Special “Incredible Parents” Program Now Offered in San Diego

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by SDCP.

The San Diego Cooperative Preschool (SDCP) is a non-profit, parent cooperative preschool for children aged 18 months to kindergarten. Established in 1963, the Mission Hills community of San Diego loves this great resource for kids.

The philosophy of the Preschool is both child-centered and play-based. The curriculum is designed to enrich the whole child, including social, emotional, physical, cognitive, and creative development. We see children as unique individuals and respect and respond to their individual needs. SDCP provides premium care, while creating a nurturing and supportive community of children, parents, and highly skilled staff. Through the cooperative partnership of parents and staff, we are a model of community that will sustain and enrich our children throughout their lives.

Starting this school year, SDCP is excited to offer our wildly popular parenting program, Incredible Parents, to the entire San Diego Community. Join us once a week to learn powerful parenting techniques such as establishing healthy boundaries, teaching problem solving and self sufficiency, reducing acting out, and emotional regulation, all while receiving support from parents struggling with challenges just like you. Here is a message from one of our parents:

I like how much of the focus is on building a long-term relationship versus dealing with short-term problems. I felt like it has helped me avoid pitfalls…and when I do make a mistake, I feel like I can manage it better as long as I remember to invest in long-term strategies (special time, praise regularly and consistently, establishing solid routines and rules, etc.).

Our program includes childcare from a licensed preschool teacher so that you can relax knowing your child is safe while you are becoming an even more incredible parent. Sign up for our next series of classes.

If you have an unpredictable schedule, or just can’t make it to this class, we still want to work with you. We are also excited to offer one-on-one parent coaching to help you find parenting strategies that fit your unique family.

Both the parenting group and the parent coaching use the Incredible Years curriculum; a well researched curriculum that is used worldwide to help parents and children overcome challenges and be happier together. A foundational piece of the program is called differential attention which simply means paying attention to behaviors that you want to see and not giving attention to those you want to see less of. While this does not mean that all inappropriate behaviors can be ignored, it does help parents refocuses on those times their children are doing well; finding moments to praise them, paying attention to efforts rather than results and pointing out to them when they pare playing well with others, sharing, using kind words, or being helpful. When this foundational piece is present and predictable for the children, often they do not feel the need to act out, whine, or cause trouble because parents have made such a strong investment in the child’s self-esteem and secure attachment.

We hope that this short introduction to our program has peeked your curiosity about a life free from daily whining, tantrums, and confrontations. We would love to hear from you and talk about whether our parenting programs could benefit your family.