Parenting Programs

Our Parenting Educators provide several evidence-based, as well as research-based education programs to help you through the most challenging, and most rewarding, job you'll ever have - being a parent. Check out the individual programs to learn more about how each one may help you with your daily engagement as a parent.

• Nurturing Parenting - The Nurturing Parenting Programs are designed for families with children from birth to 18 years who may be at risk of abuse or neglect. These programs focus on enhancing positive parenting skills and nurturing behaviors, encouraging healthy physical and emotional growth, and educating parents on appropriate developmental expectations and roles. The lessons are flexible and can be delivered in home-based, group-based, or a blend of both settings to meet the unique needs of each family. 
• PS It Works: Parent, Child, Peer, Partner Communication Skills - A parenting class that focuses on positive communication teaches parents how to build strong, respectful, and nurturing relationships with their children through effective and encouraging dialogue. The class emphasizes understanding a child's perspective, using kind and clear language, setting boundaries with empathy, and fostering open, honest conversations that help children feel heard and valued. The goal is to equip parents with tools to connect with their children in a way that promotes cooperation, reduces conflicts, and supports healthy emotional development. 
• Strengthening Families - Help build your family's communication and relationship skills with us in this 11-week series. Every session begins with a sit-down family meal, enjoyed together. After that, youth ages 10-13 participate in sessions to strengthen their communication skills to improve parents, peers, and teacher relationships, problem- solving, peer resistance, anger management, and coping skills. At the same time caregivers meet to review appropriate developmental expectations, positive family communication including active listening and reducing criticism and sarcasm, family meetings to improve order and organization, and effective and consistent discipline. The second hour is a family session where parents and children practice what they learned in their individual sessions in experiential exercises. Group facilitators coach and encourage family members for improvements in parent/child interactions and send families home with resources to help them put their new skills into practice.
• Discipline is Not a Dirty Word - Join us for an hour of interactive learning focused on the basic principles of discipline for children ages 2-10. This workshop will help caregivers direct children to what they can do while making their children feel lovable and capable. Strategies include offering children appropriate choices, changing the environment not the behavior, and working with children, not against them. Each participant will receive a certificate upon completion of the workshop.
  

• Magic Years - The Magic Years curriculum is designed for families with children from birth through age four who are looking for research-based information to enhance their parenting skills. The six, two-hour lessons will to explain best practices in child development and parenting to caregivers. Participants will develop a deeper understanding of how their personal and parenting knowledge and behavior affect their children.

• Middle Years - The Middle Years curriculum is designed for families with children 5 to 10 years of age who are looking for research-based information to enhance their parenting skills. The six, two-hour lessons will improve communication between parents and their children in order to create a home environment in which children can thrive. The Middle Years classes will assist parents in developing a deeper understanding of positive child self-esteem development and effective communication.

• Parenting After Separation or Divorce - This three-hour program is designed to assist parents in helping their children adjust to parental separation or divorce. Topics discussed include identifying parent/child reaction to divorce; developing skills for helping children cope; post-separation parenting; co-parenting vs. parallel parenting; communicating effectively between households; and identifying and managing stress for parents and children. This class may meet court ordered parenting requirements.

• Tween & Teen Years - The Tween & Teen Years curriculum is designed for families with children 11 to 18 years of age who are looking for research-based information to enhance their parenting skills. The six, two-hour lessons will provide tools and information on tween and teen development, communication, and more.

• Community Based Parenting Workshops- are tailored to meet the specific needs of parents. For information on dates, times, and topics, please contact your local extension office.

• Parenting Financial Literacy Education class- Parenting financial literacy classes are offered twice a year. For dates and times, please contact your local extension office.

• New York State Parenting Education Partnership - In 2006, a team from public and private New York State agencies came together to consider how to increase families' ability to nurture positive development in their children, part of the newly created Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (ECCS) plan. They convened a statewide forum for parenting education providers to present the plan, and the New York State Parenting Education Partnership (NYSPEP) was launched. As of July 2023, CCE is the new lead on NYSPEP, working closely with NYSPEP workgroups and committees. NYSPEP continues its mission of promoting and improving parenting education, in order to enhance parenting skills, knowledge, and behavior with the vision of all children growing up in nurturing families. Learn more at www.nyspep.org. 

Interested in signing up for parenting classes? Fill out this form and a parenting educator will contact you!

Last updated February 13, 2025