For a number of years a group of Minnesota parenting educators have worked together to develop the document "Parent Education Core Curriculum Framework: A Comprehensive Guide to Planning Curriculum for Parent Education Programs in the Domains of Parent Development, Parent-Child Relationships, Early Childhood Development, Family Development, and Culture and Community." It has recently been updated and is available online and in hard copy through the following link on the NPEN website: http://npen.org/parent-educators/evaluating/core-curriculum.html.

This document defines and places parameters around the core content – what MN Family Educators teach – in parent education. It is not intended to be a prescribed curriculum. It is based on the assumption that parent educators should have autonomy and exercise creativity in assessing the specific and unique needs and expectations of each parent and parent group with whom they work and in designing curriculum and selecting resources to best meet their needs and expectations. The framework provides a foundation and process for doing this work.

If you have questions about the document and/or how it is being used by parenting educators in Minnesota parent education programs, please feel free to contact any of those listed below for further information:

Betty Cooke, University of Minnesota, cooke047@umn.edu
Monica Potter, Robbinsdale Public Schools, Monica_Potter@rdale.org
Sue Stoner, Mounds View Public Schools, susan.stoner@moundsviewschools.org
Beth Yokom, Anoka-Hennepin Public Schools, beth.yokom@anoka.k12.mn.us