The 40 Assets, Parents Support Group

The Parents Support Group is designed to give parents the tools they need to be successful in their role as parents. The group workshops get parents involved in a group discussion process so they can encourage one another, recognize one another’s skills, and acquire new tools to provide parental support.

Participants in parent-child workshops at the toy library have expressed a definite need to acquire tools so they can better understand how to provide support to their children’s education. To satisfy this need, the Saint-Laurent Y centre developed a series of workshops as part of an effort to reinforce the family’s educational mission in supporting a child’s overall development. The workshops are based on the 40 Developmental Assets, factors that have been identified and defined so as to promote an approach to education that encourages a child’s overall development. The Assets are the forty building blocks youth need to become caring, involved adults.

The workshops are held over an eight-week period, and are designed to reinforce the parents’ mission in providing support to their children’s education, taking into account the concrete realities families face each day. They help participants grasp the key aspects of relationships between parents and children and develop an understanding of the 40 Assets they can put into practice in their family. In addition, there are opportunities for discussions among parents and sharing of experience so parents can learn from one another.

The clientele is mostly made up of immigrant mothers for whom language is a major challenge. The workshops give them an opportunity to overcome the problems they have expressing themselves and encourage them to put aside their hesitations and shyness about speaking in public. Respectful discussions among individuals from different cultures add colour to the workshops.

A daycare service is available during the workshops. For many mothers, this is the first experience of a daycare service and the first opportunity they have to devote time to their own needs.

For more information, please contact Oneyda Arias at the Saint-Laurent Y centre,
514 747-9801, ext. 237.