Learning to Live With Your Preschooler

One of the services of LBCC that many people may not know about is the Parenting Education Department. This department encourages parents to learn about the behavior of their child and to interact with them to problem solve troubles with behaviors.

The Living and Learning classes offer a place to learn more about being a parent, and opportunities to network with other parents in your community and a chance for your child to interact with other children in their age group. There are three different classes divided by age groups, including one for parents of babies, parents of toddlers and parents of preschoolers. This last one is for children aged three to five and is set up as a lab/lecture class.

The lecture part is set up for the evening, what night depends where you live as there are schools in Scio, Halsey, Corvallis, Philomath and Albany. There is a total of 15 hours for the lecture part of the class, usually attended about every other week. The lab part has a flexible schedule during the day so that the parents don’t have to take time off work to participate. It is about two and a half hours each session for three times a week.

Each parent is in charge of planning one activity a term that they set up for the children when they come in. There will also be a snack, a story time and circle time along with outdoor activities and group activities offering the children an opportunity to interact with each other. The parents are all assigned the part of the room that they are in charge of, working along with the classroom teacher.

The goal of the class is for parents to be able to teach their children how to build healthy relationships, knowing where to get help and helping in return as a main goal for the class is networking with other parents to form a support system for each other.

They also can give back to the community, putting into practice the skills that they have learned during the class. Every year LBCC has the Family Fun Day where the public is invited to participate in activities set up for the kids, along with a food booth, garage sale and raffle. Each of the activities at the Family Fun Day are put on by the parents and all of the proceeds go back into the Parenting Education Program to help fund future classes.

Sources:

Jerri Wolfe: Head of Parenting Education Program

Joanne Hunter: Teacher of Living and Learning With Your Preschooler at the Corvallis Benton Center

LBCC Website: http://www.linnbenton.edu/go/family-resources-and-education-division

Who: Anyone who needs help or would like to help others with their three to five year olds.

What: A class that teaches parents how to develop activities for their children by interacting with children.

When: Lectures are at night and lab time is flexible during the day.

Where: There are five locations for the classes, Corvallis, Albany, Halsey, Scio and Philomath.

Why: Sometimes it is good to network with other parents so that you don't feel alone and out of touch with the rest of the adult world.