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As a parent, do you ever feel pulled in several directions, with no idea where to go first? Do you struggle to find the best ways of meeting your children’s needs, with little help? Do you want your family to be happy, but you feel like there’s no time just to enjoy being together?
If you said yes to any of those questions, you’re not alone. You’re also exactly the kind of parent who could benefit from Be Strong International’s parenting program, Raising the B.A.R. (Budding Adult-Child Relationship).
Raising the B.A.R. is a free workshop program that teaches caregivers evidence-based strategies for raising happy, healthy children. The program is one way we pursue our mission to provide educational services and resources to parents, caregivers and families. It helps us to help families develop and sustain healthy relationships.
Parenting has never been easy, but today it’s more challenging than ever. Teens and even children face pressures about drugs, alcohol and sex. Many parents struggle with financial problems and may have to work several jobs just to make ends meet. These problems threaten families from all social backgrounds, at all education levels and no matter how rich or poor they are. Even families who are pretty happy can drift apart. There are so many things competing for your time: school, sports, extracurricular activities. Many teens also have part-time and even full-time jobs.
For the single-parent family, it’s even tougher.
More and more families know how tough single-parenting is. The U.S. has the world’s highest share of children living in single-parent families, according to the Pew Research Center. The rate has more than doubled since 1968, rising from 13% to 32%. For those families, “life can be quite stressful,” warns the American Psychological Association (APA), noting several sources of stress:
For families experiencing some or more of those stress factors, the APA recommends “talking with each other about their feelings and working together to tackle problems. Support from friends, other family members and places of worship can help too.”
That’s exactly what Raising the B.A.R. is all about.
First, let’s get clear on what Raising the B.A.R. is not. It’s not a how-to class that gives everybody the same one-size-fits-all set of rules for parenting. Every family is different – as different as the people in each family are from each other. What works for one family may not work for another. We believe families must find what works for them, based on their own unique values and their view of the world.
Raising the B.A.R. helps you find what works, by offering strategies you can use to strengthen your family. The curriculum is based on solid research that’s relevant to all families.
Parents can choose from different workshops. They can attend all workshops or just the ones they need, in any order:
The workshops are offered through The Children’s Trust, which partners with the community to support programs that improve the lives of children and families. They’re available to all primary caregivers with children from birth to 18 years old who live in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
All sessions are conducted both in-person and online conferencing. Hours are flexible, with afternoon, evening and weekend sessions.
Each session lasts between 60-90 minutes and welcomes native speakers of English, Spanish and Creole.
For the in-person sessions, participants get free care for children ages 3-12, who can enjoy a snack while their caregivers are in the session. Each family gets an entry in a raffle drawing after completing a short post-workshop survey.
If you need more intensive parenting support than Be Strong can offer in these stand-alone workshops, we can connect you to other organizations that can meet your unique needs.
Parenting workshops are organized by age group and cover the topics that families often struggle with: discipline, self-esteem, social media safety, family involvement and more.
Teens are the focus of Ready to Talk, which helps families find ways to communicate effectively about risky behaviors. Each 60-minute session analyzes attitudes, perceptions, practices and the decision-making processes of parents and teens about sexual activity and more. It’s designed to reinforce the importance of discussions about healthy relationships; recognize and overcome communication barriers; and provide opportunities to practice having tough conversations.
Ready to Talk tackles some heavy issues, like risky sexual behaviors, childhood trauma and child sex trafficking. But leaders manage to keep things light, to keep everyone comfortable. That’s the first step in effective communication: feeling comfortable with each other.
Looking to raise the bar on your parenting skills? Click here to register.
Be Strong offers private sessions for organizations and groups. Our parent coaches will help you with
tips and techniques to improve your communication and other skills needed for successful parenting. In
addition to regular classes for the public, we offer private sessions for groups and organizations in
which we can accommodate your schedule. This flexibility makes it perfect for any group — from small
organizations to corporate settings.
The sessions are free but availability is limited. Simply fill out the registration form and we’ll reach out
to schedule your class!
Be Strong’s Parent Department is funded from a variety of sources, which allows us to serve parents throughout Miami-Dade and Broward counties. They include:
The Children’s Trust
A dedicated source of revenue derived from property taxes, the Children’s Trust partners with the community to plan, advocate for and fund strategic investments that improve the lives of all children and families in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
The Ocean Reef Community Foundation
The Foundation supports charitable efforts throughout the Ocean Reef Club and surrounding areas. Projects include the Community Grants Fund, which awards grants to local organizations supporting education, youth and families, arts, culture and the environment.
Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE)
Part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, SRAE funds programs that teach participants how to voluntarily refrain from non-marital sexual activity. SRAE programs also help young people in areas like goal setting, developing healthy relationships, avoiding dating violence and resisting underage drinking and illicit drug use.
For information on how you can help make a difference for our children and families, please contact our main office: (305) 969-7829 and ask to speak to our Program Director, Darryl Auberry.
Many parents have stated they do not want to make the same mistakes their parents made when they grew up. They want to be the best parent they could be. They want to take their skills to the next level and getting all the knowledge from programs like this helps them. These workshops will also teach them techniques to reduce their stress as they raise their children.
One of the biggest issues parents are dealing with is dealing with the changes brought forth by COVID-19 – working from home, some are losing their jobs and their children are home schooling. What parents most need are the skills needed to speak to their children about sensitive issues like sex and how to deal with their emotions. For example: how to deal with anger, sadness and hurt.
No. It’s all about time, time, time. Parents always talk about time. They are so busy today working to provide for their family while their children are connected to Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter and Snapchat. This creates a barrier to communication between parent and child because the children don’t practice their social skills. Both parties don’t interact as often and as a result they don’t know each other. The only interaction they have is when something bad happens. As a result, the children link interacting with parents with discipline only. The children become defensive or they pull away from their parents and this is when the parents look for help to bridge the gap.
The workshops equip parents with the skills to strengthen their families. Parents have testified they have applied the teachings and they have worked for them.
There was a father who attended a workshop complaining about telling his son to clean up his room over and over. The son would reply, “I’m going to do it.” The father learned from the workshop to set a time when to ask his son his request. The father returned to another workshop and testified setting a time did work for him.
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Sign up to receive updates on events, workshops and other services! You’ll receive great tips and how-to’s on relationships of all kinds, advance notice on our special luncheons and other information that you don’t want to miss!
