| Summary: | Over the past few decades, there has developed an increasing interest in family life in Canada, by many organizations and individuals. With the greater degree of industrialization, there have been corresponding social changes, some of which are believed to be undermining the stability of the family, making support from outside sources desirable, if not necessary. Programs of education for parents and parents-to-be have arisen as a means of providing more effective support to Canadian urban families.
The family life education programs that have developed are of great variety and of varied sponsorship. Through schools, churches, universities, community agencies and the mass media, attempts are being made to strengthen interpersonal relations in the family unit. Social agencies, particularly child-caring and family agencies, whom one would expect to be active in this field, would appear to be shoving little initiative in developing such services. That this is so, remains a puzzle to the writer.
In this study of Co-operative Pre-School Groups in Vancouver, in which the stated purpose is the education of child and parent under the guidance of a trained teacher, attention is focused on expressed reasons for using this facility, and the values believed to derive from its use for both child and parent.
The most significant finding of the study is the importance attached to parental participation in the Co-operative program. The learned relationships of the play group are transferred to the home situation. Through this learning experience, parent-child relationships take on a deeper significance and meaning that makes family living a more relaxed and pleasant experience. The study points out the importance of relating family life education programs to the actual life situations of the families concerned. It also attests to the effectiveness of the Co-operative Pre-School Group involvement as a method of providing family life education. === Arts, Faculty of === Social Work, School of === Graduate
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