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How To Strengthen Your Family

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Act Early Oregon recognizes that an important element for supporting families is providing opportunities for families to access information on early childhood development. 

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Strengthening Families™ is an effort by the Center for the Study of Social Policy to give families what they need to help their children grow and thrive. It is a research-informed approach that has proven to increase family strengths, enhance child development and reduce the likelihood of child abuse and neglect.  It is a powerful and easily implemented framework that is based on engaging families, programs and communities in building…

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1. Parental Resilience
Be Strong Even When You Are Stressed!

Being resilient as a parent means:

  • Taking care of yourself and asking for help when you need it

  • Feeling good about yourself and hopeful about your  future

  • Planning for the future and for what you will do in situations that you know are challenging for you

  • Not allowing stress to get in the way of providing loving care for your child

  • Taking time to really enjoy your child and what you like about parenting

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2. Social Connections
Get and Give Support!

  • Build a strong social support system by:

  • Focusing on the relationships where you feel respected and appreciated

  • Being willing to accept help from others and looking for opportunities to help them back

  • Building your skills and comfort in reaching out to others, communicating, resolving conflict and doing all the other things that help to keep a friendship

  • Building your network so you have multiple friends and connections to turn to

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3. Knowledge of Parenting & Child Development
Learn More So You Can Parent Better!

  • Knowledge of parenting and child development helps us:

  • Know what to expect as your child grows and how you can best help her learn and thrive

  • Use new skills to help your child be happy and healthy

  • Recognize your child’s unique needs

  • Understand how to respond in a positive way when your child misbehaves

  • By learning what our children need to do their best, we can give them the best start in life, enjoy parenting more and build strong, healthy families


4. Get Help When You Need It!

  • It is important that we as parents:

  • Know what help is available

  • Ask for help when we need it

  • Get what we need to keep our families healthy and safe

  • Help others when possible

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5. Social & Emotional Competence
Help Your Child Manage Feelings and Relationships!

  • As parents the things we do to model and help our children learn these skills makes a huge difference. We can help our children develop these skills by:

  • Responding warmly and consistently to your child

  • Teaching your child the words they need to express how they feel

  • Allowing your child to express their emotions

  • Being a role model: show your child how to be kind and how to interact positively with other people

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For more information, click here.

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