Parenting Education
At Family Nurturing Center of Massachusetts, we know that parenting skills are learned and can radically shape a child’s future.
Our parenting education classes, including the flagship model of the Nurturing Parenting® Program, empower caregivers to support their child’s development and grow into the parents they want to be.
Our model is rooted in self-discovery. Caregivers are supported to explore the ways that they were parented, what they want to carry into their own parenting, and what they choose to leave behind. With support from our expert facilitators, they explore the concept of empathy. Most importantly, they learn new skills alongside other parents and, often, their own children.
FNC recognizes that there is no “one size fits all” approach to parenting education. As such, we offer programs to meet the diverse needs of a wide range of caregivers, including incarcerated parents; grandparents raising grandchildren; parents working to gain custody of their children; birth, foster and kinship families; and beyond. You can learn more about specific parenting education programs below.
Seeking a Parenting Class?
Fill out our online interest form to connect to a parenting education program near you.
Interest Form for CaregiversReferral Form for Providers
Now Accepting Referrals for 2025 Nurturing Parenting® Programs!
The Nurturing Parenting® Program
The Nurturing Parenting® Program is an internationally recognized, evidence-based model that brings together family members, across generations, for structured weekly sessions. Participants learn new social-emotional skills and strengthen communication and relationships. FNC offers 15-week programs for caregivers and their children together, and 13-week programs specifically for fathers.
Nurturing Programs are designed to address the needs of specific groups or populations—including parents with babies, parents and teens, parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, fathers seeking to build relationships with their children, and birth and foster parents working to collaborate on childrearing. While the Nurturing Parenting Program is offered around the world, Family Nurturing Center of MA has had a significant impact on its development, helping to adapt the model for new audiences and contexts.
The philosophy of Nurturing Parenting emphasizes the importance of raising children in a warm, trusting and caring household. It is founded on the belief that children who are cared for develop the capacity to trust, care for, and respect themselves and those around them. From the beginning to the end of the program, participants demonstrate increased knowledge of core concepts in parenting, including empathy—a key predictor for reducing the likelihood of child abuse and neglect.
Registration is open for Spring 2025!
Nurturing Fathers’ Program™
The Nurturing Fathers’ Program™ brings together men from all family circumstances (custodial, non-custodial, step-fathers, new fathers, currently or recently incarcerated fathers) to develop the tools they need to grow into the fathers they choose to be. FNC offers both in person and virtual programs. The group structure, led by experienced and caring facilitators, creates a nonjudgmental space for fathers to learn from one another and tell their stories.
The 13-session, evidence-based curriculum teaches critical skills and proven strategies for managing feelings, communicating, problem-solving, and creating a nurturing environment. Focusing on the unique role of fathers allows men to examine the cultures, relationships, and experiences that shape their parenting. Together, participants reflect on the positive and negative aspects of their own childhood experiences and reassess their role as men and fathers.
Now Accepting Referrals for Spring 2025!
Crianza Con Cariño (in English and Spanish)
FNC offers Nurturing Parenting Programs in Spanish (Crianza Con Cariño) and Dual Language Programs (Programas de Lenguaje Dual) in both English and Spanish. They are adapted from the Nurturing Parenting Program to meet the needs of Spanish-speaking and bilingual families in our communities, with a special emphasis on the challenges of resulting from immigration to the U.S. and raising families across cultures.
Now Accepting Referrals for Spring 2025!
Nurturing Parenting® Program for Cape Verdean Families (in English and Kriolu)
Massachusetts is home to one of the largest populations of Cape Verdeans outside of Cape Verde. The Nurturing Parenting® Program for Cape Verdean Families is adapted to meet the needs of speakers in Cape Verdean Kriolu and English, conducted in Cape Verdean Kriolu and English, with songs and games in both languages.
This adaptation of the Nurturing Program goes beyond language accessibility. It engages caregivers and children in Cape Verdean traditions and culture and explores the common experience of caregiver-child separation through immigration. Many Cape Verdean American families have come back to the program for generations, with individuals participating first as children, later as parents, and finally as Facilitators.
Now Accepting Referrals for Spring 2025!
Birth, Foster, & Kinship Program
FNC recognizes the critical need to support caregivers who do not have current custody of their children. This program is designed specifically to support birth families along with their foster or kinship families as they work through the child placement experience. It brings all caregivers—and the children they share—together for 12 weekly sessions.
This program places special emphasis on improving communication and increasing empathy among all family members and prioritizing the needs of the children involved.
Breakthrough Parenting
While the Nurturing Parenting Program is designed for caregivers and children together, Breakthrough Parenting focuses on the caregiver. FNC offers this class within our center in Dorchester, and also offers it to incarcerated parents through partnership with local correctional facilities.
The Breakthrough Parenting Program moves a family from struggle to cooperation by taking a comprehensive approach that goes beyond the teaching of techniques. It provides a clear understanding of child-rearing and human relationships to increase positive parent-child interactions and effective discipline in the home.
Mind Matters
Mind Matters is a ten-week program, offered in our Allston-Brighton location through collaboration with the Harvard Ed portal. Parents learn to apply contemporary research on the developing brain to help their children succeed in school and at home. Childcare is provided, allowing parents to learn in an uninterrupted setting.
Other Parenting Education
Family Nurturing Center offers additional parenting education classes according to community need. These programs vary by location and interest, and are often offered in collaboration with community partners. Visit our Events Calendar for more information about upcoming programs.
