Parent Education

Nurturing Parenting® Program

The Family Tree Center is proud to offer the Nurturing Parenting Program®. This 15-week program is a best practice curriculum and is offered in three age-appropriate classes:

♦Nurturing Babies & Toddlers (Prenatal-2 years)

♦Nurturing Preschool (Ages 3-5)

♦Nurturing Grade-schoolers (Ages 6-12)

These 15-week parenting classes focus on child development, brain development, empathy, nurturing routines, child safety, family morals and values, discipline, rewards and consequences, family rules, stress and anger management, decision making, and more.

Parents are urged to bring their children with them to class. Parent-child interaction is facilitated in each class. FREE childcare and dinner are also provided for the children during each class.

For program dates and registration information, call The Family Tree Center during regular business hours - Mon-Thu 9am-5pm.

Nurturing Parenting® Philosophy

The philosophy of Nurturing Parenting emphasizes the importance of raising children in a warm, trusting and caring household.  It is founded on the belief that children who are cared for develop the capacity to trust, care and respect themselves, other people and living creatures and the environment.  The philosophy of Nurturing Parenting is founded on seven principles:

1. Feelings of Attachment
   Attachment means a bond between parents and their children that conveys a deep love that is unconditional.  When children feel loved unconditionally, communication, trust and respect naturally follow.
2. Empathy
   Empathy is the ability of parents to put themselves in the place of their children in an attempt to feel, think and understand what their children are feeling, thinking and understanding, and responding to them in a loving and respectful way.
3. Nurturing Oneself
   Taking time in getting one’s own needs met, as an adult, forms the foundation of understanding and helping children get their needs met.  Nurturing parents take care of themselves as well as their children.
4. Gentle Touch
   Research has shown that children who experience warm and gentle touch in the form of hugs, pats, and massages develop and maintain healthy relationships throughout their life, as well as a healthy and positive sense of their self.
5. Discipline
   Setting limits through family rules, teaching right from wrong through family morals, and teaching respect and worth through family values are all a part of a nurturing family.  Discipline cannot be imposed, beaten into or forced on children but rather develops best by the children modeling their parents whose example they admire.
6. Expressing Feelings
   Helping children and adults learn appropriate ways to manage and express their feelings is a fundamental characteristic of a nurturing family.
7. Expectations and Self-Worth
   Knowing what to expect of children as they develop plays a significant role in their self-worth.  When parents have appropriate expectations, children learn that they are competent people, capable of pleasing others important in their lives.

For more information go to www.nurturingparenting.com

 The Nurturing Parenting Programs® are recognized by the National Registry of Effective Programs and Practices (NREPP), the Substance Abuse-Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).