Raising Children Together
Parenting ApproachesResponding to the needs of children and young people
Raising Children Together Key Areas
Key Messages
Raising Children Together acknowledges child development is a combination of the influential people and environments our children experience. I’m specifically saying ‘Parenting’ to encapsulate all influential adults such as biological parents, adoptive parents, foster carers, school colleagues, early help colleagues, social care colleagues and community sector colleagues. Many interactions with children and young people have a ‘parenting’ responsibility which I look forward to you perusing this website to find out more.
At the moment, How I Smashed a Plate is a school resource. It is an interactive, therapeutic story to be used on the smartboard or electronic devices. The eBook comes with a PSHE scheme of work for year 3 and year 4. Each lesson plan has suggested adaptations to meet the needs of students. If your school uses How I Smashed a Plate, you can work together to consistently practice what your child is learning about themselves.
I grew up on a council estate in a great community. My childhood friends are still my best friends and I am proud of our achievements. I started my career managing a free youth theatre charity for children and young people in deprived areas. I learned so much and as I look back I could have been even better if I knew what I know now! 22 years The combination of 22 years of experience working in different children’s services, I developed my first interactive eBook called How I Smashed a Plate. I’m still very motivated to learn even more for children and young people (even my own 😁)
Benefits of Using Evidence-Base Research to Parenting Approaches
From conception to the present day, every human is shaped by their experiences. Parenting is not a silo act of responses. Parenting is a combination of past experiences that shape values and automatic responses with the present shenanigans, such as moment decision-making, daily responsibilities, and life circumstances. Using evidence-based research has allowed me, the author, to write the last two sentences acknowledging multiple factors to parenting approaches.
Income, responding to stress, and one’s values will help or hinder parenting approaches. The great news is nothing is static. Research continues to occur, and parenting approaches can adapt to support children and young people. After working with children and young people for 13 years, I know every child is unique and requires different responses (many times I got wrong). Using evidence-based research helps to explore the root cause of the behaviours we see in children and young people. It allows adults to reflect and assess what approach will support the child’s needs thus reducing stress (challenging) behaviours. This is not to say all children and young people will have positive mental health ALL the time, it means parenting approaches will adapt when a child or young person requires support to continue engaging in family life and education.
Message from the author
“I am a mum of 2 children. Every day, I feel grateful to have them in my life and I’m exhausted. Working full-time, having my own needs and dreams, and trying to parent differently from how I was parented can be overwhelming at times. I’m fortunate to have a job where I get to learn about evidence-based research on how to respond to behaviour. This has helped me shape my parenting approach. It’s been difficult because it is not how I’ve been parented and so I have to remember that I’m attempting to parent whilst changing my own neural pathways (changing my responses to stress) and behaviours. Raising Children Together is to shine a light on the many choices adults can make.”
Research Made Easy