|
Effective Black Parenting
|
A dynamic and culturally relevant skill-building program for
raising proud and confident African-American Children
|
|
Raising African American Children in the United States is an extremely challenging task.
Though all children progress thought similar stages of development, and all children need
nurturance and sensitive guidance, African American children and their parents face special
problems as a result of our country's history of racism and discrimination. These problems
often make it harder to raise proud and capable African American children.
|
Until the Center for the Improvement of Child Caring (CICC) created the Effective Black Parenting
Program in the late 1970's, there were no programs that addressed these problems head on. There
were also no programs that taught parenting skills in a manner that was respectful of African
American patterns of communication and which recognized the African roots of the Extended Black
Family. Thus, the program occupies a very special place in the history of parenting education
in the United States.
|
CICC's Effective Black Parenting Program, which is based on an achievement orientation to
African American parenting, provides an excellent learning and relearning context to help
parents of African American children do the best job possible. Its basic ideas are derived
from the writings of African American parenting scholars, from research with African American
parents, and from adaptations of parenting skills that have been found helpful in raising
children of all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.
|
Each of the parenting strategies and skills in CICC's Effective Black Parenting Program is
taught by making reference to African proverbs like "Children are the reward of life" or
"A sheppard does not strike his sheep." The systematic use of these proverbs helps to ground
the teachings of the program in the wisdom and skillfulness of the African ancestors, and is
an example of one of the many ways that the program promotes cultural pride.
|
Between the period when the program was first taught in 1979 to the date of this writing,
2002, over 100,000 parents have enrolled and benefited.
|
|
What Parents Say About the Effective Black Parenting Program
|
"After taking the course, I would like to see more Blacks become involved, including my
family members. My feelings are exactly like coming to know God. Once you've seen the light,
you want everyone to see the same light so we as a race will not parish."
Tulsa, Oklahoma
|
"My son loves me now. He doesn't fear me."
Minneapolis, Minnesota
|
"It taught me to be more patient with my children, to listen, to know that they are little
human beings and have feelings too. Somehow that got lost - so it put me back on track."
Oakland, California
|
"I learned things from the class that I really needed to know. A lot of us didn't always get
the structure from our parents, so we're trying to break out of that parenting cycle into
one that will allow us to help our children meet their goals."
Seattle, Washington
|
"I never gave my children a chance to express themselves. It was always 'Shut up. I'm the
mother, you're the child. What I say goes, and that's that.' But what I've come to realize
is that children have ideas and opinions too and they need to express them."
Los Angeles, California
|
|
The Class Version of Effective Black Parenting
|
The complete Effective Black Parenting Program is designed to be taught as a class for small
groups of 15 to 30 parents. The class meets for 15 3-hour sessions on a weekly or bi-weekly
basis. The last session is a graduation ceremony where the parents receive certificates and
deliver brief speeches. The class is often taught in schools, churches, mosques, agencies,
community centers and even in private homes.
An instructor conducts the class, using a 333 page manual that contains fully-scripted
guidelines for teaching each session and each of the program's parenting skills, strategies
and special topics. The instructor demonstrates each skill and then has the parents practice
it in class before going home to use it with their children. The instructor also uses a
series of hightly attractive charts (instructional transparencies) to help parents learn
and recall key points.
The parents receive a Parent's Handbook that reinforces what the instructor teaches. The
Handbook includes the activities the parents are to engage in at home as they apply the
program's parenting skills. Parents report each week on their home use of skills and
receive helpful feedback from their instructor and classmates.
|
The Seminar Version of Effective Black Parenting
|
A brief version of the program for large groups of parents is also available.
The One-Day Seminar teaches a shortened version of several of the program's parenting strategies and skills.
Seminar leaders use a special Seminar Leader's Guide, along with the manual for the class version,
as they conduct this training event. They also show many of the charts from the class version.
Each parent receives a special Parent's Guide that outlines everything that is taught in the seminar.
Parents take this guide home with them to remind them how to use the strategies and skills they
learned in the seminar.
The Seminar Version is designed for anywhere from 50 to 500 parents, and can be taught at any
setting in the community that has a large meeting hall or auditorium. It has been used as an
introduction to the complete program and as a vehicle for recruiting parents into the complete
program. It has also been used as a gala, stand-alone educational event. Either type of use
provides the participating parents with a stimulating day of training, and with skills they
can use immediately.
|
|
report concerning the Effective Black Parenting Program
|
|
Extensive Program Description
|
A detailed description of the program's content, history and evaluation research studies
is also available on this Website. The detailed description is written for professionals,
agencies and school districts that are interested in writing grant proposals to generate
funds that will enable them to bring the Effective Black Parenting program to the families
they serve.
|
Go To Detailed Description of the Effective Black Parenting Program
|
It is also possible to obtain the complete Instructor's Kit for this program independent of
enrolling in an instructor training workshop. However, those who enroll in the workshop receive
the complete kit.
|
Obtain Instructors Kit
|
|
Enroll in Instructor Workshop
|
