Children of all ages need a safe, secure and loving environment to do well. Positive parenting is an effective approach to raising children that emphasises the positive. It involves creating a family environment that is loving, supportive and predictable. This is important in raising healthy, well-adjusted preschoolers who have the skills and confidence they need to succeed at school and in their relationships with others. Positive parenting reduces the stress of parenting and makes parenting more rewarding and enjoyable.

In the POWER OF POSITIVE PARENTING, parents will learn how to:

• Create a warm, loving, safe environment for your preschooler
• Use positive strategies to encourage your preschooler’s learning
• Use assertive discipline to help your preschoolers take responsibility for their actions
• Have reasonable expectations of both your preschooler and yourself
• Take care of yourself by looking after your own needs, balancing work and family responsibilities, challenging negative thinking, and working as a team

The values, skills and behaviours to encourage in preschoolers are the choice of every individual parent. However, some core skills are important for everyone. Preschoolers are more likely to be confident, succeed at school and get along with others when they develop certain life skills. These life skills include being respectful and considerate, communicating well with others, thinking positively and having healthy self-esteem, being a good problem solver, and becoming independent and able to do things for themselves.

In the RAISING CONFIDENT, COMPETENT PRESCHOOLERS, parents will learn how to:

• Encourage your preschooler to show respect to others
• Encourage your preschooler to be considerate of others’ needs
• Help your preschooler become a good communicator and develop their social skills
• Help your preschooler develop healthy self-esteem
• Teach your preschooler to become a good problem solver
• Promote independence by encouraging your preschooler to take responsibility and do things for themselves

One of the most important tasks of parenthood is helping children learn to deal with their emotions. All children experience periods of stress in their lives and need the emotional skills to deal with it. Preschoolers’ emotional resilience, or ability to cope with their feelings, is important to their long-term happiness, wellbeing and success in life. Emotional resilience involves six key skills: recognising and accepting feelings, expressing feelings appropriately, having a positive outlook, developing effective ways of coping, being able to deal with negative feelings, and being able to manage stressful life events.

In the RAISING RESILIENT PRESCHOOLERS, parents will learn how to:

• Coping with emotions is important for happiness, wellbeing and success in life
• Help your preschooler recognize, understand and accept feelings
• Encourage your preschooler to express feelings in appropriate ways
• Help your preschooler develop a positive outlook
• Teach your preschooler coping skills
• Help your preschooler learn to deal with negative feelings and cope with stressful life events