The St. John’s Lutheran Church is sponsoring a six-session parenting program called Parenting the Love and Logic Way, with facilitator Sharon Otke.
Some of the skills those enrolled will learn are, how to avoid power struggles and arguments, how to stay calm when their kids do incredibly upsetting things and how to help children learn from mistakes rather than repeating them.
Although the program is being held at the church, “it is not distinctively Christian,” said Marj Plitt.
“It is our gift to the community. The people who took the course last year were so keen, saying every parent should have this course,” she added.
One such participant from last year was Shannon Corps.
“It’s a fantastic program. I loved it. Being a good parent is important to me. What I found so good about this program was the classroom format. There was lots of interaction between people that was really helpful and supportive. It also wasn’t hard to implement the whole approach but very easy to do, very practical and very sensible,” she said.
Corps went on to explain about what she learned from the program.
“The number one thing I learned was how easy it is to calmly parent when you’re using the approach that they teach and the results were immediate. It worked really well with my daughter. She also respected that I was working to be a better parent. I think she felt how important she was and how important our relationship was. If you can parent without anger, then your relationship improves with your kids. That is a wonderful bonus.”
The program also promises to help the children learn as well.
“That’s really what the whole program does. It helps them to be responsible for their decisions when they do mess up and be able to fix things and to make amends,” said Corps.
The course is something that Corps thinks all parents could benefit from and wishes it was something that was taught in school.
“I think if every parent could do this, things would be a lot better because parenting is hard and we don’t get a manual,” she concluded.
For more information or to register call 250-494-9309.