Parents Are Experts
“Parents Are Experts” is a tried and tested series of activities, discussions and information that provides the necessary challenge to change the perception of parents. These sessions ensure parents accept and believe that they are central to the success of their children.
Helping parents to access recent research by providing information that is easy to understand is imperative. It’s not what information we provide, but how it is presented, dissected and interpreted that matters.
Affirmation and scaffolding by people that value parents and children as individuals is the best way to make a positive impact on their resilience and self-efficacy.
“Parents Are Experts” is not a parenting course but a course in self- awareness that shifts the perception of the parent, raising confidence and promoting acceptance and tolerance. This impacts directly on the future of the parent and child.
The experiences in early childhood, from conception to five years of age are fundamental in forming the architecture of the brain. The first 1001 days are pivotal. Forming strong attachments helps shape attitudes to learning and positively impacts their belief in their own competency.
The concepts and activities shared during “Parents Are Experts” include Perception, Enneagram, Mindset, The Signals of Deep Level Learning, Schemas, and Adult Strategies. The reflective approach utilised helps these concepts resonate on an individual level and are therefore a catalyst for change.
The focus during “Parents Are Experts” is on the positive model of being a parent, of parents being enough, rather than on a deficit model or approach which is used in many traditional “parenting courses”. Throughout “Parents Are Experts” the concept of “attachment” is strengthened, and peer support networks tend to form organically. The quote below demonstrates how “Parents Are Experts” can impact on the lived experience of women with Post Natal Depression.
“Because I had a history of depression, when I was given information with the rest of the group on post-natal depression at the ante natal classes, it was like… this is what it will be like to have PND, not how I could prevent it occurring in the first place or any coping strategies. Having completed Parents Are Experts I think that although it may not have fully prevented the PND it would have given me the coping strategies that I was missing and the confidence to know that what I was doing as a parent was the best I could do”. Louisa – parent, and “Parents Are Experts” participant, 2021.
Presenting the idea that through play, exploration and acceptance children and their parents gain a growth mindset that will impact on their self-esteem and self-efficacy for years to comein central to “Parents Are Experts”. The “Power of Yet” is the idea that facilitating time, space and patience to allow for mastery will help children to develop at their own pace and that “being present” and allowing time will help to form a strong attachment. The books, that were written at the request of participants, “Little Schema Series” have proved invaluable. Helping to challenge the perception of parents that children need to be “taught” they begin to accept and believe that their children are strong, capable, and intelligent. This is reiterated throughout “Parents Are Experts” and parents start to look at themselves in a different positive light too. Nurturing a love of learning is central. The transformational approach utilised guarantees a positive impact and is seen as successful by parents of both genders in the extensive evaluation undertaken.
The tacit knowledge parents hold about their children and themselves is far superior to that of the specialised professional, as parents focus on a holistic and rounded approach when given the tools of reflection. Working together in a respectful manner can be transformational. It benefits the child, the parent and wider society.
“Parents Are Experts” provides confirmation and reassurance that parents and children are seen, heard, and valued and that Parents Are indeed the Experts with regard to themselves and the lives of their children.