Everyone knows it takes a village to raise a child, but how do new parents find their "village"? The Parenting Village, a new educational hub created by two local veteran parenting educators, aims to fill that role.
The
Parenting Village will offer classes for parents of children from birth to age 1, and also a support group for moms of children ages 5 and under.
Classes are enrolling now to start in February and March.
The Parenting Village was founded by local educators Katie Brodkin and Rachel Dilsaver. Brodkin, a mother of four, is a credentialed teacher who has taught parenting classes at the South Bay Adult School's "South Bay Family Tree" for the past 14 years. Dilsaver, a mother of two, has a master's degree in early childhood education and works with families as a parenting consultant in areas including sleep, feeding, hiring help, and making early education decisions.
"The Parenting Village will provide intimate, informative, and supportive Mommy and Me classes," said Brodkin. "Our program will
be focused on education, support and connection for parents of young ones."
Spread out over 10-week sessions, the classes will span a variety of topics including sleep, nutrition, postpartum changes, preschool wait lists, milestones, and developmental play. It will also feature guest speakers from the local community on topics such as sleep, safety and CPR, and lactation.
Opportunities include daytime classes for parents with newborns (zero to four months); 2nd or 3rd time moms (zero to nine months); and parents of crawlers (four to nine months). The cost is $300 for a ten-week session. There will also be an informal parenting support group in the evenings for moms of children ages five and younger.
Classes will be held at Fit On Studios. "Fit On is such a great part of the community and gives back so much, so we are excited to be involved with them," said Brodkin.
