The ParentABLE parenting/caregiving unit provides high school students with awareness, knowledge, and skills to care for and encourage the physical, mental, and emotional development of children.
“One generation of deeply supportive parents would change the brain of the next generation, and with that, the world.”
– Charles Raison
ParenTeach Institute trains high school educators to deliver ParentABLE’s 6.5-hour Positive Parenting and Caregiving curriculum to their students. The ParentABLE curriculum includes positive parenting core competencies used to strengthen the connection between caregiver and child, provide information about the effects of unintentional harmful parenting, and to highlight the power of resilience and positive parenting and caregiving.
ParentABLE started as a student-driven initiative at Evanston Township High school in Illinois. A group of students from the C.A.R.E. Club (Child Abuse Recognition Evanston) advocated for parenting and caregiving education to be included in the wellness course required for graduation, and they succeeded. Their efforts led to constituent legislation that is piloting parenting education in high schools throughout the state of Illinois.
High Schools are fully supported to implement a unit that is:
95.9%
of students who completed ParentABLE agree that they learned the importance of positive parenting and its impact on child development, early learning, and adult outcomes.
91.4%
of students who completed ParentABLE agree that other high school students would benefit from the ParentABLE parenting education unit.
91.2%
of students who completed ParentABLE plan to use what they learned in ParentABLE if/when they are a parent or caregiver.
Easy to implement
Evidence-based on 25 years of data
Locally adaptable and ready to launch
Delivered through a user-friendly LMS
ParentABLE is a 6.5 hour, evidence-based, trauma-informed, web-based curriculum that includes:
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8 engaging animated lessons
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informative videos
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interactive knowledge checks with immediate feedback,
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note assists
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handouts
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additional resources
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pre-and post-learning surveys
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emotional support contacts
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a teacher’s guide for facilitating in-classroom learning and discussion
"This course aligns BEAUTIFULLY for all of my content areas and helped enrich the content I already provide. Thank you!"
Kate Mallory, M.S.Ed.
ROE26 SEL Director at Regional Office of Education #26, Chicago, IL
Benefits of Adding ParentABLE to Your Illinois School District’s Core Curriculum:
✔ Aligned to the SEL and health and wellness standards for the state of Illinois
✔ ️ Promotes communication skills that help reduce conflict and disruption in the classroom
✔ ️ Gives classroom educators techniques to encourage positive behavior for a more effective learning atmosphere
✔ ️ Provides a forum for teacher-facilitated in-classroom discussions that strengthen teacher-student connection
✔ ️ Fulfills ongoing professional development requirements for teachers, providing a certificate of completion and 6 CEUs at the end of the course
A Letter of Support from Majority Leader Robyn Gable, Illinois House of Representatives
“I have worked with PTI since 2017 and can attest to the effectiveness of the curriculum in teaching positive parenting and self-regulating skills, while fulfilling students' Social Emotional Learning (SEL) competencies. Beginning in 2018, I led the effort to integrate PTIs' curriculum into Illinois high schools through the passage of HB4442, which established a pilot program. The success of this pilot program convinced me that we must expand this program and give all Illinois students the opportunity to access this curriculum.”
Illinois Counties Who Have Implemented ParentABLE
Bureau
Champaign
Cook
Dekalb
DuPage
Effingham
Fayette
Franklin
Fulton
Hamilton
Hardin
Henderson
Jackson
Jasper
Johnson
Knox
LaSalle
Logan
Macon
Madison
Massac
McDonough
McLean
Morgan
Peoria
Pike
Randolph
Sangamon
St. Clair
Stephenson
Tazewell
Union
Wayne
White
Will
Williamson
Winnebago
Woodford
Why Educators Want to Teach ParentABLE:
What Participating High School Students Say About ParentABLE:
"Educated parenting is very important in everyone's life... If I hadn't taken this class, I may have just continued a cycle of spanking my kids and not teaching them anything at all."
“I like that we got to learn about parenting. I feel like schools don't really talk about this and expect us to already know about parenting, which we don't."
“I learned that we have the ability to shape children's brains, and we should take advantage to do this in a positive way."
“If we treat our kids correctly, then they will learn to treat their children the way we treated them, so that will get passed onto future generations.”
An Additional Offering for Parents and Caregivers
ParenTeach Institute is enhancing their impact by making ParentABLE On-Demand, a flexible digital platform, available to the parents and caregivers of ParentABLE students.
This innovative, online resource will ensure that every parent or caregiver of a student participating in the school-based curriculum can access the same vital parenting education anytime, anywhere. By integrating a two-generation approach, this initiative strengthens families and amplifies the program’s positive impact, fostering healthier relationships and more supportive environments for children and their caregivers.
ParentABLE On Demand, a 3- hour, self-guided, animated, and interactive online course, aims to:
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Break the cycle of unintentional harmful parenting
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Provide parents and caregivers with practical positive parenting and caregiving skills
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Promote early relational health
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Build the social and emotional learning competencies of parents and caregivers
Top pediatricians and mental health experts from Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago also recommend ParentABLE On-Demand for anyone who has or works with kids.
"If people learned more about how to be great parents... it would literally result in a quantum leap in the productivity, creativity, and humanity of our society."
— Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D., Child Psychiatrist and Neuroscientist
Learn More About ParentABLE On Demand for Parents and Caregivers
Ready to Implement ParentABLE in your school or district?
Have questions? We’d be happy to help! Please contact our course coordinator, Isabella Paglicci, by clicking here.
"ParentABLE is an invaluable resource for all high school students regardless of socioeconomic status. Incorporating ParentABLE within my Health Education curriculum allowed me to have valuable conversations with students about their past, present, and futures with parenting and caregiving. ParentABLE also fostered confidence of best practice within my students and offered valuable information that they won't soon forget!"
Jessica Williams 9th grade Health teacher, Carmi White-County High School
“Our students are at-risk. They are sent to us for discipline, anxiety, drug use, truancy, etc. They do not always have the best role models in the home. We feel that the implementation of this program would be beneficial to both our students and their parents.”
— Will County Administrator
“I teach high school juniors and seniors, 99% of whom are male. Some become dads during the 2 years they are in my classroom. I would love to be more effective when they come to me looking for resources and emotional support.”
— Sangamon County Teacher
“Mental health, substance abuse and unstable households are unfortunately all too common in our school district. We have limited resources as a public school, not qualifying for most funding, as we are a rural and not urban community. Our students and teachers need more resources.”
— Fulton County Teacher
"Whether you are a parent or not, everyone is a caregiver to someone. I feel like this program helps identify areas that could be used to teach the importance of breaking cycles.”
—Knox County Teacher
"I want to tell you just how grateful I am for being able to teach my students this curriculum. It fits in so well with the mission of our school and the lives of my students. My Alternative kids primarily have 3+ ACES and ... the information gained from this class is invaluable."
—ParentABLE Teacher
ParenTeach Institute trains high school educators to deliver ParentABLE’s 6.5-hour Positive Parenting and Caregiving curriculum to their students. The ParentABLE curriculum includes positive parenting core competencies used to strengthen the connection between caregiver and child, provide information about the effects of unintentional harmful parenting, and to highlight the power of resilience and positive parenting and caregiving.
ParentABLE started as a student-driven initiative at Evanston Township High school in Illinois. A group of students from the C.A.R.E. Club (Child Abuse Recognition Evanston) advocated for parenting and caregiving education to be included in the wellness course required for graduation, and they succeeded. Their efforts led to constituent legislation that is piloting parenting education in high schools throughout the state of Illinois.