Leading A Study Group
Launching Your Study Group
Welcome to Hand in Hand’s family of people dedicated to putting connection at the center of parenting. We’re glad you are interested in building a safe learning environment for parents, and in exploring Parenting by Connection with other parents! We are confident that the guidelines set out below, together with your intelligence, good will, and common sense, will lay the framework for rewarding learning experiences for you and the parents you bring to your group.
This manual is a supplement to Hand in Hand’s booklet, Leading a Parent Resource Group, by Patty Wipfler. It will furnish the leader with a specific outline for leading a 6-week Study Group based on Parenting by Connection. The curriculum will present the four parent-to-child Listening Tools as well as parent-to-parent listening time. In order to prepare for leading a 6-week study group, the leader should read and be familiar with the information in the following booklets:
• Leading A Parent Resource Group
• Listening Partnerships for Parents
• Listening to Children 7 booklets: How Children’s Emotions Work, Special Time, Playlistening, Crying, Tantrums and Indignation, Healing Children’s Fears and Reaching for Your Angry Child
• Setting Limits With Young Children
If you would like to have our support and guidance as you lead your first Study Group, you can arrange for consultations by phone with an experienced Hand in Hand Instructor. Consultations are arranged in advance by contacting the Hand in Hand office or online. The fee is $70 for 30 minutes phone time, the usual duration of a Study Group phone consultation.
You will encourage parents in your group to try out the Listening Tools, one by one, at home within their family. Your group will function best if you require participants to purchase the Listening to Children packet, Setting Limits and Listening Partnerships for Parents, so the information you give is amplified by the reading they do. As they experiment, you will mentor them, and they will learn from one another, as well.
Materials needed for the class include:
• Name tags (made out in advance)
• Sign in sheet (gather addresses, phone #s and e-mails if not already done)
• Timer
• Tissues
• Hand in Hand booklets named above for the participants to purchase
Download the PDF of our week by week study guide below.
