Parents Forever curriculum

The Parents Forever: Education for Families in Transition curriculum provides everything you need to facilitate a Parents Forever course. Use this curriculum to help parents and caregivers of children:

• Describe the family transition journey and how each family member will be affected.

• Recognize the role of self-care, parent-child relationships, and coparenting in child well-being.

• Identify internal and external resources. Also plan how to leverage these resources to promote resilience for all involved.

The second Parents Forever session is about self-care. It uses the analogy of a plane trip throughout the curriculum. Parents learn that “you need to put on your own oxygen mask first before helping your children or others put on theirs’.”

After participating in this session, parents will be able to:

• Describe thoughts and feelings associated with the family transition process.

• Examine the links between self-care and life skills needed during and after the family transition.

• Analyze how personal needs and wants affect goals and create an action plan to improve self-care for the future.

The third Parents Forever session is about parent-child relationships. It helps parents realize that they and their children need each other. They can both help each other through the family transition journey.

After participating in this session, parents will be able to:

• Recognize how stages of child development influence children’s journey through the family transition.

• Identify characteristics of parent-child relationships that improve child wellbeing.

• Apply knowledge and identify skills that will lead to improved parent-child relationships.

The fourth Parents Forever session reaffirms that children’s parents are “parents forever,” even if they are not living in the same household.

After participating in this session, parents will:

• Reflect on the nature of their co-parenting relationships.

• Apply the communication and conflict management skills needed to have an effective co-parenting relationship.

• Recognize that a parenting plan is an effective tool to help prepare for positive co-parenting.

The fifth, and last, Parents Forever session helps parents understand that the family transition will take time. They will eventually reach a satisfactory “destination.” After participating in this session, parents will be able to describe how everything works together to improve family well-being.