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What is Getting Through The Day?
It is an 8 week “course” for parents, developed by
John Rogers with a group of parents in 1994 which
aims to:
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Give parents opportunities to meet other
parents, so they can support each other, and
make parenting less of a thing that parents do
all by themselves. Parenting is hard work, and
it can be important to get support at times.
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Look at how children grow and how we parents can
help our children in that growth.
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To be better able to enjoy our children, to
listen to them, and expand their world through
play.
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To build an “internal toolkit” –something we
have in our heads that we can use for managing
behaviour with less hassle.
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To help parents feel more confident in
themselves and as parents.
Parents are experts in their own children, so the
course aims to pool that expertise, so that parents
feel supported by parents. Each session lasts 2
hours. Worksheets are used each week for topics to
discuss and for sharing ideas, as well as exercises
and things to try out in the group. Generally
parents say at the end that it was good to find they
were not the only ones worried, and that they were
able to help each other.
It is designed to be fun, but also to provide a set
of ideas parents have found helpful over the years.
We have found parents enjoy the course but we
recently had someone do some research to see if it
was working, and it seems it does work in making
parents feel more confident in using the ideas in
the course, and in making them feel more confident.
Handouts are provided as reminders of the things we
have talked about each week. For some of the groups
we will try some of the play ideas in the last half
hour of the session with the children, which will be
filmed so that we can see for ourselves how the play
has gone.
The programme looks like this:
Week 1 Introductions
Week 2 Listening and
communication
Week 3 Encouragement
Week 4 Getting our children’s
co-operation
Week 5 Being firm and fair
Week 6 Things we
can do to help our child learn
Week 7 Movement
and music is a must
Week 8 What have
we learned?
Who is the course for?
Any parent, mother or father with a child under 5
years old. We sometimes run courses just for
mothers or just for fathers, but generally any
parent can come. There are other courses for
parents whose children are older—one for those with
children at Primary School, and another for parents
whose children are at Secondary School. We are
looking at how we might run the courses in the
evening for parents who can’t attend in the
daytime.
Is there a charge?
No, the courses are free. There are usually crèches
for small children staffed by qualified workers, and
we can provide transport if needed.
Where does the course run?
We run the courses all over West Lothian, depending
on the demand from parents. Some courses are run in
Community Centres, and Early Years Centres, while
others run in the two Family Centres.
What do I do to get on a course?
Contact
Sure Start or the West Lothian Council Children and
Young People Team and find out where the nearest
course is for you and when it runs. Parents seem to
learn best when they are in groups, but if you want
to read the handouts, they are on this website
(see Related Documentation section at the foot of
this page).
What
parents have said about Getting Through The Day For
Youngsters:
“It was a joy to be part of this group”.
“The people who run the group are really friendly
and I would like to continue the group”.
(The) “Benefits are amazing, brilliant and
priceless”
“I would love to be involved in running groups like
this. It made a difference to the way I live”.
(The course) “is very friendly and has helped me
100%”.
“I tell everyone I know this course is good to come
to”.
“I enjoy my child more”.
“My child is closer to me now (because I play more
with him)”.
“Spending more time together, baking, listening to
what my child is saying more”.
“I play with him a lot more, so he is better
behaved”.
“Me and the kids are good, now there is more love in
the family”.
Related Documentation:
Handout for "Getting Through The Day for Youngsters"
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