short_term_projects

Our Short Term Projects

The Adventure Group is currently sponsoring two projects, developed in consultation with the Transformative Parenting Program Advisory Committee. The PEI Rural Parents Network Project runs from November, 2005 to November, 2008. The Parent Support Providers Collaboration Project runs from September 2006 to June 2007. As planned, the projects nicely complement and build on each other.

Young children model the behaviours they learn from their parents and caregivers and this influence is long lasting. There is a growing body of research which reinforces the importance of supporting parents with tools, information and resources to help them learn and practice effective problem solving and conflict resolution with their children.

The National Crime Prevention Council of Canada found that;

"competent parenting is critical to the healthy development and safety of children. Children learn to relate to others and to cope with daily challenges by interacting with and observing their caregivers. Parents foster social and emotional development when they provide affectionate care, model effective communication skills, and use problem-solving and negotiation skills to resolve conflict."

In response to research in PEI and across the country, the Adventure Group worked with parents and community partners to develop and pilot the Transformative Parenting Program. The highly interactive and experiential program draws upon the existing knowledge and expertise of participants to build the knowledge, skills and confidence of parents to use positive discipline approaches and, in doing so, enhance the coping, social and behavioural skills of their children.
The 3-year PEI Rural Parents Network project will build on the successes of this on-going work.

PEI Rural Parents Network
with support from Social Development Canada

Objectives:

Provide rural parents, caregivers and children with knowledge, information and tools to practice positive discipline, effective problem-solving and meaningful conflict resolution.

Build a pool of parents who are knowledgeable of, and skilled in, the use of positive discipline techniques, and who can act as role models, mentors, and peer supporters.

Actively engage parents in the planning development and implementation of a sustainable, community-owned, parent-driven support network.

Project Activities:

The project will run from November 2005 to March 2008 and will focus on:

adapting the Transformative Parenting Program to meet the needs of rural and isolated families, including developing a program component for children aged 3-6, and delivering the adapted program to parents and young children across PEI;

developing a peer educator program, building a pool of parents who understand and practice positive discipline techniques and who can act as role models and peer educators participating in delivering the Transformative Parenting Program; and

facilitating parent involvement in the development of a Rural Parents Network, a support network providing ongoing information and support to rural families with young children.

Collaborating to Support Parents is Funded through the National Crime Prevention Centre.

Objectives:

bring together parent support providers from across PEI for relationship building, information sharing and identifying opportunities for collaboration

bring together parent support providers for follow up workshop to identify and strengthen collaborative efforts and to evaluate success

In it’s evaluation of the first 3 years of the Transformative Parenting Program, members of the Steering Committee talked about the collaborative benefits to the Transformative Parenting Program, to their own organizations and to parents, of their own participation in the project. An example of that collaboration was the recent coming together of 3 current programs, including Child and Family Services, CHANCES Family Resource Centre and the Transformative Parenting Program to offer one group of single mothers the benefits of all three programs. The success of that collaboration has led the committee to consider involving other of our partners in a future program.

This discussion about the benefits of collaboration led to the idea of bringing together other parent support providers to facilitate opportunities for collaboration. Coming together face-to-face, developing relationships and sharing information about skills and services will result in new partnerships and innovative ideas for supporting parents and each other.