Parenting doesn’t come with a manual and there is often no one around to teach you the right and wrong way of doing things. So if you would like a little parental guidance or some adoption support take a look at the following list of resources:
Forums
Forums are a great way of connecting with people in a similar situation to yourself and can be a handy way of asking and receiving answers for any questions you may have. Some well-known forums include:
Adoption UK – With a purpose of providing support and a voice for adoptive families Adoption UK has a forum which discusses issues such as prospective adopters, education and difficult times.
Netmums – Set up in 2000 it is the UK’s fastest growing online parenting organisation. A family of local sites, Netmums covers the whole of the UK and offers information on everything you could ever want to know about parenting. Forum topics you could read include tweens and teens, working and children or home and life.
Mumsnet – A popular parenting online network with over 10 million visits per month Mumsnet was created to make parents’ lives easier by pooling knowledge and discussing issues.
Online Videos
Parentchannel.tv is a great resource of parenting videos. Focused on children between the age of 5 and 19 years old it is designed to support and encourage using short videos. These videos come from experts, parents and children themselves. Plus access to these clips is completely free!
The NHS website also has some great video resources which can answer any medical questions you may have regarding your child.
Parent Child Bonding Activities
The 1-2-1 Challenge website states that 1 parent + 1 child + priceless adventure = memories for a life time! This is a fantastic weekend away for parent and child to help you connect with each other on a deeper level while having fun.
A weekend away at 1 of their 3 venues involves plenty of excitement for children and parents alike with activities such as high ropes, bushcraft and canoeing.
Books
One of the most established and varied resource bases can be found in your local library. Parenting books have been popular for a long time and below are some of the current bestsellers:
- The New Contented Little Baby Book: The Secret to Calm and Confident Parenting by Gina Ford
- How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and Listen so Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber
- Raising Boys: Why Boys Are Different – and How to Help Them Become Happy and Well-Balances Men by Steve Biddulph
- What Every Parent Needs to Know: The incredible effects of love, nurture and play on your child’s development by Margot Sunderland
- Related by Adoption: A Handbook for Grandparents and Other Relatives by Hedi Argent
Have you read or seen a resource that you would personally recommend? We’d love to hear about it. Give us a tweet and let us know!
(images: open clipart)