This widely acclaimed and widely used how-to-do-it child management program was originally designed in the 1970s to help parents of all backgrounds raise healthy and well-behaved children. It taught a series of skills to enable parents to positively influence their children's behavior and development. And hundreds of instructors nationwide have been trained to use it in their schools, child care centers, agencies, churches, synagogues, hospitals and private practices.

Then during the 1980s, the skills from the original Confident Parenting Program were incorporated into what have become the nation's most widely used and honored programs for parents of African and Latino American children, CICC's Effective Black Parenting and Los Ninos Bien Educados programs. Those programs teach all of the skills from the original Confident Parenting Program as well as additional skills and parenting strategies.

All of these programs have been used successfully in community projects nationwide to promote healthy child development and to prevent child abuse, school dropout, drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, gangs and crime.

The New Program

   The New Confident Parenting teaches all of the skills from the original program plus many of the strategies and skills that were added to the culturally specific programs.

   It emphasizes and clearly teaches parents about the two main ways that children learn, through modeling and through the consequences that their behavior generates. These pivotal ideas are taught through simple ways that make it easy for parents to use this knowledge to assist them in raising healthy, happy and successful children and teenagers.

   In addition, the New Confident Parenting includes coverage of such specific contemporary parenting challenges as...

How to deal with children and teen's involvement with the technological advances that have changed the lives of all of us (the Internet, social networking websites, cell phones, iPODs, etc.) and...
How to help children and teens resist peer pressures to engage in dangerous actions.

The result is a truly modern, how-to-do-it program which all parents should have the opportunity to learn and use.

Program Leader's Kit and Components

The four components of the New Confident Parenting program are available as an Instructional Kit, or as separate items (click here). The components are:

1. The Parent's Handbook that contains all of the skills and strategies, including guidelines on how to practice the skills before using them with children.

2. 117 Instructional Drawings, Diagrams and Charts in a PowerPoint format to be used by instructors and educators as they present all or part of the program.

3. An all purpose and reproducible flyer to attract parents to classes, workshops, or presentations (included in the CD of the Instructional Drawings).

4. A DVD and Discussion Guide entitled Yelling, Threatening and Putting Down: What To Do Instead for use in Confident Parenting presentations and classes.

The DVD depicts typical, real life situations where the behaviors of children are particularly challenging, such as when children interrupt parents, when they become highly frustrated and angry, when they whine and fuss in public, and when they fight with each other. After these situations are shown, the DVD is stopped and parents are asked how they might handle them without yelling, threatening or putting their children down. Then the DVD is started again and a variety of excellent ways of managing these challenges are demonstrated, including through seeing parents using such Confident Parenting skills and strategies as:

Effective Praising,
Mild Social Disapproval,
The Thinking Parent's Strategy, and
The "Family Rules Are Like A Coin" Strategy

Click here to obtain Leader's Kit and/or program components.

How to Use the New Program

The New Confident Parenting Program is designed for maximum flexibility and customization of use!

The 15 curriculum sections, which are outlined below, are accompanied by either role-playing instructions so parents can practice using the skills before applying them with their children, and/or with homework assignments that aide in learning and using the program's parenting skills and strategies.

The New Program can be taught several ways:

1. You can teach it as a multi-session parenting class. Here you select the number of class sessions you want to teach. This can be as short as a basic, seven session child management program using the Curriculum Sections 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9 and 10. Or you can teach all 15 sections. Or any number of sessions you want.

   In any case, all you need are the relevant instructional charts from the PowerPoint, the DVD, and a Handbook for each participant.

2. You can have the parents in your group select the content and length of the program. Present them with the 15 curriculum topics and have them choose or vote on which will be taught and how long they want the program to last.

   Here again you only need the relevant charts, the DVD and each person receiving a Parent's Handbook.

3. You can create a one or two hour presentation,using one or two of the curriculum sections; or a lunch-and-learn series at workplaces using whichever sections may be needed or requested; or create a full day seminar version from among the various topics and conduct the seminar with large numbers of parents in an auditorium setting.

Again, all you will need are the relevant charts, the DVD and a Handbook for each participant.

Curriculum Topics

1.  Welcome

     The Confident Parenting Approach
     The Needs and Rights of Children and Parents

2.   Why Do Kids Do What They Do?

      Learning-through-Modeling
      Learning-through-Consequences

3. Social Rewards: The Art of Effective Praising

     Expecting Too Much Too Soon
     The Personal Touch
     The Advantages of Social Rewards
     How to Socially Reward
     Putting It All Together
     Practicing Praising
     The Impact of Praising

4. Family Rules and Child Behavior

     Family Rule Analysis
     Variety of Family Rules
     Importance of Family Rules
     How to Teach Clear and Reasonable Rules
     Justifying Family Rules
     Practice

5. Family Rules and Child Development

     Basic Human Abilities
     Thinking Stages
     Practice

6. The Thinking Parent's Strategy

    The Causes of Disrespectful Behaviors
     Practice Using the Cause Questions
     Rule Usage
     Selecting the Best Corrective Consequences

7. Effective Limit Setting

    Limit-Setting and the Punishment Equation
    Mild Social Disapproval: How to Use It
    When to Use Mild Social Disapproval
    Requests
   Practice

8. Ignoring

    Why Ignoring Works
    What to Ignore
    Consistency
    Basic Components
    Practice

9. Time Out

    Punishment: Pros and Cons
   Time Out: A Gentle but Consistent Form of
         Discipline
    The Rationale for Time Out
   A Special Rule When Using Time Out
   How to Use Time Out
   Practice
   Choosing a Suitable Time-Out Area

10. Special Incentive Programs

    What is It?
    The Anatomy of a Special Incentive Program
    Pause to Review
    The Case of Alan M.: From a Slob to a Saint in

Seven Weeks

11. Parenting Adolescents

The Importance of Peers
Use of the Previously Taught Parenting

Strategies and Skills with Teenagers

     Time Out with Teenagers
     Communication Gap and Guidelines
     Contracting: An Exercise in Give-and-Take
     A Note to Parents on Attitude

12. Parenting, the Media and Technology

      The Media and Technology
      Benefits and Usage of Technology
      Positive Family Uses
      Challenges and Hazards
      Guidelines for Managing Media and
      Technology Use and Exposure
      Use the Internet Itself to Protect Children
      Technology, Media and Family Bonding

13. Our Children, Tobacco, Alcohol and Other

Drugs

      Tobacco, Alcohol and Other Drugs
       Research Results
       Parenting Guidelines
       Practice

14. Scientific Research on Parenting Patterns and

Physical Punishment

       The Productive Parenting Pattern
       Physical Punishment
       Human Rights Considerations

15. When and How to Consult Professionals
           When Nothing Works

       Children with Special Needs
       Drug-Related Problems
       A Note about Responsibility

Click here to obtain Leader's Kit and/or program components.
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The Center for the Improvement of Child Caring (CICC) was established in 1974 and has grown to become one of the nation's most influential and productive nonprofit parenting and parenting education organizations.

For more information about CICC's many parenting programs, services and products, go to www.ciccparenting.org or call toll-free (800) 325-2422.

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