\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b \u201cEven though you think you know it, there\u2019s different ways to parent. It\u2019s not the way we were taught how to parent,\u201d said Elizabeth after attending parent education workshops offered at the Thrive to Five Family Resource Center at Wood Elementary in Tempe. The family resource center is funded by the First Things First Central Maricopa region with the goal of strengthening families by providing community-based access to programs such as parent education.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were always learning something different\u201d during the parent education workshops, Elizabeth remembered. She first learned about the resource center and the free workshops they offer when she received a flyer while picking up her daughter, Lisette, from kindergarten.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth had never attended anything like this before, but the flyer piqued her interest. Over the next two years, the family attended parenting, literacy, nutrition and music workshops. The new parenting skills helped Elizabeth and her husband, Juan, communicate more effectively with their children, reduce their children\u2019s frustration levels, be more patient with their children and model positive behavior.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth shared an example of how she used those new skills with her son, Matthew, who was 2-years-old at the time. Matthew would become upset and hit his parents when he wanted something and didn\u2019t get it. Instead of engaging in a power struggle, Elizabeth and Juan learned a new way to handle this aggressive behavior. \u201cWe told Matthew, let\u2019s do it this way, and we cuddled him and told him to take deep breaths until he calmed down,\u201d said Elizabeth.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth says that Matthew\u2019s temperament is much calmer now and they\u2019ve noticed that his learning has increased as well. He asks more questions, explains what things are, repeats words until he gets them right and picks out books to read.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would have done things differently with my daughter,\u201d said Elizabeth, \u201cIt\u2019s important to start communicating with kids as babies because the brain starts feeding itself with all this information.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"