Parent Education: It’s About the Parent – the Kids Are Fine Bonnie Harris, Director of Connective Parenting
Kids are fine when they are unconditionally accepted—no matter who they are or what conditions they are born with. Our job is to help parents find that acceptance and balance their own needs as well. Not only do parents have their own childhood filters that interfere; they worry about getting it right and getting their kids to be who they think they should be. And then there’s understanding children’s differences—from each other, from their parents, and from the neighbor’s kids. Acceptance means allowing and nurturing each child’s unique needs even the ones who continuously push every button. This talk will examine two temperamental styles of children that can transform the families you work with—the Integrity child and the Harmony child.
Bonnie Harris, MS Ed. is the director of Connective Parenting and has been a parenting specialist for over thirty years. Parent educator, professional trainer, family counselor, author, and international speaker, Harris is known for her support of the parent’s role in establishing strong personal boundaries, responsibility, and balance in the parent-child relationship, so connection is easy. In 1990, she founded The Parent Guidance Center in New Hampshire. Based on her book, When Your Kids Push Your Buttons and What You Can Do About It, published in seven countries, Bonnie has taught Buttons parent workshops and professional trainings internationally. Her second book, Confident Parents, Remarkable Kids: 8 Principles for Raising Kids You’ll Love to Live With, distills her work into 8 key principles and practical strategies. Her 3rd endeavor is an ebook presently titled, Easy Kids, Tough Kids: Learn Who They are and What They Need. She was the host of the podcast, Tell Me About Your Kids, where listeners are a fly on the wall in her parenting sessions with real parents struggling with real issues.
The National Parenting Education Network (NPEN) operates through the lens of equity and justice. We know the importance of social justice (racial, economic, educational, health, housing, employment, criminal, and environmental), diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging within the parenting education field and our organization. We demonstrate our commitment to these realities by ensuring that our membership and leadership roles are open to parenting professionals of all ethnicities, socio-economic statuses, ages, abilities, religions, sexual orientations, nationalities, genders, and marital statuses.
Children learn about a just society through the words and actions of their parents, caregivers, and others. We assert that our anti-racism and anti-oppression parenting education and family advocacy work allows everyone to be heard and supported. Our work includes promoting diverse parenting educators and parenting education in our media, webinars, member communications, leadership opportunities, networking, conferences, trainings, and advocacy. By keeping racial justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging at the forefront, we create an environment within NPEN that supports parenting educators, parents, and caregivers, thereby, encouraging children’s healthy growth and development.
