structures to define and exercise large muscles; puzzles and small toys to develop small muscles and coordination; blocks and housekeeping areas to provide occasions for replaying life situations; music; arts and handicraft facilities to offer a basis of esthetic and cultural experience. Along with these are special activities- cooking projects, science projects, field trips, interesting visitors, etc. to further broaden the base of each child’s experience.
Parents must give of their time, energy, and talents to make this cooperative program successful but will find it is well worth the effort.
