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How can you ‘water your child’s brain’?

Learn more about a parent education program called Water Your Child’s Brain at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and the program plans to expand!

One of the best resources I've found for information on raising healthy, happy kids is other parents. Not only have they "been there, done that," they offer a different perspective and give me insight as to where I'm heading. This was never more apparent for me than when we conducted a parent education program called Water Your Child's Brain at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

In the same way a flower must be watered to grow, a child's brain must be nurtured so it can bloom. To that end, we wanted to create a community environment in which parents could have access to, and develop an understanding of, information gleaned from years of research on children and parenting.  We wanted to share this information to help families, but in the end, we learned just as much from the parents and kids as they learned from us! Mainly, how hard being a parent is no matter what your situation.

Each session of the program focused on promoting healthy brain development such as, building kids' living skills using positive reinforcement and behavior management techniques; building their bodies with good nutrition, sleep, and exercise; and building their personalities with healthy social and emotional skills. The parents and caregivers were also able to engage in a discussion about sexual health and learned how to communicate with their pediatricians.

While we were there to share information with the families, we ended up learning so much regarding common issues with our kids, how to better help parents understand and interpret parenting research, and just how hard being a parent is no matter what your situation. We were a diverse group sharing a common goal, a group that wanted to learn and grow together.

When the program ended, the kids and families didn't want to leave and we certainly didn't want to see them go! Because of the connections we made and the positive feedback from families in this small pilot program, we plan to expand. It's time that learning like this happened not just in schools, but in our homes and neighborhoods.

Here are some of the additional parenting tips we learned together:

Reward systems need buy-in from your children in order for them to work. It's easy to think that you can put a few behaviors on a chart and add stickers, but in practice, it can get complicated. The best way to simplify this process is to ask your kids! You'll get a better idea of what rewards to offer them. Not only that, but when they feel a part of the decision-making process, the systems work better!

Nutrition can be a fun family experiment. Look for variety in your foods to make them fun (Did you know watermelons come in two different colors?). Kids love to touch, taste, and create dishes with new fruits and vegetables, and when they're engaged in cooking, they become more interested in healthy eating.

Emotions are hard and kids need help. When kids know how to control their emotions, they grow into healthy, happy adults. This skill is as important, if not more important, than academics. Talk to your kids about your own experiences with emotions. Ask what they do when they get angry, and help them make a plan to address it in a healthy way. You can even start the discussion with videos like this one for younger children.

Help each other. Show your kids that you are working on being a better person, just like they are. Start by discussing your own concerns and fears, and how you cope with them, so that they can learn from your example.

As the saying goes, "it takes a village to raise children." Our program strives to expand and enhance this village. We learned that when people and families form relationships, there's mutual learning, respect, and growth. Just like Philadelphia's new community school initiative, which shows the need for institutions to engage and partner with their local communities, the hope is that others see the need for this community and engage in the process. I can tell you from experience, it's worth it!

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