Relationships are Key Online Parent Course

Tusla has launched a new parenting e-learning course for parents and carers of young children called ‘Relationships are Key’. The ‘Relationships are Key’ course offers reassurance, guidance and expert advice for parents across seven modules, and aims to support parents and carers to form stronger and more positive relationships with their young children. The course was developed under the Tusla National Parenting Working group.

Each module focuses on a key relationship element, and parents are invited to work through the course in their own time and at their own pace, and to pick and choose topics that are of interest to them or are more relevant to them at a particular time. The structure of the course allows parents to take their time to think about and plan small changes that could help their relationships with their children to become stronger and that can benefit their child’s health and wellbeing.

The seven modules cover the following topics:

Self-esteem and self-confidence: Examines the building blocks of self-esteem and self-confidence and how we can help our children develop these through practical activities in the home and out and about.
Real relationships: Looks at children’s development as well as thinking about the ‘two-way’ nature of communication within relationships.
Emotional bond: Delves into the ways that children and their parents form an emotional bond and what we can do to help this bonding process.
Cycle of trust: Examines the importance of trust for our health and learning.
Self-regulation: Looks at how we respond to stress and dangers, and how we can help ourselves and our children to calm down or ‘self-regulate’.
Communication is key: Investigates what positive communication, both verbal and non-verbal, between children and parents looks like.
Playing together: Delves into the benefits of play and the different types of play that a child will be interested in at different ages.