The Inverell Family and Youth Support Service (IFYSS) will be hosting four major parenting workshop programs in the upcoming months (please see dates below). The Parenting in a Nutshell, Communication, Give n Take, and Safe and Strong Families workshops are all designed to so assist parents to learn parenting skills and practices that promote strong and happy families. For more information on any of the programs below or to reserve a spot, please call IFYSS on 02 6722 4351
Parenting in a Nutshell
This workshop covers the very basics of parenting. What is parenting and what is the role of a parent? How do we learn to parent eg do we repeat patterns taught to us by our own parents? And we discuss how our parenting style can affect our children. As a parent we often forget to take care of ourselves so that we can be positive role models for our children. We discuss the importance of keeping parents healthy, both mental and physically to undertake the daily duties of a parent. Often parents become overwhelmed with the daily demands and we offer simple, practical ways to plan and organise their day to reduce stress encountered within in families. There is also the legal requirements and responsibilities of being a parent which we are often not made aware of.
Communication
Often the biggest obstacle to being a successful parent is communicating with our children. This workshop covers topics like how to understand your child and how they think – which is very different to adults. We also discuss child development and what milestones parents should be aware of when it comes to their growing children. Communication involves being able to listen as well as communicating needs. Often this is a forgotten art and parents are taught the importance of listening, speaking and better communicating with their children in an age appropriate way. Through good communication comes trust and this aspect of parenting is imperative for successful relationships.
Give n Take
This workshop spends 2 weeks learning the 123 Magic Program. This program equips parents with skills in coping with behavioural issues with their children in a way that allows good communication and consequences for behaviours that are unwanted. Parents often don’t go into parenting with a clear plan of what behaviours they are going to discipline and why 123 Magic highlights the needs for prior planning when it comes to our children and the behaviours that we find acceptable and unacceptable.
Safe and Strong Families
This workshop introduces parents to the differences between discipline and abuse. Parents are given tools to understand why their children are misbehaving and how to address issues as they arise. Effective discipline is key to empowering parents and bringing change to behaviours that aren’t acceptable within the family. The importance of self-esteem in our children is also covered and how emotional, physical or sexual abuse can severely damage a child’s self-esteem, self-worth and self-belief and result in poor behaviour now and later on in life.
Domestic Violence is also covered in this topic, in particular the different forms of domestic violence and how this impacts children’s lives. Having an understanding of these areas highlights to parents the importance of maintaining a happy, healthy home when it comes to children’s long term belief systems. The workshop also covers the importance of strong family supports and where to go to for assistance in the event that parents are finding that they are no longer able to cope on their own.
Dates for the IFYSS parenting workshops
July
16 Parenting in a Nutshell – Week 1
23 Parenting in a Nutshell – Week 2
30 Communication – Week 1
August
6 Communication – Week 2
13 Give N Take – Week 1
20 Give N Take – Week 2
27 Safe & Strong Families – Week 1
September
3 Safe & Strong Families – Week 2
October
15 Parenting in a Nutshell – Week 1
22 Parenting in a Nutshell – Week 2
29 Communication – Week 1
November
5 Communication – Week 2
12 Give N Take – Week 1
19 Give N Take – Week 2
26 Safe & Strong Families – Week 1
December
3 Safe & Strong Families – Week 2
