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48 Friday, April 4, 1986
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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The Galena hold a family meeting.
I
A class .,.....
in F . arrn i ng to n
.
th e way
change your
your family relates to each other.
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BY ELLYCE R. FIELD,
Special,to The Jewish IVews
evelop an understanding
and appreciation for the
Joys of Parenting. Learn
how to keep 'your sanity
and self respect. Class
project: give birth to an adorable
baby and raise him into a mentch
(an upright, honorable, responsible,
decent person).
It doesn't happen naturally, this
mentch-raising. It's gradual and for
some of us, it never happens at all.
When the kid is supposed to be pre-
cocious• and dimpled, he • cries and
whines. When he's expected to sit
quietly and observe, he adds his
minority opinion.
Early on, we realize parenting is
not a skill we are born with. So we
fortify ourselves with parenting
books and when all else fails, fall
back on the techniques our parents
used to raise us.
In the midst of the screaming
and confusion, some of us have been
lucky enough to stumble across
Children the Challenge, a parenting
course that changes how we view
and manage our children. Children
the Challenge is based on the 1964
book written by Rudolf. Dreikurs, a
Vienese Jewish psychiatrist.
Rudolf Dreikurs?
Most of us have heard of Benja-
min Spock, T. Berry Brazelton or
Haim Ginott. But Rudolf Dreikurs,
the Adlerian psychiatrist who
pioneered peer counseling for par-'
ents in Chicago in the 1940s, has
been a best-kept secret for the past
40 years. He is finally coming of age
in hundreds of Children the Chal-
lenge courses offered throughout the
United States and Canada.
Metropolitan Detroit's only
Children the Challenge program is
offered through Farmington Youth
Assistance, a non-profit, non-
sectarian Oakland County agency.
During the spring and fall,
Farmington Youth Assistance offers
afternoon and evening classes. Each
course is $15, and includes Dreikurs'
book, a supplemental handbook,
monthly newsletters and two ten-
week classes with the option to
attend classes forever, free of charge.
Held in area synagogues and
churches, the classes are made up of
approximately 15 parents and three
volunteer discussion leaders. The
group provides a safe, non-
judgemental environment for par-
ents to hash out conudon ,problems,
role play and work on creative solu-
tions.
'Trained volunteer leaders dis-
cuss Dreikurs' child rearing philos-
ophy and practical parenting skills,
based on' a chapter-by7 chapter read-
ing of his book. In many ways, the
class becomes a parent support
group. Fifteen strangers become a
tightly-knit group, laughing and.
sympathizing with one another.
Mothers and fathers talk about the
highs and lows of their week, rage
about their children's inappropriate
behavior, their own over-reactions
and anger, ansibrag about .successful