“A Parent’s Message: Interactive Program Supporting Parent-Child Bond – The First Step Toward Reunification” is an interactive book of activities for families of incarcerated loved ones. This text:
Aligns with goals of Parent Education Programs Uses format for voluntary facilitated groups and/or self study Supports incarcerated parent’s identity as a parent not offender Facilitates re-establishing child-parent contacts, ties, and bonds Fosters respectful kin or other caregiver family relationships Provides lessons to translate parental love into parental caring Promotes providing honest, factual information to the child Uses mail – more beneficial, most common, least costly contact Incorporates examination and evaluation of behaviors and progress Evaluation and Record of Attitude Change and Personal Growth
It contains:
112 Pages of Parent Study Worksheets/Mailings 64 Parent-Child Communication Tear-Out Pages 24 Meaningful Parent Messages 20 Topics of Study and Communication 9 Focus Character Traits 26 to 52 Weeks of Purposeful and Personal Programming
Dr. Clark is a retired educator of nearly thirty-five years in education for the at risk and special needs children in both private and public schools.
Dr. Clark is the author of award-winning children’s picture books. Dr. Clarkw rites extensively on child development, parenting, parent-child relationships, grand-parenting, and related topics.
I met the author of this amazing book today. We visited for a long time, and she gave me a copy to take home and review. I find myself unexpectedly moved to tears by my reading of this book cover to cover.
This is an interactive book to be shared between an inmate and their child. When a child's father or mother is sentenced to prison, there is so much upheaval in that child's life. Chaos, uncertainty, disruption--even if the life they were liven before the incarceration was hell on earth, there are still so many questions for that child.
A Parent's Message is in an easy to follow format. The book consists of mailable "pages" that the inmate can fill out and send to their child, and pages that the child can fill out (or draw, color, etc) to send back to the inmate. This book covers so much.....honesty, responsibility, love, and so much more. Reading both the parent's pages and the children's pages tore my heart apart for both the inmates and their children--as well as for my own big kids, my own crew, who know the pain of having a parent incarcerated.
The book advertises itself as a "First Step Toward Reunification" and that's exactly what it is. It's a slow, steady process of opening up honest communication lines between the parent and the child; hopefully restoring some sense of order to a world of upheaval for the child, plus slowly teaching the parent how to communicate and parent the child that the consequences of their crimes is impacting.
Of course, there are inmates who are never going to want to parent their children. And there are other extenuating circumstances (such as sexual abuse) where a child should not have any communication with their offender until they are old enough to make that decision on their own. But there are also inmates and children that one day, for good or bad, will be reunited. How much better for healing and communication to begin way before that time commiserates.
This book is an incredible resource for any family with an incarcerated loved one. The perforated pages provide more than 60 activities for a parent and child to complete with one another by mail. Keeping lines of communication open between a child and his or her incarcerated parent is essential to ensure that feelings of confusion, frustration, or anger are properly dealt with. Considering that research proves the retention of the parent-child bond throughout a period of incarceration creates positive behavioral development in the youth affected, this book is truly a breakthrough for this ever-growing population of kids. A Parent's Message will be great for families on the personal level, as well as for moms and dads participating in parenting classes during a prison sentence. Corrections administrators would be wise to implement this as a tool in their inmate programs.
A positive and clear interactive book for the incarcerated parent or the family of an incarcerated person. A great way to start a conversation or communication with a loved one. A must have for the families and children of an incarcerated person.