The Sooke Family Resource Society will be holding a six-week program for parents of “tweens” starting on April 26.
Teresa Norquay, Family Resource program co-ordinator, said the My Tween and Me program will be catered to parents of children aged between 7-12 -- the transition period from childhood to teenage years.
Some of the topics covered include: healthy development, developing good family relationships, developing good peer relationships, looking at media and children, and building a sense of community.
“There’s a lot of focus on the concept of reducing risk factors in a child’s life by creating good attachment relationships with the tweens,” Norquay said.
Good attachment is defined as the connection between parent and child, where a child feels comfortable talking to their parent without fear of being punished.
The program, which is in its third year, will operate as a small discussion group, where parents will be able to share their own experiences with “tween” parenting.
“The other part of the program is that parents will be learning from each other as well, so strategies for parenting from each other.”
She said the “tween” period is a phase where children are developing their own identities, while retaining the need for engaged parenting.
“Quite often these kids, because they are striving to develop their sense of self, it may appear they don’t want closeness, but research shows... that the kids that do well in life were more connected to their parents at that age.”
Interested participants can register at 250-642-5152.