How to Prepare to Teach Parenting Skills
Parenting is a difficult job that many people enter into with no training and little support. Learning parenting skills from someone who knows the ropes can make the job less frustrating for the parents and improve the lives of the children involved. There are many different parenting methods, ideas, and traditions, and it is up to the parenting educator not only to offer good advice but to discourage bad parenting practices.
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Instructions
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Teach parents the reason children misbehave. The Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service points out that children misbehave when they are tired, hungry, bored, over-excited, as part of the normal maturing process, when faced with challenging situations, and when they are scared. It is impossible to prevent a child from experiencing all of these emotions, nor would a parent want to do that, but understanding what triggers misbehavior allows the parent to respond properly.
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Explain the importance of modeling good behavior. Providing handouts and lectures will help the parents learn, but emphasizing the importance of modeling good behavior should be a key part of the educational program. Whether you are discussing developing a budget or how to effectively discipline, explain that what parents do will have more of an impact on their children than what they say. Likewise, be prepared to model self-control, patience, and acceptance to the parents.
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Teach appropriate and inappropriate responses to bad behavior. Many parents did not benefit from good parenting themselves, so they have no examples to use as a guide when working with their own children. Explain to the parents the difference between appropriate and inappropriate responses to bad behavior, and provide examples of each. For example, explain how screaming might be an initial reaction to bad behavior, but after taking the time to calm down, talking about the bad behavior is a more effective response.
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Emphasize the importance of showing affection and love. Explain that regardless of what else is going on in a parent's or child's life, children deserve to feel loved. Withholding affection is not an effective punishment, and parents should not feel they are spoiling their child by hugging or expressing affection after bad behavior.
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Provide resources for struggling parents to receive additional help. Look for options in your community. Hospitals and schools often provide parenting resources for struggling families.
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