DAWSON COUNTY HEALTHY COMMUNITIES

Looking to learn more about parenting? Take Classes—Get DCC Credits!

It is not too late to join in a parenting class or a supportive meeting:

o Wednesday evening—ongoing parenting classes from 6:30-8:00 p.m. with open enrollment and college credits.

o 1^st Monday noon meetings for Kinship Care/Grandparents Raising Grandkids.

o 3^rd Monday noon for anyone parenting or foster-parenting a disabled/SED child.

o Last Monday each month at 10:30 a.m. “Baby & Me” a special Newborn Nurturing program for newborns.

o Tuesday’s after-story-time program for Dads and Moms of newborns through preschool aged children with monthly crafts, parenting info, and a shared meal.

o Thursday and Saturday etc. coaching and parent strategic training sessions.

o Parenting Teens 1-6 pm on May 10^th

Planning Special Focus Parenting

We have two new curricula on the horizon:

1. How to Handle Substance Abuse—a Saturday afternoon course for parents who want to talk to their kids about substances. Each family will also receive a free game for parents and children age 9-13 to play together which encourages family talks.

2. Cooperative Parenting and Divorce—we have a new Active Parenting curriculum to address the needs of parents who are not living together but sharing the tasks and responsibilities of co-parenting. Designed as an eight week course, we are looking at ways to modify it into a one day or four session class.

Parenting Classes Starting this Spring:

APRIL 23^rd Active Parenting 1234 – 2 meetings

MAY 7^th Active Parenting in 3

RETHINK Program of Management for Parent’s Anger.

Our friends at MSU Extension in Bozeman have loaned us a very focused curriculum we are now using with our parent support group to help reduce parental frustration. We meet the 3^rd Monday of each month from 12:30 to 1:00 pm.

We hope newcomers will join us!

The curriculum uses the RETHINK method of anger management for parents to apply specifically to all the challenges that children present their parents from Infancy to Eighteen.

After exploring anger factors in general, its causes and triggers, and teaching the RETHINK strategy for management, there is specific application of factors, triggers and appropriate responses to each for eight or more common trigger situations and development issues for Infancy 0-1, Toddler Stage 2-3, Preschool 4-5, Middle Childhood 6-11, Adolescence 12-18.

Each exploration of age-related issues is followed with role-play practice of appropriate responses to common age-specific problems.

Baby & Me—Nurturing Newborns

The last Monday of each month we have a very special time when parents and children from birth to one year of age come together for parenting information and weights & measures from 10:30 until 11:30 a.m. Newcomers are very welcome!