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Benefits of Parenting Education

Loving may be instinctual, but skills are developed. Even before becoming a parent and throughout your journey, you can continually learn skills and gain insights. These empower relationships, support growth and development and create family well-being, even during difficult transitions.

Along your journey, parenting education provides resources and guidance.

Parenting Has Many Components


        Nurturing Relationships

        Safe, stable and nurturing relationships are essential to children's healthy development throughout their life. 1  
        • Have you been able to establish and maintain that close relationship?
        • Have you been able to keep it strong as your child has grown?
        Most of us find at times along the way we need to pause and work on that relationship. Talking with others helps.


        Teaching

        Parents are their children’s first teacher. From birth onward, parents communicating with their children and offering interesting environments for them to explore builds the architecture of children’s brains.2,3

        • What do you teach your children?
        • Are there effective ways to show your children things?

        Parenting education gives parents tools to help children explore and understand their world.


        Providing Safety

        The parent role includes keeping children safe. 4,5,6

        • What are the many ways to keep children safe?
        • What does your child need to know to keep themselves safe?
        Parenting education helps parents identify potential sources of danger and methods for empowering children to be safe.


        Providing For a Child's Physical Needs

        Parents provide for their children’s physiological needs — including nutritious meals, good sleep habits, safe housing, suitable clothing, and opportunities for exercise.7,8  

        • How can you be assured that your child is getting a healthy diet?
        • How can you provide your child with the exercise they need given the circumstances of where you live, busy schedules, etc.?

        Talking with parenting educators and others often sparks ideas that support children’s well-being.

        Parenting education positively influences:

        • The health, safety, wellbeing, and economic success of children through adulthood [as well as of their parents]
        • Improves childhood and student outcomes
        • Reduces at-risk behaviors
        • Promotes students’ academic growth
        • Improves the environment of the family, supporting an optimal setting for family well-being.

        1. Knudsen, E., et. al. (2006). Economic, neurobiological, and behavioral perspectives on building America’s future work force. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, July 5, 2006 103 (27) 10155-10162. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0600888103.
        2. Pas, A. van der (2003). A Serious case of neglect: The Parental experience of child rearing: Outline for a psychological theory of parenting. Uitgevertj Eburon: Eburon Delft.p 133-135.
        3. Stevens, (2017) Neuroscientists at Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child. Early adult-child interactions  “determine whether a child’s developing brain architecture provides a strong or weak foundation for all future learning, behavior, and health.” 
        4. Hrdy, S.(1999). Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection. New York: Pantheon Books. p. 408 – 418.
        5. Pas, Op. cit.p. 120- 125.
        6. Pas, Ibid. p.126-130.
        7. Shonkoff and Philips, (2016). Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University From Best Practices to Breakthrough Impacts: A Science-Based Approach to Building a More Promising Future for Young Children and Families. http://www.developingchild.harvard.edu.  Parents are expected to provide for their children’s specific needs.
        8. Skenazy, L. (2009), Free Range Kids. New York: Wiley. As our way of life has become more sedentary, there is increasing recognition of our children’s need for exercise

        ©2024 National Parenting Education Network

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        NPEN'S EQUITY AND JUSTICE STATEMENT

        The National Parenting Education Network (NPEN) operates through the lens of equity and justice. We know the importance of social justice (racial, economic, educational, health, housing, employment, criminal, and environmental), diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging within the parenting education field and our organization. We demonstrate our commitment to these realities by ensuring that our membership and leadership roles are open to parenting professionals of all ethnicities, socio-economic statuses, ages, abilities, religions, sexual orientations, nationalities, genders, and marital statuses.  

        Children learn about a just society through the words and actions of their parents, caregivers, and others.  We assert that our anti-racism and anti-oppression parenting education and family advocacy work allows everyone to be heard and supported. Our work includes promoting diverse parenting educators and parenting education in our media, webinars, member communications, leadership opportunities, networking, conferences, trainings, and advocacy. By keeping racial justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging at the forefront, we create an environment within NPEN that supports parenting educators, parents, and caregivers, thereby, encouraging children’s healthy growth and development.


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