January 30, 2003

New Program Offers Children Bright Beginnings

Training in a new parenting curriculum that’s focused on enhancing the growth and development of young children from pre-natal to eight years of age will be offered by the North Dakota State University Extension Service starting in February.

"Research shows that parenting children when they’re young and getting them off to a healthy start is really critical," according to Sean Brotherson, NDSU extension family science specialist. "Helping children have a bright beginning is reinforced by research on the importance of brain development, strong secure relationships with parents and a good start for social and emotional development."

Training workshops in the new curriculum are scheduled for Feb. 6 in Grand Forks, Feb. 21 in Mandan, March 6 in Jamestown, March 7 in Fargo, April 9 in Minot, and April 10 in Dickinson.

The training is for people involved in parent and family life education. They will receive a copy of the curriculum and be trained in its principles, its development, how to apply it and how to teach it. Interested community professionals and others may include educators, counselors, child care workers, social workers, health care workers, clergy, mental health personnel, parent or family educators, and others.

The program is a collaborative effort between the extension parent resource center coordinators and faculty and staff in the NDSU department of child development and family science. Interested persons can receive more information or register for the workshop by calling the NDSU Extension Service at 701-231-8113 or by sending an email to brightbeginnings@ndsuext.nodak.edu . The training workshop will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The curriculum is focused on key issues in the growth and development of children where parents play a critical role. One of the early issues in the curriculum for parents or child care providers is the development of the child’s brain and what stimulates it. "We’ll discuss how parents can support and enhance their children’s development in terms of physical development such as their motor skills," says Brotherson. "They will also learn about their children’s social development such as how they interact with other children."

Parents will also learn about their child’s emotional intelligence. They will learn how children understand their own emotions, how they regulate it and how they respond to others.

"In addition, we will talk about some other critical items like reading with children and playing with children," says Brotherson. "We’ll try to cover the key elements of development and then go into specifics that parents may need to pay attention to for a child’s growth."

Drug and alcohol prevention will also be addressed in the curriculum.

The program is designed as a series of 10 lessons. However, it is also designed to be adaptable to different settings based on educational needs. "An educator can do a series of lunch brown bag seminars for a company or a childcare center director could use it as a basis for parenting night workshops once a month," notes Brotherson.

Parents have indicated they are interested in a variety of ways of obtaining parenting information including newsletters, discussion groups, classes, one-on-one home visits, videos, reading books, newspaper columns, workshops, books and playing games that teach better parenting. The information will eventually be distributed in multiple ways that meet some of those preferences.

Source: Sean Brotherson, (701) 231-6143, sbrother@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Rich Mattern, (701) 231-6136, richard.mattern@ndsu.nodak.edu