If you’ve been court-ordered to attend a parenting class, you’re not alone. Many attend these courses after legal issues or during divorce and custody proceedings.
Parenting classes are an opportunity to improve your life and your child’s life. They can make it easier to co-parent with your child’s other parent or jumpstart your education if you are becoming a parent. Instructors want to help make things easier in your life and help you develop new parenting skills.
When it comes to choosing parenting classes, there are five factors to consider:
1. Check Costs
Comparing class costs is an important step if you will be responsible for the bill. Parenting class costs can be a burden in an already stressful time, but there are resources to help you afford this education.
For instance, online parenting classes can cost a fraction of the cost of an in-person course. If your attendance at a parenting class is mandated, do some research into which kinds of classes satisfy your requirements and choose the one most affordable in your situation.
2. Do You Attend Alone or With a Co-Parent?
Parenting classes are designed with different family needs in mind. For some families, attending with a co-parent is ideal. You can learn together and come up with a plan to get your family in a routine that will work even if you are separated.
However, due to the issues some families may endure such as domestic violence, it is important that classes where parents have the option to attend separately also exist.
Work with a resource if you are concerned about attending parenting classes with a partner or co-parent. You can find a class that is right for you and that will keep you safe.
3. Does It Address Your Child’s Specific Challenges?
Does your child have specific challenges that you’d like to learn more about addressing? If you are raising a child with special needs or hoping to help them through your divorce, look for a class that targets these challenges.
4. How Will This Help Your Environment?
The major goal of parenting education is to figure out ways to communicate better with your child and cope with the environmental factors you both face. Perhaps this has not always gone so well in the past, but now you have an opportunity to change behaviors in the future if the course is designed to focus on environmental challenges.
5. Does This Satisfy Your Mandated Requirements?
If you are attending parenting classes as part of a court mandate, make sure the course you are signing up for satisfies the requirements of your mandate. Finishing a course that does not satisfy requirements will only waste your time and money.
Choosing Parenting Classes with Diversion Center
If you are ready to learn more about parenting, begin by choosing parenting classes with Diversion Center. These affordable, comprehensive courses are six weeks long. Costing a total of $70, they satisfy court mandates in Georgia.
Work with us to get signed up for a course that works for your location and schedule. Classes are conducted in Marietta, Lawrenceville, and Duluth. Reach out with any questions during the parenting class sign-up process.