Parent Education  

The structure of the parent education classes provides for learning experiences for the parent at both the practical and theoretical levels. Parents are involved in not only the preschool “clinical” component where they interact with the children, but they also participate in discussion groups with the parent educator. In the Infant Classes both discussion and clinical take place simultaneously each week; in all other classes half of the parents supervise the children’s activities while the other half participate in parent education.

Parent Education “Clinic”
In all classes, parents attend school one day per week; for the multi-day classes this means one-third of the parents attend on each of the class days. During this preschool clinical portion of the day, parents supervise the children as they are learning through free play and other parts of their preschool routine. This provides parents with an opportunity to practice the principles of child guidance they are learning and to observe their child and his/her peers. Good supervision means standing back and letting the children learn by experiencing the materials provided and using them in their own way, taking time to observe before interjecting comments or questions.

Parent Education Discussion
Every other week a portion of the parent’s day at preschool will be spent participating in a parent education discussion group with the parent educator, discussing specific topics listed on the course syllabus as well as any issues immediately relevant to parents in the discussion. In preparation for this group, parents are asked to complete specified reading and other assignments.

Like the children’s curriculum, the parent education curriculum is also developmental. It is designed to meet most of the needs and concerns of parents at the approximate times that they normally arise. These issues are keyed to the adults’ development as parents as well as to the developmental stages of children from birth through Pre-K. Parent education topics are based on current theory and research in child development and related fields, providing a foundation from which to learn sound principles of guidance and communication.

The parent education curriculum is written in a five-year sequence in order to cover completely all issues arising as a parent of a child growing from birth through Pre-K. Following is the specific focus of each class:

Infant How can I best develop my relationship with my baby? What do I need to know about infant development? What are sources of support for parents of infants?

Toddler How do I become the parent that I want to be? What can I expect of my toddler? How do I help my toddler through routines such as eating, sleeping, and toileting? What is the best way to handle my toddler’s emotions?

1-Day What is guidance? How can I use guidance strategies to be a better parent? How do guidance strategies make me a more effective teacher of my own child and other children? How do I help children resolve their conflicts?
3-Day How do young children learn best? What does appropriate early childhood curriculum look like? How can I best support my child’s learning, both cognitively and socially?

Pre-K How can I be a mentor parent? What strategies will help me develop a good long-term relationship with my child? How do I prepare my child and myself for kindergarten?

Evening Parent Meetings
Attendance at occasional evening parent meetings is a requirement of membership, once per quarter for single day classes and twice per quarter for multi-day classes. All-school parent meetings include school business as well as a variety of child development topics presented by educational speakers. Parent meetings specifically for the multi-day classes are led by the parent educators and cover topics and issues more relevant to those classroom operations and/or developmental stages of the older children. If it is unavoidable to miss a parent meeting, make-up opportunities are available. Past speakers at the evening meetings have included:
  • Janis Keyser, co-author of Becoming the Parent You Want to Be: A Sourcebook of Strategies for the First Five Years
  • Bev Bos, child development author and internationally-recognized speaker on preschool learning
  • Gloria DeGaetano, founder and CEO of The Parent Coaching Institute
  • Nancy Blakey, author of The Mudpies Activity Book series
  • Terry Goetz, Director of Education and instructor at the Creative Dance Center, home of the BrainDance