SAN DIEGO -- In a parlor of the Casa de Milagros Recovery Home, in Southcrest, four mothers are learning how to become better parents.

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See How Class Helps Recovering Drug Addicts

They may have heard the lessons before, but could not or would not follow them. Now these mothers, recovering drug addicts, are doing what is needed to prepare for the day when they are reunited with their children.

"We teach them how to be effective parents," said instructor Sally Stance. "We deal with discipline, we deal with self-esteem, with communication skills, learning how to get your children to cooperate, the whole gamut."

Stance teaches a course to Casa de Milagros residents for Jewish Family Service. The nonprofit organization offers the course, free, to recovery homes, Head Start programs, and elementary schools.

On a particular day, Stance teaches her class how to involve their children in household chores. She said starting at age 3, a child can take part in the family chores, whether it is making her bed or simply putting her shoes away.

"(Doing chores) enhances the child's self-esteem. It teaches them responsibility, it helps them feel like they have an important role in the family," said Stance.

It is the family unit that Stance is hoping to improve "because every child has a need to feel like they're important and to be able to identify with their family unit," she explained.

While most adults pick up some parenting skills from their own parents, Stance said many addicts do not.

"Many of these parents have not learned it and it's simply because of the home environment that they came out of," she said.

Jessica Poscablo expects to face challenges when she returns home from rehab. The 25-year-old recovering addict has a 6-year-old daughter (who lives with Poscablo's mother), two boys under the age of 2, and a third son on the way. She said juggling a newborn and two boys who still drink from bottles will be tough. But she said recovering addicts also come home to children who are still hurt by their mother's addiction.

"You have to rebuild their self-esteem and their confidence, and their trust with Mom all over again," Poscablo said.

The parenting class helps the women learn how to communicate with their children, and to better relate to them.

"Our families don't know what we go through," said Poscablo. "They have to understand what we're going through in our addiction, so (the class) helps to regain all that."

Ultimately, Stance's goal is to show these mothers that they can be good parents, and raise confident, loving, and productive children.

"And the key to all of that is they themselves looking within and trying to model that for their child," she said.

The parenting course is funded in part by the First 5 Commission of San Diego, which is dedicated to improving the lives of children, newborn to 5.