Military Life Skills Education Programs - STEP

Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP)

• Early Childhood
  This seven-session class helps parents develop a positive and consistent approach for dealing with the special challenges of children under age six. Topics include understanding developmental sequences and accomplishments of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers; building effective discipline skills, developing skills for communicating effectively with young children, and much more.
   
• School-age
  This seven-session program offers participants a wealth of information and skills for parenting 5 to 12-year-olds. Learn ways to help your children become more responsible, respectful, and cooperative. Topics include communication, discipline, the goals of misbehavior, mutual respect, and family meetings.
   
• This seven-session workshop covers all of the STEP principles plus information on understanding why teens misbehave, peer pressure, excitement, and superiority. Topics include discouraging and encouraging atmospheres; rational and irrational parent responses to emotional scenes; listening and communicating respectfully; and experiencing consequences and exploring alternatives. Realistic video segments on teen experimentation with drugs, alcohol, and sex generate parent discussion of coping strategies explained in the text Parenting Teenagers.