Parenting Resources

Hope Haven

Hope Afterschool programs for children with developmental disabilities
Year-round Camps for Children & Young Adults with Special Needs
Children First Parenting Classes
Center for Educational Advocacy
Educational Development Services-Tutoring

Book Recommendation

Thrivers is a solid resource for parents looking for tips on how to develop 7 teachable traits in our children: Confidence, Empathy, Self-Control, Integrity, Curiosity, Perseverance, and Optimism. This book was written by the Michele Borba, who is perhaps best known for a book she published back in 2017 called Unselfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in our All- About-Me World. As a researcher, she has been studying the impact that technology has had on our ability to connect meaningfully with others and in particular how it is impacting children's growth and development. The tips she offers in this book are mostly common sense, but serve as good reminders of what our children need from us as parents and teachers.

Social & Emotional Development Research Background

Setting Limits with Love

Tips for Families: Talk, Read & Sing Together Everyday!

Positive Discipline

Positive Discipline is an approach to parenting ( and teaching) that helps children to become responsible, respectful, and resourceful members of their home & school community. It is based on the research of Alfred Adler and Rudolph Dreikurs, whose theoretical work suggested that healthy human development hinges on the development of three basic beliefs:

I am capable "I can learn and grow and overcome challenges."
I belong "I belong to a group that appreciates me just the way I am.")
I have agency "I can make a difference in my life and in the lives of others.

Children are naturally inclined to explore the world as a way of determining if they are indeed capable, if they are valued as they are by the important people in their lives and if they can indeed use their personal power for good. Of course they need loving and patient adults in their lives to help them develop these healthy beliefs, which is the loving work that parents and teachers engage in each and every day.

According to Adler and Dreikurs, misbehavior is simply a misguided attempt to boost one of those beliefs. For example, a child who enjoys playing the class clown at school may have the mistaken belief that he knows he belongs when others laugh at his antics. The teacher's job is to help that child understand that he does not have to be funny to know he is appreciated by his peers. A child who whines and wants to stay up late might have the mistaken belief that whining is a way to exert personal power. The parent's job is to help the child understand that remaining calm and talking respectfully with the family is a more powerful approach to bringing about a desired change.

For more on Positive Parenting, click the image to the left. Enjoy!