Richmond, VA (October 20, 2011) - The Children's Museum of Richmond today announced that Liz Pearce has been hired as the organization's first Director of Parent Engagement, part of a new initiative at the museum. The museum is one of only a few in the country to expand its mission to include education for parents and caregivers. Pearce has worked in the areas of parent education and support for 21 years, most recently as director of Commonwealth Parenting from 2004 to 2011. In February, she will be named president of the National Parent Education Network.
"As part of our last strategic planning effort, the Board of Trustees had a robust discussion on how to strengthen the children's museum's impact," explained Karen Coltrane, the museum's president and CEO. "Recognizing that adults who care for young children are their first and best teachers, the Board concluded that the children's museum should support adult learning about the important role early experiences , especially play, have on healthy child development. The Board even modified the museum's mission statement to include this new emphasis."
The initiative includes plans to provide parents with a wide array of resources to address various issues families may encounter. The vision, said Coltrane, is for the museum to be a central hub of information for parents and caregivers, in addition to its primary purpose of providing a creative environment where children learn through play. Resources for parents will range from information on age-related expectations and concerns, to parenting support for those experiencing difficulties, to in-the-moment advice about a particular behavior.
"Being a parent is hard," said Pearce, "and we don't go through any kind of training for it. At one time or another, most of us need to turn to someone for support or information so we understand what's going on with our child a little better. The bottom line is: the more resources there are to support the parents and caregivers, the better off the child is going to be."
Last year, the children's museum saw 360,000 visitors at both of its locations; roughly half of whom were parents. Pearce noted that more often than not, behavior parents might question will occur in the museum during their visit. She envisions a parent being able to engage a parenting professional online or through social media for some quick answers. In the future, she hopes to have times each week when an expert is right there on the floor talking with parents.
"Two of the most important things for young children to learn," Pearce added, "are resourcefulness and resilience. The children's museum, with its opportunities to succeed and fail through play and learn from both experiences, has always been an ideal environment for them to learn those important skills. Now we hope to help parents develop more strategies for assisting their children as they prepare to tackle each stage of growing up."
