The Los Niños Bien Educados Program is built around the value of raising children to
be "bien educados," i.e., well-behaved in a social and personal sense, as well as
educated in an academic sense. It explores parental definitions of what constitutes
"bien educados" and looks at how these definitions get expressed in traditional family,
gender role and age expectations of children. From this cultural framework, it teaches
parents a wide variety of strategies and skills for promoting and maintaining those c
hild behaviors that they define as constituting "bien educados" and for reducing those
that they see as reflecting "mal educados."
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Developed especially for Spanish-speaking and Latino-origin parents, this parenting
skill building program is respectful of the unique traditions and customs of Latino
families and is sensitive to the variety of adjustments that are made as Latino families
acculturate to life in the United States.
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Los Niños Bien Educados is based on child rearing research with Latino families, the
recommendations of Latino educators and mental health authorities, and adaptations
of parenting skills that have been found to be helpful for parents of all ethnic
and social class backgrounds.
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Parents are oriented to consider the potential causes of "mal educados." This includes
teaching basic child development information to assist parents in arriving at age-appropriate
expectations. Information about child abuse and child abuse laws helps broaden understandings
of what is considered proper and improper parental behavior in the United States.
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All skills are taught with an awareness of the potential cultural conflicts that might emerge
from their use and with sensitivity to the life circumstances of low income Latino families.
They are taught with the use of "dichos," or Spanish sayings, to help nest them in a culturally
and linguistically familiar context. Amusing drawings of family life also enliven the teaching
of skills and concepts, and all sessions end with a "platica" where parents take leadership
roles in solving common problems.
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The program is designed to be taught in Spanish or English and consists of 12 three-hour
training sessions. Its initial field testing in the 1980's was with newly immigrated Latino
families and it was highly successful. Los Niños Bien Educados is now being used nationwide
with a variety of Latino-Americans. It has become the centerpiece of parent involvement
programs in numerous school districts, as well as serving as part of drop-out prevention
projects. It is also being used by a variety of communities as part of their efforts to
combat child abuse, drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, gangs and crime.
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Extensive Program Description
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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 Los Niños Bien Educados program to the families
they serve.
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Go To Detailed Description of the Los Niños Bien Educados Program
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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.
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Obtain Instructors Kit
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Enroll in Instructor Workshop
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