Promoting Best Practices

Promoting Best Practices: A Very Brief Introduction

It has been many years since the original printing of “Promoting Best Practices for School-Based Parenting Education”, and how quickly the time has gone! Since that time, Cornell Cooperative Extension Orange County (CCE-OC) depleted their small supply of manuals developed for Home and Career Skills, Family and Consumer Science, and school-based Health educators, yet continued to receive requests for parenting education lessons and support as well as updates to the existing manual. To meet these requests, and try to remain abreast of the most current research and trends, CCE-OC has now reviewed, revised and updated the original manual, including several new lessons addressing additional relevant topics and experiential activities for classroom instruction.

Mary Tracy, formerly the Parenting Education Coordinator with CCE-OC, and now a Parenting Education Consultant, took the lead on this project. Ms. Tracy has used her knowledge as a Parenting Educator as well as her real life experience as a parent of two to add some new ideas and zest to the original manual. We believe you will be quite pleased with the outcome!
The original manual was designed to support the work of the classroom educator in meeting the NYS parenting requirement. Lessons that correspond with the defined Parenting Standards have been designed and field tested in the middle and high school classroom. Most of these lessons use an experiential model and combine several methods of instruction – mini-lecture, discussion, small group work, videos, return demonstration, etc. All of the lessons have been designed with the adolescent learner in mind. Students have told us that, through participation in the lessons, they have learned new information, changed some attitudes, and have discovered that while parenting can be joyful, it is a serious responsibility that is best when waited and planned for.

We want to thank the many individuals who had a hand in creating the original manual as well as helping with the newest revisions. A special thank you to the pioneers of this work – Marie Pulvirent, Roberta Drake-Wurster, Wanda Hall, Eileen Garvey, Stephanie Sosnowski, Tina Robie, and Carol Chichester, along with the funders for this project – Cornell Cooperative Extension, the NYS Office of Children and Family Services and the Orange County Youth Bureau. Also, thank you to Karan Vanderly, Nancy Karp and Jerry Reinhardt for the production of this manual, and Pat Claiborne and Jo Swanson for their leadership. Finally, thank you to our “mother hen”, Jennifer Birckmayer, for her guidance, constructive criticism, and belief in the work.

Mary E. Tracy, Parenting Educator – Consultant, Auburn, NY
Denyse A. Variano, Senior Resource Educator, Human Development, Cornell Cooperative Extension Orange County

A Brief Introduction

Graduation Requirement

1. Introduction to Parenting

Lesson 1: Parenting 101

Lesson 2: Jeopardy Game

2. Teen Pregnancy

Lesson 1: Exploring the Consequences I

Lesson 2: Exploring the Consequences II

Lesson 3: Talking With Teen Parents

Where Does all the Weight Go?

3. Financial Cost

Lesson 1: The Cost of Raising a Child