Parenting Education: Free Resources for Parents
Parenting education provides a robust framework for understanding a child’s emotional, physical, and intellectual needs at different stages of their development. For families after a divorce or separation, these programs can also provide parents with the tools they need to promote family harmony, protect their children from inter-parental strife, and foster healthy relationships between family members.
During divorce or separation proceedings, parents may be court ordered to take a parenting education course; however, brushing up on parenting skills isn’t something that parents need to wait to be court ordered to do.
If you haven’t been court ordered and are not ready to commit to a paid course, there are still free resources to take advantage of while you’re deciding. Below we've compiled an introductory list of resources covering topics from childhood development to educational support. If you don't find the resource you're looking for below, search the OurFamilyWizard Regional Resources for additional organisations that can be found in your area.
Childhood Development + Education
Early Education
Early Education is a national non-profit focused on "supporting early years practitioners with training, resources and professional networks, and campaigning for quality education for the youngest children." While many of their resources centre on the needs and questions of early childhood education practitioners, a large number of their downloadable pamphlets are also appropriate for parents. They touch upon such topics as young children and technology, how parents can help young children learn from infancy, and how to help children cope with change.
> Explore all of Early Education's free downloadable pamphlets
Action for Children
The Action for Children organisation has an overwhelming number of parenting resources, spanning most age ranges. Co-parents with younger children may be particularly interested in their comprehensive pamphlet about the different stages of childhood development (up to five years of age), What to expect, when?. Broken down into six development stages, parents can learn about the three prime areas of learning for young children. These include personal, social, and emotional development, physical development, and communication and language.
Parents can also peruse their suggestions for inexpensive and engaging activities to do with children and their parenting tips about behaviour, health, siblings, and more.
Emotional Support and Family Relationships
Circle of Security International
This organisation's goal is to educate parents on healthy ways to support children, strengthen bonds, and raise them to be emotionally intelligent adults. These tips are useful no matter the family structure, but co-parents may be particularly interested in their 3-part series about navigating 'transitions,' whether that's dropping children off at school, putting them to bed, or, in the case of two-household families, making the change from one parent's home to the other. Read the first instalment, Health and Secure Transitions: A First Look, here.
Circle of Security International provides additional frameworks for helping parents identify when emotional hang-ups, whether inherited from their own parents or developed as adults, are negatively affecting their interactions with their children. Watch the video below for a short introduction to what they label "Shark Music," or how our emotional backgrounds can influence our interactions without us noticing.
Hand in Hand Parenting
This organisation's mission is to "provide parents with insights, skills, and support they need to listen to and connect with their children in a way that allows each child to thrive." While Hand in Hand parenting does have special-topic books for sale, as well as offering paid courses, their free parenting advice articles provide some worthy insight into building strong connections with children. Every article outlines concrete solutions for common situations, such as separation anxiety and preparing a child for the arrival of a new sibling. Explore parenting resources from Hand in Hand parenting here.
Whether or not you've been court ordered to attend a parenting education course, investigating ways in which to support your children on your own free time provides real benefits to your family's well-being and stability. Beyond these free resources listed here, there are also numerous, low-cost online courses and materials that address a multitude of parenting topics. Parents can also explore the OurFamilyWizard blog categories and our solutions to common co-parenting problems for further insight into their own parenting strategies and styles.