Building Families

March 3rd

Session 2: Making it Happen! Understand how play can be a powerful parenting practice. Learn ways to help children develop friendship skills. Link building relationships, using positive comments/encouragement, and play to children’s behavior.

Session 3: Why do Children do What they do? Examine why children do what they do. Practice ways to determine the meaning of behavior. Understand how to make expectations clear for children. Understand effective ways to develop and teach household rules.

Session 4: Teach me What to Do. Identify ways to cope with feelings of anger and disappointment. Learn what your child’s temperament has to do with how they handle their emotions and settings. Demonstrate the use of books to promote social emotional development.

Session: 5 Facing the Challenge: Part 1 Examine nine specific strategies that can be used to promote positive adult and child behavior in home and community settings.

Session 6: Facing the Challenge Part 2 Identify that problem behavior has meaning. Identify the meaning of behavior by examining what happens before and after the problem behavior. Identify the three parts of a behavior plan: preventions, new skills to teach, and new responses. Learn to use the Family Routine Guide to identify supports for use with children during daily routines.

• Never argue about differences in parenting styles in front of your child. Even though you are not together as a couple, you can still show respect for each other’s beliefs and values. Arguing, tension, and conflict cause stress for your child, in turn weakening the child’s sense of security. Even though children may not be able to express their feeling in words, all children internalize and mirror their parent’s emotions. Positive emotional development is absolutely essential for success in school and society.
• Make a list of the things that are most important for you to teach your child and have your spouse do the same, and then compare lists. Chances are you both value many of the same traits that you hope to instill in your child. By listing these and discussing them, you can begin the co-parenting process in a more cooperative manner, as you will both be working for common goals.
• Understandably, transitioning between two homes can be hard on your child. You can make this easier by creating standards which the child can anticipate, such as creating consistent drop-off or pick-up times and developing a routine for how you'll say good-bye to each other. Being able to anticipate the routine is comforting to children and will help ease their anxiety during transitions.
• Sit down with your co-parent and discuss your house rules. How can you make them similar so that your child knows what is expected of them each time they move back and forth between your homes? Doing this as early as possible in your co-parenting relationship will help enable your child to meet your expectations. It's much easier for your child to develop the self-discipline needed to succeed in life when the expectations you have for them are consistent. Remember your child will do what he “sees” you do before he will do what you “say”! Modeling positive behavioral expectations is essential for you to form a joint relationship with your child.
• Inconsistency at bedtime is a frequent co-parenting complaint. Realize that it's most healthy for your child to go to bed at approximately the same time each night. This greatly impacts their ability to fall asleep naturally and independently. Talk with one another about what time your child goes to bed and whether he sleeps with a night light or a special blanket, toy, or doll. Best of all, consistent co-parenting with regards to the bedtime routines will help your child wake up refreshed and ready for the day, and that means more fun for both of you.
• Remember, the only way you can sustain the energy needed to do this job well is to create some pockets of "Me Time" where you can replenish your energy levels. Take a minimum of 15 minutes every day to kick back and relax by yourself. Take a walk around the block, sip a cup of hot tea or listen to some soothing music. A little alone time will help you recharge your batteries and put the rest of your day in perspective.