Shared Responsibility

During the last year, two documents have been published that brought a smile of recognition to all of us at Practical Parent Education because both documents stressed the importance of a community's responsibility for raising emotionally healthy children. The idea that this responsibility should be shared by family, school and community was the concept behind the start up of PPE in Plano, Texas, twenty-seven years ago. The good news here is that both documents are a part of the information about the reauthorization of ESEA, and we hold out hope that this message will be embraced and that funding will be provided to support it.

The U.S. Department of Education's "A Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act," which came out March, 2010, announced support for the Successful, Safe, and Healthy Students program to promote physical and mental health and well being. The Cradle to Career focus adds new emphasis on families whose children are ages 0-3. This document clearly recognizes that the family atmospheres and practices at home provide the continuum of support for children as successful students.

Later, (Dec. 2010) "Beyond Random Acts," a report prepared by the Harvard Family Research Project with support from SEDL for the National PIRC Coordination Center looked at the role families play in turning around schools and stressed its importance. This summary of the National Policy Forum for Family, School, & Community Engagement moves parental involvement from being something that parents do at their children's school to a shared responsibility for the child's well being from birth on to adulthood. This expanded role involves the family, the school and the entire community and is indeed a part of Practical Parent Education's DNA.

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Parenting- Are We having Fun Yet?

Author- Char Wenc M. Ed.

CHOICES, CHOICES, IT IS ALL ABOUT CHOICES

       Children need to feel needed. They need to feel that they are contributing members of the family in order to become responsible adults. But DO NOT expect them to be cheerful about helping. My children weren't. DO expect them to help regardless of their negative feelings and please have the courage to give consequences to help children realize that they need to carry out their responsibilities.

       Responsibility is not merely taught, it is given. Then it is learned.

       Choices allow children to recognize freedom and allow them to be independent. They give them a sense of responsibility. Consequences help children see the inevitable sequence of decisions and events.

       A wonderful tool to use in parenting is the conditional phrase. It teaches prioritizing and understanding of order. For example, I love to tell children," When your homework is finished, then you can watch television. When your room is cleaned, then you can go out to play."

       Routine is very important in teaching responsibility. It gives boundaries and feelings of security...

Read entire article here

Coming to PPE in 2011

Middle School Parenting

        When we asked our PPE facilitators what they wanted added to the PPE curriculum this year, we heard from all over the country that they need help with parent engagement in the middle schools. Because children do not want their parents involved in their lives when they reach adolescence, parents tend to let up on their parenting practices and stand back and just hope for the best.

       This Middle School Application will offer information on brain development and its implications for parenting adolescents. It will also provide a range of parent engagement activities from one-on-one discussions, to small group sharing, to large events using PPE lessons and Quick Tips.

        You will get the integrated secondary parent engagement plan and the PPE consulting services with your 2011-2012 renewal if you have a current PPE program. If you are not a currently participating program, contact us so that we can get you started.

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Initial Parent Educator
Training Schedule

• Washington Parish, LA - March 31, 2011
• Highland Park, MI - May 5, 2011
• McKinney, TX - June 16, 2011

Click here for complete information and training registration