Brain Waves to better parenting

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Camilla Elizeu
  • 355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz., - --  Parents learn how to interact with their children on their level during Brain Waves training, here.

The purpose of the course is to communicate the mechanics of early childhood development and help parents make the most of their child's natural capacity to learn.

"This program is targeted toward fathers, to get them more involved with their children but the information applies to all parents," said Ana Bae, Brain Waves program coordinator. .

The U of A collected 25 years of research which led to a 16 hour course for educators of children up to the age of five.

"[Brain Waves] is actually a spin off from a bigger course that we offer for early childhood educators," Bae said. "That class is called Brain Builders for Life and is offered state-wide."

After educating the educators about how children learn, the instructors realized that it was not beneficial to the children unless the parents understood and reinforced the concept which is how Brain Waves came to fruition.

The course provides cutting edge information for parents and caught the eye of the Airman and Family Readiness Center, here.

"This class is about early childhood development," said Gregory Pleasant, AFRC community readiness consultant. "It dispels some old rumors about how mothers and fathers are supposed to treat their children."

The class is four hours long, and includes a brain wiring activity, a temperament activity and a sensory activity.

"Once the word got out about the quality of the class more and more people got involved, Pleasant said. "I guarantee attendees are going to take away something they never considered when raising their children."

Bae explains that the information is presented in a very logical and scientific manner and it allows the parents to decide how they are going to use it in relations to their child.

"Parents have made a variety of comments like 'I need to spend more time with my child, or I need to be careful of my tone of voice and instead of saying no so much actually explaining why things are the way they are'," Bae said.

This training class is held monthly. To reserve a spot contact the AFRC at 228-5690.