Advice please on parenting course timing.

[nannyme]

oud really appreciate some advice from mothers and fathers here.

I am going to be running my first parenting courses in a few weeks time and they HAVE to be successful or else I will be financially dead. I have lots of experience of doing them employed by somebody else but this will be the first time I go it alone.

I am writing and publishing my own material for the course too.

What I am unsure of is whether to run the courses during the day or at weekends. Reason being, many parents will have childcare to arrange.

I'm not in a position (yet) to offer childcare for the course although this may come in the future.

So, would weekdays or weekends be best and would summer holidays be a no-no- do you think?

I'm a parent too and would probably want my partner to attend so I would have a problem in the week if it were me.

I have been putting off getting these courses going simply due to indecision on stuff like this but now have a few venues lined up..

TIA

personally, I would rather attend stuff in the evenings. As you say this cuts out the need for daytime care (can be easier to get a babysitter for evenings) and makes it more likely that both parents could attend I would think.

very best of luck with this, hope it works out.

It's funny that you're asking this now as we were discussing this in our parents' group. Although the parents doing the course wanted a weekend/evening course the managers/leaders said it was difficult because:

1. Like you said, childcare was needed for the children/babies
2. In the evening many people switch off or their minds were already in wind down mode
3. Family commitments - dinner,washing,visitors,homework
4. Eastenders/ Cornation Street? Emmerdale !!! Hope that helps - Good Luck

I dont know if this will help, but I did a course in Jan-Mar this yearr, it was 8 weeks of 2 hours on a Monday evening, it was all Mums and no Dads. Initially I thought it was a shame there were no Dads but to be honest most of us went to meet other Mums and enlist moral support as well as learn some new coping strategies. There's no way we would have bonded as well if the Dads had been there too.
Good luck!

Thank you so much you three for your opinions!

Hi nannyme. Good luck with this.

Just thought I'd add that the parenting courses that are occasionally offered through our health visitors are run with both a daytime and evening option. For example, a new course will begin in September, and parents are asked if they'd like to register for either the day or evening course. These are also about eight two-hour sessions. Daycare is available in the day, but not in the evening. As I understand it, the evening course is more likely to be oversubscribed.

HTH

I run musical parenting courses and they are in the evening. I asked around and the women (although in the end some men came too) said that they liked the idea of an evening "off duty" in the week, but because it was related to their child they felt good about themselves too.