Additional Supports for PEC Member Agency Staff

Staff employed by PEC partner agencies may borrow resources from the Education Consortium Office. Curriculum may be borrowed for the duration of a class (up to 8 weeks). Parent-child activity kits may be borrowed for up to one week. Partner agency staff are invited to contact Janice Savel in the PEC office at 319-377-9839 or [email protected] to request materials or to suggest items that they would like to see made available for future use in the facilitation of parent groups.

Curricula for Loan Commercial curriculum kits are available for loan through the PEC office by partner agency staff members for the duration of a parenting group. Excerpts from the introduction section of each kit are listed below. For more information about a specific kit, to make a reservation, to suggest a curriculum to purchase for future use, or to set up a time to preview a specific kit, professionals should contact Janice Savel in the PEC office by calling 319-377-9839 or [email protected].

Basic Parenting: The goal of this curriculum package is to nurture in the capacity to engage in mindful parenting and decision making in six areas: care for self, understand, nurture, guide, motivate and advocate. This program is responsive to the neediest audience, while simultaneously providing value to any parent, regardless of education or degree of child rearing difficulty. This curriculum is simple because it deals with the fundamentals of parenting.

Great Beginnings for : This curriculum package was developed by Iowa State University Extension. It contains six lessons and support materials. The materials included are in both English and Spanish. The six lessons are: Everyday Learning; Growing and Learning; Guidance and Discipline: Using and Limits; Getting Along; Building Strengths 1; and Building Family Strengths 2.

P.S. I Love You: This curriculum is designed to create an atmosphere of interchange for all parents, but especially for those who have low reading skills, are non-readers, are new parents, or those served by human service agencies. The basic premise is that each parent is a good parent and wants to become a better parent - no judgments. Through individual and group activities, parents can reinforce positive interaction with their children and develop new ways to approach parenting.

Parenting with Love & Logic: This program is designed to help adults achieve respectful and healthy relationships with children. It works well for children age 2-12 years. The program is based in “Love and Logic” philosophy which says: love allows children to grow through their mistakes, and logic allows children to learn from the consequences of their choices. Adults help children learn when they share control, share thinking and decision-making, offer equal shares of empathy and consequences and allow children to maintain their self-concept.

Positive Discipline for Preschoolers: This training program is based on the philosophy of Alfred Adler and with the concept of mutual respect at the core of the teachings. The program reflects the belief that it is not what happens to us, but what we decide about it that shapes our lives and influences human behavior. There are four levels that this program presents: the first is content, the second is process or experiential activities, the third is participation or role modeling, and the fourth is increasing self- awareness.

3279 Seventh Avenue, Suite 140 • Marion, IA 52302 • 319.377.9839 www.extension.iastate.edu/linn/content/parenting-classes

1, 2, 3, 4 Parents! Parenting Your 1-to 4-Year Old: This program is a video-based, interactive learning experience. It works best with small groups of parents or caregivers of children ages one to four years. The flexible format of the material lends itself to modifications. The program teaches the importance of the parent’s self-esteem, the value of the child, basic developmental stages from ages one to four years, parental self-care, methods of bonding, non-violent discipline skills, encouragement skills, and prevention techniques.

Parenting Works: This series is designed to help parents of pre-schoolers. It is comprised of 13 television programs about issues relevant to parenting youngsters. The handbook, which accompanies the series, offers suggestions to parents once they’ve run out of ideas on how to deal with every day concerns, like , making friends, food, safety, or sibling rivalry. The series emphasizes the need for parents to talk with others about parenting, whether with a partner, spouse, neighbor or friend. Curriculum stresses the idea that parenting is a developmental process for moms and dads and it requires a community of support.

STEP-Systematic Training for Effective Parenting of Children Under Six: Parenting young children is a major challenge. But it is a challenge filled with opportunities for both parents and children to experience many joys and satisfactions. This curriculum is designed to help parents meet the challenge and the opportunities with confidence. The purpose of this curriculum is to provide a look at the long-term goals of parenting; information on how young children think, feel and act; skills that can increase parent enjoyment and effectiveness within the family; skills that can develop children’s self-esteem and confidence; finding support for yourself as a parent and a person; and effective ways to teach cooperation and discipline.

Parenting Piece by Piece: Developed by Purdue Cooperative Extension Service, this program is intended for use with parents who have been mandated to attend parenting training due to their identification as physically or emotionally abusive and/or neglectful parents. The overall goal of the program is to reduce or eliminate instances of child maltreatment by participating parents. The method for achieving this goal is providing educational and social experiences that increase the use of positive parenting practices, which facilitates the development of caring, competent, and healthy children.

Foundations of Fatherhood: This is a character-based educational, self-help and support program to service the unique and specific needs of fathers. It assists men in their efforts to recognize and understand their roles as fathers and be willing to accept the challenges set before them by learning the skills necessary to be a positive . The primary focus of this curriculum is on the following issues: promoting responsible fatherhood and holistic parenting; empowering fathers to assume emotional, moral, spiritual, psychological and financial responsibility for their children; accentuating the psycho-social development of both father and child; meeting the psychological and physiological challenges of parenting; and increasing and contributing to the knowledge base that concerns fatherhood.

Nurturing Father’s Program: This program is structured to provide fathers with experiences that allow themselves new cognitive (thinking) and affective (feeling) responses, thus providing the opportunity to change parenting attitudes and behaviors. As a result, program participants can choose to reshape and relearn fathering, to let go of old fathering practices that do not bring desired results and to adopt new nurturing ones that achieve the established goals. The growth in self-concept and self-esteem can lead to more nurturing, rewarding relationships with children, spouses/co-parents, and other family members. This program provides activities that stimulate thinking and feeling in a supportive group atmosphere.

Quenching the Father Thirst: Developing a Dad: This curriculum was developed by the Urban Father-Child Project that trains men to become responsible fathers/father figures that love and lead their children to success. The curriculum was designed to provide a framework for understanding the role of the father; address the systemic barriers to fathering; and to provide training in specific skills to become the father his child needs. The materials were designed to be useful for fathers in any social service based setting and in any fathering situation.

3279 Seventh Avenue, Suite 140 • Marion, IA 52302 • 319.377.9839 www.extension.iastate.edu/linn/content/parenting-classes

Connecting with Your Kids: This program is based on Ken Canfield’s book, “The Heart of a Father.” The content focuses on the framework of four key practices of fathering called the ICANs: Involvement, Consistency, Awareness, Nurturance. Involvement means spending time with children. Consistency applies to a dad’s actions, his personal characteristics, and the example he sets for his children. Awareness is both awareness of the individual child, and awareness of general . Nurturance is the expression of affection, through touch, speaking words of encouragement, listening, and discipline. This ICAN framework applies to fathers whether divorced, step-dad, granddad, stay-at-home dads, or traditional fathers.

Smart Steps for Adults and Children in : This 12-hour research-based, educational program curriculum is for remarried or partnering couples and their children, and focuses on building couple and family strength. The program uses informational presentations, hands-on exercises, group discussions, and media. The 250+ page curriculum includes leader lesson guides for adult and child programs, background readings, handout masters, a resource list, two videos ("StepMom" and "Smart Steps Video Vignettes"), and a CD with PowerPoint slides.

Active Parenting for Step Families: Video and discussion program. Co-authored by experts in the fields of parenting and step families. This program will make it easier for instructors to help parents and step parents: meet the challenges unique to living, build a powerful parenting team using proven-effective skills, guide children and teens through the transition to step family adjustment, and to help strengthen step family . The program combines warmth, wisdom and humor to create an atmosphere of learning. Designed for both parents and step parents (experienced and inexperienced) with children of all ages.

Stepping Together Program-Creating Strong Stepfamilies: This curriculum provides information beneficial to the process of integration. The course offers approximately 12 hours of group meetings covering such topics as recognizing stepfamily myths, navigating the emotional journey, strengthening the couple connection, understanding the children, and working across households. The program includes information, exercises, homework assignments, and guidelines and resources to help accomplish stepfamily tasks.

Cooperative Parenting and Divorce: This is a video-based psychoeducational program designed to assist divorcing or divorced parents in reducing parental conflict and the risk factors that influence the child’s post-divorce adjustment. The program addresses the relationship between separate households created as a result of divorce. It is designed to improve the quality of the parental relationships in situations of , separate maintenance, change of custody, and paternity. The overall emphasis of this curriculum is to offer children of divorce the opportunity to grow in a home environment free from being caught in the middle of their parents’ hostility.

Marriage and Parenting Program: (affectionately known as “MA and PA”) is a group experience in which couples can strengthen their relationship through a shared exploration of parenting attitudes, skills and practices. Money, sex and the kids...these are the three most common issues that couples argue about, often contributing to divorce and broken families. The and Parenting Program gives couples the opportunity to focus on the third issue, “The Kids” in order to develop a shared set of attitudes and skills about parenting and family life. This shared experience, and the skills practiced in the program, should lead to enriching and strengthening in the marriage/couple relationship.

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: As a grandparent who is raising your grandchild, you have an important responsibility. Your roles as a parent and grandparent may have changed recently, or you may have taken care of the child since birth. In any case, the child you are raising faces unique challenges that you need to think about. This series of nine fact sheets is designed to help you learn more about what to expect.

3279 Seventh Avenue, Suite 140 • Marion, IA 52302 • 319.377.9839 www.extension.iastate.edu/linn/content/parenting-classes

The DAD Difference: When fathers watch a birth or parenting video, the program is often directed towards mothers, which may distance dads or make them feel less essential than moms. But when fathers watch "The DAD Difference" videos, they see real men involved with their children right from the beginning. They come away with a sense that fathers matter and with a deeper understanding of that difference.

24/7 Dads Program: This is a unique fatherhood program that includes a basic fathering program (24/7 Dad A.M.) and an in-depth program (24/7 Dad P.M.), each consisting of 12 two-hour modules. Ultimately, the goal of this program is to increase the proportion of children growing up with involved, responsible and committed fathers. The programs achieve this goal by equipping facilitators with the tools they need to help fathers increase their involvement, responsibility and commitment to their children and the mothers of their children. The programs help create “24/7 Dads” who enhance the well-being of their children by being an integral part of their lives physically, emotionally, spiritually and intellectually 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Parent/Child Activity Kits for Loan Parent/Child Activity Kits are available for PEC partner agency staffs to check out for use in their work encouraging quality one-on- one parent interaction time with their children. Kits may be checked out for approximately one week at a time. To inquire about a specific kit, to reserve a kit, to preview kits, or to suggest a new kit for future use, contact Janice Savel in the PEC office by calling 319-377-9839 or [email protected]

3279 Seventh Avenue, Suite 140 • Marion, IA 52302 • 319.377.9839 www.extension.iastate.edu/linn/content/parenting-classes