Parenting Programme brings families together
Warwickshire County Council’s Extended Services and Family and Parenting Support Team have been delivering evidence based parenting programmes that can help make children’s screaming fits and tantrums a thing of the past.
The Triple P, Positive Parenting Programme is aimed at parents and carers of children of all age groups offering a range of help, and they can learn effective parenting strategies, to encourage desirable behaviours and manage misbehaviour whilst promoting children’s development.
The eight week programme is provided by Extended Services and The Family and Parenting Support team as part of the county council’s pledge to achieve the Every Child Matters outcomes. Among the core offers of extended services, is parenting support and family learning. Usually programmes are provided at schools and Children’s Centres but one particular Triple P Programme has been held recently for parents and carers of children under 12 at the Gap Community Centre.
The programmes look to engage all families to ensure that they get the most out of their relationship with their children, and learn ways to manage issues before they arise.
Warwick-based mother of two, Louisa Clarkson, attended the course in order to give her a hand in nipping a problem with her five year old daughter in the bud. She explains:
“Essentially, Daisy’s behaviour is excellent, both at home and at school. However, she had a tendency to be loud and, in the nicest sense, attention-seeking in the playground at the end of the day. The trouble was that I would find that irritating and embarrassing in front of other parents and we would immediately be on a downward spiral the minute we were reunited after a day apart. It was a bad way to start our time together
“To quieten her down, I would bribe her with sweets or comics. It was nothing too serious, par for the course behaviour for a five year old but, as much as anything, I wasn’t happy with my response to Daisy’s outbursts.”
Along with a group of other parents, Louisa attended the Triple P programme at the Gap Community Centre. Along with the strategies suggested by the programme facilitator was the reward chart using characters from a book that Daisy was very fond of. Instead of stars, Louisa used cut outs of the Magic Ballerina and, rather than sweets, she rewards three ballerinas (one ballerina is the reward for one example of good behaviour) with 50p.
Louisa says that now that she ignores the screaming antics in the playground and they are much shorter as a consequence. Now, when they have ended, the two have a chat. And Louisa is much more confident in her own response and less inclined to be embarrassed in front of the other parents, having shared experiences on the Triple P with parents experiencing similar issues with their children.
“I came to realise quite quickly that Daisy is a well-behaved girl with an occasionally wilful streak which I didn’t want to snowball. It was reassuring, when we got together as a group, that what I had been doing with Daisy wasn’t that far off the mark. It just needed a bit of tweaking.”
The programme also offered other help for Louisa. Daisy, she found, was always very fidgety at the dinner table which irritated her. However, part of the Triple P encourages parents to look at their own behaviour. Louisa, who is alone with the children at the table during weekdays whilst her husband is at work, realised she was constantly getting up to feed her 16 month old son, Ben. Daisy was merely copying her mother.
“Again, it was simply a matter of tweaking my behaviour,” says Louisa. “Once I sat throughout the meal, Daisy would, too. The Triple P programme was so helpful in teaching you how to make not only major, but minor adaptations in your own actions, so that there was a really positive knock on effect in the behaviour of your child and, as a result, in your relationship with your child or children.”
Lorraine Jaeger from the Family and Parenting Support Team said: “There are a range of programmes on offer from Seminars to groups for young children and teenagers, that are attended by parents which can create a better environment at home, one in which every family member can achieve their full potential.
“Every family can benefit from looking at how members interact with each other. I am delighted that Louisa’s attendance at the programme has had such a positive outcome. Parenting is a difficult task; children don’t come with a manual and we all need a bit of help sometimes. We are aiming for parenting programmes to become universally available, so parents and carers can easily access support locally.
For full details of parenting programmes available in Warwickshire, as well as other activities for all the family, to find out more please contact Family Information Service on 0845 090 8044 http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/fis or email fis@warwickshire.gov.uk