This program is delivered to parents or caregivers of children from birth to 5 years old or early childhood staff and is intended to impact parents, providers, and children.

Active Parenting: First Five Years (previously the 1, 2, 3, 4 Parents! Program) is a community-based parent education program that is designed to teach basic parenting skills to parents, caregivers, and early childhood staff and promote healthy child development.

One inclusive randomized controlled trial has been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of this program. Results at posttest indicated significant increases in parents' use of mindfulness techniques, increased sense of parenting efficacy, and decreased levels of parenting stress in the intervention group, compared to the control group. There were no significant differences between groups in child outcomes of child strengths, emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity, or prosocial behavior.

Active Parenting: First Five Years is a group-based parenting program that intends to strengthen parenting skills, enhance parental self-care and mental health, and foster the development of healthy and well-adjusted children. Session topics include the following:

• Session 1: You and Your Child – review the purpose of and different styles of parenting, the benefits of mindfulness, the importance of self-care, stages of child development, and creating a healthy parent-child bond;
• Session 2: Preventing Problems – understand children’s brains and what they require for healthy brain development, use non-violent discipline methods, set rules, create healthy routines, and show love to children;
• Session 3: Encouraging Positive Behavior – support children and show confidence in them, learn to manage tantrums, and provide choices and consequences; and
• Session 4: Preparing for School Success – review six techniques to enhance school readiness, including encourage play and learning, read and talk with children, limit screen time, teach social skills, and foster independence.

The program is available in English and Spanish, and sessions can be delivered with video-embedded PowerPoint available through streaming or on a flash drive. An online video library subscription containing additional resources for parents is also available.

The original Active Parenting Discussion Program was created in 1983, and the Active Parenting: First Five Years program has been implemented in numerous communities and with families both nationally and internationally since 2017.

There are no requirements for program facilitators. Leader’s Guides provide all the information needed to implement this program; however, different training options are available, including live webinar leader training workshops, self-paced online classes, in-person training workshops, training of trainers, and customized training. Please visit https://activeparenting.com/for-leaders/research-studies-tools-and-tests/leader-training/ for additional information.

Considerations for implementing this program include recruiting a facilitator and making arrangements for them to complete training, if desired; acquiring participant buy-in; understanding program materials will need to be purchased; locating space to hold sessions; and obtaining necessary equipment, such as a DVD player, TV, and computer.

The Clearinghouse can help address these considerations. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu

If you are interested in implementing Active Parenting: First Five Years, the Clearinghouse is interested in helping you!
Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu

Implementation is flexible, and the program can be offered as a 4-session comprehensive program (sessions 1-4), as a 3-session core parenting skills program (sessions 1-3), or as a 1-session program that focuses on enhancing school success (session 4 only).

The standard program kit may be purchased in flash drive or streaming format. Both options range from $500 to $700. Please visit https://activeparenting.com/product/first-five-years-of-parenting/#product-purchase-options for more information on program materials and purchasing options.

To move the Active Parenting: First Five Years to the Promising category on the Clearinghouse Continuum of Evidence, at least one evaluation should be performed demonstrating positive effects lasting at least one year from the beginning of the program or at least six months from program completion.

The Clearinghouse can help you develop an evaluation plan to ensure the program components are meeting your goals.  Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu

Contact the Clearinghouse with any questions regarding this program.
Phone: 1-877-382-9185 Email: Clearinghouse@psu.edu

You may also contact Active Parenting USA Headquarters by mail 1290 Kennestone Circle, Suite D-101, Marietta, GA 3006-6022, phone 1-800-825-0060, fax 1-770-429-0334, email cservice@activeparenting.com, or visit https://activeparenting.com/about-us/contact-us/

https://activeparenting.com/product/first-five-years-of-parenting/

Jespersen, J. E., Morris, A. S., Hubbs-Tait, L., & Washburn, I. J. (2021). Evaluation of a parent education program emphasizing responsive parenting and mindfulness: An inclusive randomized controlled trial. Child & Youth Care Forum, 50(5), 859-883. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-021-09597-2