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Family Network

Tips and Ideas

The Family Network meetings should be in a setting where parents are relaxed and comfortable. With larger groups, nametags may be helpful. Your leadership group can decide what should be included in the program but here is a suggested program.

  • Have fruit juice, hot drinks, crackers and dip, or a healthy sweet (such as sliced fruit) available as parents enter.

  • Begin with prayer and a short devotional. (Discuss Deuteronomy 6:4-6 and how the Family Network can be helpful to  parents and guardians in following these instructions.)

  • Take time for an icebreaker to help parents know and feel more comfortable with each other

           a. Ask parents to find someone in the group they do not know well.
           b. Interview this person to learn about one reason why they are proud of their family.
           c. Allow time for individuals to share with their group what they discovered.

  • Parenting presentation (see the next page for ideas).

  • Announce the next meeting time and topic.

  • Close with prayer.

 

Ideas for Active Meeting

Here are a few activities which may be used instead of, or in addition to, a lecture.

  1. Invite a panel of experts (older parents who can share their parenting stories or experts in parenting fields) to discuss the topic. Begin with some questions that will launch a general discussion of the topic. Then allow parents and guardians to ask specific questions. (These may be written beforehand or asked spontaneously.)

  2. Have a book study group. Choose a good book on the topic and assign 1-3 chapters to be read for each meeting. At the meeting, discuss what you have read and how it applies to the families.

  3. Show a video and discuss it.

  4. If you use a lecture format, provide illustrations (use PowerPoint, pictures, or objects), handouts, examples, etc. Try modeling or demonstrating the suggestions you present.

  5. For parents who are comfortable with each other and discussion-oriented, try a support group format. This is less structured and focuses on sharing thoughts, feelings, and experiences. It may focus on a particular topic and use some of the follow-up activities suggested on the next page.

  6. If you cannot find a knowledgeable individual to speak on a specified topic, you may choose to do it yourself. In this situation, read all you can find on the subject, then share what you have learned and tell how it worked for you. Finally, do a follow-up activity together.

  7. Go together to a special parent event offered in the community.

 

Program Ideas

  • Immunization

  • Play is for Real: Encouraging Healthy Play

  • Healthy Lunches

  • Bullying

  • Guiding Entertainment Choices

  • Family Finance

  • Social Media and Kids

  • Teaching Kids About Sexuality

  • Positive Parenting

  • Time Management

  • Respect is for Everyone

  • Leading Your Child to Christ

  • Raising Kids Who Really Care

  • Teaching Kids About Prayer

  • Making Christian Standards Make Sense

  • Physical Development: Growing Healthy Kids

  • How Children Differ: Temperament and Personality

  • Setting Realistic Expectations

  • Discipline as Disciplining

  • Single Parenting

  • Safety Issues in Today’s World

  • Peer Pressure

  • How Your Family of Origin Can Affect Your Family Today

  • Enhancing Sibling Relationships

  • Growing a Support Network

  • Strengthening Family Communication

  • Exploring Nature: God’s Second Book

  • Helping Kids Deal with Prejudice

  • Teaching Kids How to Use the Bible

  • Positive Sabbath Keeping

  • Social Development: Helping Your Child be a Friend

  • Teaching Kids About Money

  • Constructive Discipline: Encouraging Positive Behavior

  • How to Thrive as a Non-Traditional Family

  • Raising Drug-Proof Kids

  • Creative Conflict Resolution

  • Styles of Parenting

  • Latchkey Kids and Other Child Care Issues

  • Keeping Marriage Fresh

  • Family Meetings: A Way of Solving Problems and Making Plans

  • Directing Your Child’s Spiritual Growth

  • Fostering a Mission Spirit

  • Creative Family Worships

  • Teaching About Work and Responsibility

  • Preparing Kids for Adulthood in the 21st Century

  • Dealing Positively with Negative Behavior

  • Nurturing Children with Disabilities

  • What You Need to Know About Child Abuse

  • Stress and the Family

  • Family Bonding: Growing Warm Relationships

  • Changing Family Roles

  • Taking Care of You

  • Encouraging Statements: Words that Make a Difference

  • Passing on Christian Values

  • Teaching Christian Courtesy

  • Growing a Spiritual Life: Involving Kids in Private Devotions

  • Teaching Kids to be Faithful Stewards

  • Intellectual Development: Learning In and Beyond School

  • Nurturing Creativity

  • Steps to Independence

  • Toys and Things for Kids

  • Anger Management for Parents and Kids

  • Dealing with Grief

  • Technology and Kids

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