The Parent Readiness Activities are a flexible set of resources that could be used in any parenting, child development or family living type of class. Last year when I taught this, I was able to set it up as stations for my students to work through in small groups. This year, due to social distancing, I had to rework it so that students could complete it individually whether in the traditional classroom or in the hybrid, virtual classroom. So, read on to see what’s included in the Parent Readiness Activities!

Set

• Personally, I use this in my Individual & Family Studies course when we talk about the family life cyle stages.
• After couples marry, they often try to figure out when the right time and reasons are to begin having children so this is a good topic of discussion.
• If you were to use this in a child development or parenting class, you might want to begin with a digital version of the What Children Need Silhouette project before diving into the readiness of parenthood.

Activities

• In the first activity, students learn of right and wrong reasons for having children. These are discussed so students understand more of what each reason means.
• Following the discussion, students are randomly assigned two scenarios out of nine to analyze and determine parent readiness based on the class discussion. Students respond to the scenario using the provided template.
• In the second activity, students brainstorm qualities that make a great parent. Students fill in the alpha-boxes with adjectives and as qualities are shared and discussed, students can add to their lists. Its fun to see how creative students get with their words!
• For the third activity, students define the tasks of parenting categories which include physical care, nurture and guidance. Once defined, students look at a grid of examples highlighting each task with a specific color that corresponds to each of the three categories. These can be discussed to be sure students understand the differences.
• The fourth activity explores the changes that parenthood brings in the following categories: physical, social, emotional and financial. In this activity, students identify the category(ies) of change each example represents. These are interesting to discuss because some categories have more than one change associated with it.
• As a culminating project, students write an ABC poem summarizing all of the important parent readiness factors that should be considered when deciding to have a baby. Students must incorporate the following topics throughout their poem, in no particular order: good and poor reasons to have a baby, changes that parenthood brings, the tasks/responsibilities associated with parenting and qualities that make a good parent.
• Students are shown an example of an ABC poem (see below). I point out the details that are included throughout it. I suggest students write their poem from the perspective of a couple who is contemplating parenthood OR from the perspective of first time parents who have experienced all of these things and willing to give others advice!

Attachments

• Parent Readiness Activities (please make a copy)