Parenting Skills

1. What are the differences between being a biological parent, an adoptive parent, and a foster parent?
Answer: A biological parent raises the child they created using their own DNA. An adoptive parent raises a child they purchased through a private agency or adopted from foster care that they didn't/couldn't create using their own DNA. A foster parent many foster parents just foster kids for supplemental income and don't plan on adopting. Some are in it to adopt but just foster until a child they prefer comes along, a parent relinquishes or has their parental rights taken away.

2. What financial needs are parents obligated to provide and which are optional?
Answer: Healthcare, education, pocket money etc. Presents are optional and also toys.

3. What other needs might a child have that a parent is expected to provide?
Answer: Home education, guidance, food, shelter etc.

What qualities make a person a good parent? A bad parent? Which parental responsibilities do you think would be the most challenging? Why? Which parental responsibilities do you think would be the most interesting to you? Why? What are some things that people can do to prepare for parenthood?
Throughout this module we have discussed some of the positive and negative reasons people become parents, the demands and responsibilities of parenthood, and many of the decisions that parents may be forced to make. Certainly you have formed some of your own opinions about what makes a person ready to become a parent, how one should prepare for parenthood, and how a person should behave in his or her role as a new parent.

Let’s look at some examples of people who are entering parenthood for the first time. All of them are coming to parenthood (or considering parenthood) for different reasons and under different circumstances. How do you feel about each person’s situation? What decisions and preparations do you feel they should be making at this point in their lives?

Most people intuitively understand that a parent should nurture a child. But what characteristics do nurturing parents and family members have?

To provide the necessary support to their child, parents must properly nurture themselves. The parents must care for their own personal needs and maintain a healthy level of self-respect, so that they can help develop self-esteem in the child.

Nurturing parents try to empathize with their child. They make an effort to see the world through their child’s point of view. They spend time with their child in order to learn about their child’s personality and interests and to create a lasting bond between themselves and the child.

Nurturing parents actively look for ways to effectively enforce disciplinary codes that do not involve unnecessarily harsh punishments.

Nurturing parents develop an understanding about what level of physical, academic, social, and emotional maturity is appropriate at their child’s age. They try to encourage appropriate development of their child, but do not pressure the child with expectations that are unreasonable at his or her age.