Dana Asby, CEI Intern
Many parents, especially first time parents, have low levels of self-efficacy in parenting. In fact, 79% of parents want more information about child-rearing (Zepeda, Varela, and Morales, 2004). Parent education programs typically involve a parent educator conducting a series of classes or workshops with new parents or parents experiencing certain contexts that can be risk-factors to responsive parenting. They have generally been proven to be effective in improving the parental skills toolbox, especially parental responsiveness (Votruba-Drzal and Dearing, 2017). Many early childhood programs offer parent education programs; however, the demands on a parent’s time and interest are often too great to retain parents for multiple sessions. One solution to this problem is to offer parent education workshops online at times that are convenient for parents. There is evidence that using technology in parent education may be more cost-effect and reach more parents (Magnuson & Schindler, 2016).
Peace at Home Workshops Include:
Ms. Freeman believes that the parent-child relationship is the foundation of how our children grow and thrive–or not. Peace at Home asks parents to reflect on their own childhood to better understand its impact on current parenting strengths and weaknesses. They know that parents are models for their children and that a parent’s striving for perfection can have lasting and negative consequences for a child’s development. Ms. Freeman thinks that it’s important for parents to understand that it is ok, and even helpful, to make mistakes. Many parents feel shame for being a ‘bad parent’ when they and/or their child are not performing positively in every aspect of their lives. This shame can become internalized and is often transmitted to the child. According to Peace at Home Parenting, an important step in building a positive parent-child relationship is recognizing and resolving that shame.
References
Magnuson, K. & Schindler, H.S. 2016. Parent programs in pre-k through third grade. Future of Children, 26 (2), 209-221.
Russell, B.S. & Lincoln, C.R. (2016). Reducing hostile parenting through computer-mediated parenting education. Children and Youth Services Review, 73, 66-73.
Russell, B.S., Maksut, J.L., Lincoln, C.R., & Leland, A.J. Computer-mediated parent education: Digital family service provision. Children and Youth Services Review, 62, 1-8.
Votruba-Drzal, E. & Dearing, E. (Eds.). (2017). The Wiley handbook of early childhood development programs, practices, and policies, first edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Zepeda, M., Varela, F., & Morales, A. (2004). Promoting positive parenting through parenting education. Building state early childhood comprehensive systems, 13.