p a r e n t i n g
FREE Parenting Classes Offered by
the Parenting Project By Miriam Avila
Parenting is the art of guiding a child and
caring for their best interest, a challenging
role that many could use help with. Luckily
there’s a free program in our community that
teaches parenting skills all throughout the
valley, the Parenting Project.
The Department of Family Services offers
many programs in the Vegas valley, but the
Parenting Project is one of the few programs
that offer age-specific classes focused on
issues that occur during a child’s age.
Sarah Beers, Management Analyst of the
Parenting Project said the program’s goal is
to increase a parent’s knowledge and skill in
raising their child. They aim to give parents
the tools to prevent child abuse, neglect and
alcohol and drug abuse in their youth.
“If we can help one parent improve the life
of a child, I think we’re doing a really good
thing,” said Beers.
Along with the facilitators at the Parenting
Project, Beers enjoys impacting people’s
lives and thinks anyone can learn from the
program. She takes pride in offering a free
program that offers English and Spanish
courses, various locations all throughout the
city, at different times and on different days of
the week. All of the five classes offered
through the Parenting Project are easy to
access.
Baby Care is a class designed for expecting
parents up to children of six months. It is a
five-week program that teaches parents about
nutrition, early development, infant safety,
health, behavior guidance and various other
topics.
Nurturing Parents and Families is designed
for parents of children ages 6 months to 5
years old. This class promotes positive,
healthy and nurturing interactions with
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infants and teaches how to establish routines
and handle anger amongst various other meth-
ods.
ABC’s of Parenting is a class that focuses
on communicating effectively with children,
using positive discipline techniques, encour-
aging better behavior and teaching responsi-
bility. It is designed for parents of children
ages 5 to 10 years old.
The only class where youth 11 to 17-years
old can attend is ParenTeen Solutions. This
class is an interactive one, designed to pro-
mote communication, trust, and a supportive
family environment.
Lastly, a class offered for families facing
unique challenges, Blended Families. Parents
are offered practical techniques to help them
build a nurturing stepfamily.
Darnita Dew, a student of Blended Families
admits she was skeptical at first when regis-
tering for the class, but now recommends it to
others. “The class is very interesting. By the
end of the class period you’ve gotten
acquainted with everyone in there and learned
that certain things mentioned in class are
things you’re not alone in,” she said.
Dew enjoyed the easy and applicable steps
she learned in class, it has benefited her step-
family in ways she didn’t think were possi-
ble.
Jan Bialecki has been a facilitator for the
Parenting Project 19 years and teaches vari-
ous classes. She says a lot of parents come in
expecting they will be told that they’re bad
parents, but when they come in they realize
its just the opposite. They are put in a com-
fortable environment where they are encour-
aged to participate and learn from each other
as well.
“One of the greatest strengths of these
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classes is once you get people to relax a little
bit, they start to share stories, and they find a
lot of commonalities,” she said.
Bialecki believes that parents are reassured
that the issues they face are common and they
aren’t alone in facing them. They begin to
relax throughout the weeks of the class and
realize that it’s a non-threatening environ-
ment.
“When they relax they start to take in the
information and go home and try things with
their children, and its very empowering and
so they want to do more,” said Bialecki.
She believes the classes are very beneficial
to parents and enjoys hearing that parents
learned a lot and have put into effect their les-
sons.
“I don’t have one glaring success story, but
I do have 19 years of feeling that I have made
a difference, and that’s success to me,” said
Bialecki.
Raquel Garay is an expecting mother and
believes the Baby Care classes she attended
really helped her prepare for the future of her
child.
“The program is great for first time par-
ents, they teach you, prepare you and tell you
what to expect,” said Garay. She enjoyed the
organization of the class and would recom-
mend it to any parent.
“You don’t have to have problems as a par-
ent to take a parenting class, it can just be a
wonderful thing to do just to get some good
information and spend some time with par-
ents who have similar interests,” said
Bialecki.
The Parenting Project is located on 3900 Cambridge St.
on Maryland Pkwy. and Flamingo. Class descriptions are
posted online at accessclarkcounty.com through the
Family Services and Parenting Project links. Anyone
interested in attending classes should call (702) 455-5295.