The Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness, based at Pennsylvania State University, has partnered with the U.S. Air Force to conduct an initiative program called Thrive. This project offers active-duty military families at identified Air Force installations the opportunity to participate in one of four age-graded programs available in either an online or hybrid format.
“ Thrive is an online, free parenting program that parents can sign up for, and it's divided into four different groups depending on age,” said Melinda Razvi, Thrive recruiter. “It teaches parents strategies like positive parenting, ways to improve communication, how to handle stressful situations, and healthy habit forming.”
The ‘Take Root’ stage, focuses on children up to 3 years old, the ‘Sprout’ stage, is for ages 3 to 5. The ‘Grow’ stage is ages 5 to 10 and finally the ‘Branch Out’ stage for ages 10 through 18. The courses typically run from five to six weeks and are completely self-paced.
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson is one of six installations to pilot this program and was selected due to the large number of families on base. It will be beneficial to JBER families due to the challenges presented by the unique environment of Alaska.
“ [In the class] parents are going to learn about child development,”said Gary Berry II, Integrated Prevention and Response director. “I think that's really helpful because, we tend to forget these are little beings and how their minds are working. It really does clarify what's going on with them and then that helps you better communicate and work with them on day-to-day tasks.”
Becoming a parent, or even just being a parent can be a stressful job, Berry said, and Thrive aims to provide families with the tools to develop health habits for their children, no matter the age.
To learn more or participate in the program yourself, email mailto:psuhybridthrive@psu.edu.