Parenting the Parent

Have you ever said, “I’ll never be like my parents,” only to discover that your parenting style reminds you of them?

Alternative parenting and teaching parents how to play with their preschoolers are part of the Parent Education class taught by the Alhambra School District Adult Education Department.

“People are not born good parents,” says instructor Pat Naritomi. “Good parenting is something that can be learned. People tend to do what their parents did. Today parents need to be taught how to have a positive learning experience with their kids.”

Naritomi and her aide, Mary Lou Melendez, also expose parents to strategies for helping their children deal with peer pressure and activities to promote school success.

“Parents learn how to teach kids how to get along with other friends on the rug, and later deal with real-life situations,” Naritomi says.

Book time, lap time and rug time all encourage physical contact and help develop positive interaction between parent and child.

Observation and recording exercises allow parents to see their kids in a more constructive way. The observation notes become “snapshots,” and after practice the parents produce a more finely tuned “portrait” of their child.