In May 2012 I wrote a post showing my support for parenting classes and admitting that I attended them when my children were younger. I'm a huge believer in that, with the right course leader, these types of group sessions are valuable for your growth as a parent. We don't get given a parenting manual - I mean, who wants to be told how to raise your own child? Not me, that's for sure. But having access to someone who will listen to you, understand what you are going through, have access to advice and complimentary materials and be there to help see you through the tough times is how parenting classes should be structured.
As we all know, there are A TON of myths out there about what you should or shouldn't do as a parent to give your child the best start in life. CANparent created this video short with some of the more well-known ones. See how many you recognise. What can you add?
CANparent Classes and Advice Network is Government funded initiative that is currently being trialed. It aims to brings together a number of established organisations with great track records to offer support to families. They also encourage extended family members to attend the sessions, so that includes grandparents and siblings.
CANparent classes are available until your child finishes in school year one and the range of topics that are covered are learning through play, team parenting, sleep issues, coping with challenging behaviour, creating great routines and much more. I'm sure you would also establish a great network of parents in your area that have children of similar ages too, so you grow together as families, also knowing that you are not dealing with uncertainty on your own.
I have the CANparent team on hand to bust some more myths or to answer any of your burning parenting questions (have a nosy at their Facebook page too - they have updates that reflect issues with older children too). If you've got something you'd like answering then please leave your question in the comments or email it to me and I'll update this post with the answers in the very near future.
This post supports a Government funded programme - please see my disclosure policy for more details.