How do parents learn and grow?
One important way is by sharing personal experiences around parenting, which can build a sense of community and reduce stress. Through shared experience, parents not only learn from each other, they also gain insight about strategies they can use in the context of their own family dynamics.
Parent Cafes combines this important connection among parents with learning more about the Five Protective Factors, to help emphasize: Parental resilience, the importance of having friends and a support network, understanding how children grow and develop, and discovering how to help children handle their feelings.
In early 2018, Lowell Alliance hopes to hold the City's first Parent Cafe for parents at Greenhalge Elementary School, in partnership with school staff and the NFI Family Resource Center of Lowell. In four evening sessions, parents will gather in small groups to discuss questions like the ones listed above, develop a larger support system, and consider new ways of meeting challenges as parents.
