Do you provide parent education and support in your professional role?
SECD resources include readings, videos and questions for reflection and discussion. You can use the SECD resources to share key topics with parents and encourage them to think about how to apply the information to their own family situations.
How to support parents
Supporting parents effectively requires that you have background information on parenting. Here are some suggestions from SECD to help you think about your approach to parent education and support:
In the NA Edition on CC p. 2.2, view “Clinton – parenting styles and brain development” and the article from the Encyclopedia for Early Childhood Development about parenting styles and social development.
In the NA Edition on EC p. 3.1, view “Scene – a mother’s perspective” and reflect on the questions that follow. Other videos on this page address aspects of effective parent support.
Consider various family configurations – for instance, the definition of family from the Vanier Institute in the NA Edition on EC p. 2.1. Review EC 1.1 for information on intersectionality and EC 3.1 on race and gender. EC p. 2.1 and EC p. 3.1 also have videos about supporting same-sex families.
In the NA Edition on CC p. 2.2 there is a section on fathers that includes a Jean Clinton video as well as two clips from Dad’s Central Ontario about understanding and engaging fathers.
For parent education prenatally, read PN p. 2.4 for information about preconception care, prenatal care and education with examples of prenatal programs throughout the world.
Presenting to parents in workshops and one-on-one
While the SECD resources are geared to early years professionals and students, many of the topics are of interest to parents. This document has examples of topics in SECD and ideas of how to use the information to engage with parents. These are appropriate for workshops with several parents together or for supporting/working with an individual parent.
Remember, with free access in your province, it is also easy for parents to explore the resources on their own using a computer or mobile device. You can refer parents to a specific page or suggest they check out a specific video or reading.
View the video “Nelson –recommendations for parents” and discuss his messages to pay attention to children’s interests but avoid overstimulation and too much structure. Discuss how this information can be shared with parents.
View videos “Durrant – celebrating independence” and “Getting dressed” and discuss the ways the mother in this scene encourages and acknowledges her son’s need to dress himself. Encourage parents to share their thoughts/challenges/experiences with children’s growing independence.
Use text on this page to define positive guidance and to give a few examples. Help parents understand that children need supportive guidance. Practice saying it straight by sharing the interact called, “The positive alternative“. Print and distribute the handout “The problem-solving technique”.
View the videos “Durrant – physical punishment” and “Durrant – negative effects of physical punishment”. Discuss how each person’s background and experiences may have shaped their views on physical punishment. Accompany this discussion with a look at alternatives so parents are aware of positive guiding strategies that are not harsh or violent.
For more in-depth information, provide an overview of Positive discipline in everyday life (2015), a rights-based program designed to support adults dealing with everyday challenges with children. View “Durrant – introduction to positive discipline” that introduces the three aims of the program. Select other videos on this page based on your audience and available time. You may want to suggest that if parents are interested, they can view the other related videos on this page at home.
This could be a topic of its own or could be included in a series on positive guidance. Using information on the SECD page, summarize information about temperament, possibly creating power point slides with key points. View the videos, “Durrant – child caregiver match, parts 1 and 2” and then the video, “I want my doll”. Discuss ‘the match’- between the child and the mother in this scene. Refer parents to the Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development for more information.
Child rearing around the world
SECD module & page
Possibilities
Throughout
The SECD resources include videos from around the world. If you are working with parents who have immigrated from other countries, the international videos may encourage parents to share experiences from their home countries. Some examples are: Videos filmed in Tajikistan (NA CC p. 3.3, CL p. 2.3) in East Africa (NA CC p. 3.3, CL p. 1.2 and p. 3.1), in Egypt (NA CL p. 1 and EC p. 3) or in Pakistan (NA CC p. 3.2). Depending on the content of the specific video, you can use these videos to illustrate children’s development, appropriate adult strategies, or as a basis for a variety of discussion topics. Discussion questions follow many of these videos. The “Caring for Babies” reading in NA Edition on CC p. 2.1 describes cultural practices while caring for babies and might promote interesting discussion. After reading, ask individuals to reflect on their own cultural practices while caring for babies.
Show the interviews with experts such as Jean Clinton and Joan Durrant, along with the short videos of children. Discuss sharing and turn-taking. Print and distribute the related parent resources.
The importance of the parent-child relationship
Several SECD videos address the importance of the adult being nurturing and supportive.
NA BD p. 2.2 – “Gunnar – relationships buffer stress” explains how an infant’s secure attachment to a caregiver can act as a buffer for stress. Also on this page, “Visit to the doctor” shows how the mother-child relationship can buffer a stressful experience. NA BD p. 2.3 – “Clinton – teachable moments and the stress response” explains that after a child’s stress system is “turned on”, a child needs a warm connection with a caregiver to rebalance. NA CC p. 1.1 – “Clinton – co-regulation and the external brain” describes how a baby needs an adult to respond to their crying to help them feel comforted. NA CC p. 2.2 – “Clinton – attachment and predictability” discusses the importance of responding predictably to babies’ needs for the development of secure attachment. NA CC p. 2.2 – “Listening to baby” is a longer video that gives an overview of attachment and stresses paying attention to the subtle signals of babies.
Discuss the importance of parents reading with their children. Show the videos “Reading with mom” and “Mom and son reading”. Discuss using the reflection questions that follow the videos. Show parents samples of appropriate children’s books for different ages. Share information about resources in your community, for example, information about the local public library. Show the video, “Katz – reading skill and disposition” and discuss how parents can support their children to enjoy reading.
Share the visuals in the reading “Patterns of learning” and ask parents what progressions they have noticed with their own child? Perhaps you could prepare ahead to share similar examples demonstrated by children in your program.
Introduce the general concept that children learn through hands on experiences. Show parent/child videos e.g., “Puddle play” or “Snack- time singing”. Have parents describe the ways they can see that children demonstrate what they are learning.
Relate this to the concept that play is children’s main vehicle for learning. Both pages have lots of information about this topic. For example, the reading “Let the children play” (CL p. 1.2) has a concise explanation of how play benefits growth and development. Highlight what your centre/program offers children by having parents rotate between different areas of the centre – indoors and outdoors. Have an educator in each area to demonstrate/explain how children typically play and what they may be learning. Let parents get “hands on” and then discuss.
Discuss what parents already know about healthy lifestyles during pregnancy and what kinds of things they have been doing to keep their baby healthy. View and discuss “Gluckman – developmental plasticity” (especially from 1:46 onwards). Discuss what parents and communities can do to promote healthy physical, emotional and social environments prenatally and the benefits for their child, family and community. Discuss that choices they make now about how they eat, exercise, reduce stress and enjoy themselves during pregnancy will affect their baby’s long term outcomes.
Highlight the importance of social supports using the video “Coping strategies and social support”. Explore the professional and personal support networks of parents, and ways to expand their network if needed. See PN p. 3.2 section which also aligns with this topic.
The reading under “Want to Know More?” at the bottom of the page titled “The delivery of prenatal education in Ontario” gives information about the evidence of effectiveness of prenatal care and recommendations about the type of information that parents are most interested in reviewing during different trimesters.
View the video “Prenatal couple – Partner qualities” and use the questions for reflection below the video to promote discussion about how partners can support a healthy pregnancy. View the video “Gluckman – safer environments” and discuss what Dr. Gluckman means about balance and avoiding extremes during pregnancy. Identify areas that parents feel they are doing well in terms of that balance and identify areas where they would like to achieve a better balance.
Highlight the benefits of social support for prenatal parents using information in the first paragraph of page. Discuss advantages of a supportive network of family and friends during pregnancy.
View “Barr – pre-birth memory” and “Werker – prenatal tuning” and explore how babies can already differentiate languages in the womb. Emphasize importance of talking to baby and starting to build language skills prenatally onward.
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