Filed under: Family Values
I found Family Value resources today. After I finished yesterday’s post, “Family Values, What are They?” I looked for what is available to help parents parent. Our political parties are speaking about family values but they aren’t saying anything helpful. What could be helpful? What could help parents teach children to become independent, self directed and willing to contribute to the larger community in which they live?
A friend, with a professional background in promoting healthy families, Dr. Laurie Barrett, Palo Alto, CA, offered some suggestions. Within moments, I was scrolling through a wealth of resources designed to help parents parent well.
First, go to www.CYFERnet.org. This stands for Children Youth and Families Education and Research Network. Its tagline accurate describes what you will find, “Practical Research Based Information from the Nation’s Leading Universities.” These are easy to read, research based, usable guidelines, workable suggestions for raising children to become satisfied, self sufficient adults who want to be part of the community. Information is provided by age group, development stage, issue, in materials for use by individuals, groups, professionals. This site is funded by the US Department of Health and Human Services, and provides materials developed from research being done at universities throughout the country. Yes! Your tax dollars at work, providing exactly the information and guidance parents can use to be a family that succeeds.
When you have finished there, go to www.brightfutures.org. This site is provided by Georgetown University and was created through the collaboration of thousands of health care professionals committed to helping children and families achieve good health and education. Here are the resources that will help parents understand their child’s development, know what to expect and when to ask for help. Georgetown University is a private university. This work is done through generous gifts from people and organizations who believe in this important work.
This is my new approach. When I hear political organizations speaking about threats to our nation’s family values, I’ll suggest they spend their time promoting resources like these. These materials can help a family create value and protect their greatest resource, themselves.
