Teen Parent Program: Finding Balance

The Finding Balance Program provides new and expecting parents with positive tools for enhancing their children's physical, emotional and cognitive experience, while giving caregivers an opportunity to share with each other strategies for parenting success.

Using lively discussion and a relaxed, informal tone, the group discussion in Finding Balance opens the door for an exploration of the needs of our babies, toddlers and preschoolers at different phases of their physical, emotional and social growth.

Driven by student participation, the Finding Balance workshop covers the following topics:

• -The emotional, social, physical and cognitive needs of babies, toddlers and preschoolers; how they are "hard-wired" to learn;
• -Movement as a learning tool, and how movement patterning in early life can enhance the natural learning process;
• -Seeking support for parenting a baby, toddler or preschooler: Finding respite, friendship and community;

Students participate in a two-hour discussion, led by the Finding Balance instructor, in which they brainstorm about the role that they play as parents in their children's development; how movement is a key component of natural learning and play and what their goals are as parents to encourage their babies, toddlers and preschoolers to reach their potential.

Subsequent Finding Balance meetings involve Developmental Movement classes with their children, where academic ideas are reinforced through play and nurturance of their own Little Ones. Teens and their Little Ones 'light up' as they sway, swing, skip and play. In this safe environment, teen parents can let down a little bit their inhibitions, and experience one of the great joys that comes from caring for a young one: play.