Family Resource Management

Introduction

According to the National Council on Family Relations, “Family Resource Management is an understanding of the decisions individuals and families make about developing and allocating resources including time, money, material assets, energy, friends, neighbors, and space, to meet their goals.”

http://www.ncfr.org

Every family makes daily decisions for how to manage their resources. Each decision influences the lifestyle that the family decides to live in. Certain families choose to plan out their resources in advance, while others choose to plan out the resources on a day-to-day basis. Every resource decision helps to distinguish each part of how a family’s day is spent. Those decisions also can be influenced by society, personal relationships, and a family’s culture.

 Coursework

• Intro to Personal Family Finance – This class prepared me to be able to budget my money and make wise financial decisions in a wise way. It prepared me to be able to evaluate both personal and family money management strategies.
• Personal Wellness – I learned how to practice and improve physical behavior to reduce the risk of illness and disability. I developed skills for how to make informed, responsible health decisions.
• Developing Intimate Relationships – In this class I learned the definition of an intimate relationship, which includes attraction, communication, casual encounters, cohabitation and conflict. Students will critically evaluate current theory and research concerning the elements of healthy relationships

Experience

• Life Choice Ministries – I had the chance to help clients manage their relationships, time, and money. I observed how important it is to be able to have resources available to you and to be able to use those resources that you do have, wisely.

• Leos – I was a president and treasurer for our Leos club during high school. A Leo Club is a youth organization of Lions Clubs International. The word L E O stands for Leadership, Experience, Opportunity. I had the chance to manage our resources within the high school and our community to be able to have a running and current club.
  • See above picture

Reflection

When I was younger, I always heard people say things life, “time is precious, use it wisely” or “spend your money carefully”. I never really understood what they meant until I got into high school and college. College has taught me how to spend my money carefully, how to schedule my time, and how to mange my resources. My parents also set great examples for how to manage money, time, and energy.

During college, one of my close friends found out she was pregnant. She had no relationship with the father and was still living with her parents. This was a crucial time in her life to start making decisions and setting goals for her life. I was a part in helping here sort through all of her decisions for herself and not letting social influences decide for her what was best for her and the baby. We also worked through financial resources so that she could afford the necessities for her baby once he was born. This experience helped me to realize just how quickly life changes can happen. This opportunity helped me to realize that it is important to be able to utilize your resources and to set goals for yourself.

After going through the birth experience with my high school friend, I was given the opportunity to intern at Life Choice Ministries – Pregnancy Testing Center. I have learned how to help clients be able to manage their resources during my internship. I also had the opportunity to create a resource list for a nearby town of Manhattan. This gave me the opportunity to be able to connect and network with resources that are available to clients who come in to Life Choice. Once I was able to finish the resource list, I was able to direct clients to the resources that were needed, whether it was food, employment, clothing, medical services, or any other resources available. This also allowed me to be able to talk to the client about their current situation to try and help them manage their time and material assets.

Something that I can work on with clients at Life Choice is to help them set specific goals for their life so that they are able to manage their resources wisely. I believe that being able to establish what is going on in their life will help us to be able set appropriate goals for their current situation. It is also important to realize what their family situation is and has been to be able to have the knowledge of what influences this client might be under. My personal finance class has helped me to be able to know how to help clients who are under financial stress. I also took a class about developing intimate relationships, which helped me to have the knowledge of what influences might be happening between a client and their significant other or their child’s other parent.

Being able to manage family resources is an important asset for a certified family life educator to have. This can connect me to my clients, even as a doula. It especially comes into play with working with new parents or parents who are expecting. I can be able to help the parents learn to manage their time and finances, as well as other influences from society and family during process of having a new baby.

Parent Education and Guidance

Introduction

According to the National Council on Family Relations, “Parent Education and Guidance is an understanding of how parents teach, guide and influence children and adolescents as well as the changing nature, dynamics and needs of the parent/child relationship across the lifespan.”

http://www.ncfr.org

Working with children is something that I am very passionate about. I truly believe that the way parents choose to parent is what influences children’s lives in the future. I see a huge connection between a person’s childhood and their life later on in adolescence and adulthood. Not only do I see an impact on a person’s personality from their parents, but how they choose to live their life and also what their lifestyle is. Parent Education and Guidance really explains the roles, relationships, and dynamics with parents and their children.

Coursework

• Working with Parents – This class prepared me to be able to work with parents by learning about parenting and parent education. I learned the details for what it takes to be a parent and what skills you should learn to focus on to be able to contribute to other parents.
• Early Childhood- In Early Childhood, I learned the development stages of children from conception across the early childhood years, including familial, societal, and other ecological factors affecting young children’s development. This class prepared me to be able to work with young children and have the knowledge of different milestones for children at a young age.
• Family Violence– This class prepared me to be able to identify the different types of violence within the family system including child abuse and neglect, dating violence, intimate partner violence, and elder abuse. I learned about the common forms of abuse, the effects of parents and children, risk factors, impact, and beginning interventions on family violence.
• Pre-Professional Experiences in Early Childhood Unified -In this class I got the chance to observe and interact in a diverse early childhood settings serving children with and without disabilities, aged birth through kindergarten. This class I was assigned to was a preschool classroom. I got to observe during the parent pick-up time to watch how those children interacted with their parents.

Experience

• KSU Center for Child Development- I work as a student teacher aide for the K-State Center for Child Development. I have worked in the infant, toddler, and twos rooms, as well as a few preschool classrooms. I interact daily with children and their parents. I notify the parents of the child’s behavior and development and get to observe the interactions between the children and the parents.
• Nanny – I worked as a summer nanny for a family near my hometown. I watched three children, occasionally four, ranging from ages 14 months to 10 years old. These children were in custody of their grandparents so I got to experience that type of family dynamic.
• Life Choice Ministries Internship – As an intern, I have seen many different families structures come through the doors. I have observed how each parent influences their own children with the resources that they have. 

Reflection

Parent education is a topic that has shaped my life into who I am today. I believe that the way my parents taught and guided me when I was a child has influenced my decisions that I have made from an adolescent, until this very day. The way that my parents raised me even has an impact on my thoughts about how I want to raise my own children. As I reflect about this, I begin to think about how my grandparents raised my parents, and how my grandparent’s parents raised them. The way that a parent teaches their child has such an impact on the whole family in ways that aren’t normally even thought of. Parenting rights, responsibilities, and relationships can be influenced by generations from years before.

I worked as a nanny one summer for a family near my hometown. I watched three, sometimes four, girls in their home ranging from ages 14 months to 10 years old. These girls lived with their grandparents because their parents lost custody of them. The family structure and dynamics were completely different from my own and from what I was used to. I watched as the girls tried to fit in with their friends and make a home within their grandparent’s house. The grandparents now were taking on the role as parents rather than grandparents. They both were working trying to support themselves and also the children who were now in their custody. I observed how their parenting styles for their grandchildren effected how the girls chose to live their lives and what decisions that made through out the summer.

I have learned about the different parenting styles in many different classes while at K-State. Once I started learning about the parenting styles, I began to connect certain children’s behavior with how their parents treated and acted towards them. I got to observe and experience first hand these connections while working at the child development center. It was clear to me that each child had their own personality and behaviors that were different from each other. Aside from the normal two year old behavior, I noticed certain children who would act out more and who really needed some extra attention. These children were also the children who didn’t always want to go home with their parents at night or who acted out in front of their parents for a little more attention. I began to connect the different parenting styles with each individual child. I know that not all parenting styles influence the child’s behavior directly, but I really started to notice a pattern between certain children and their parents.

At my internship at Life Choice Ministries, I was able to sit in and observe the parenting classes that were happening within their building. I am realizing just how important it is to have a good foundation before becoming a parent. I know that there is no perfect parent but I have clearly seen the differences between parents who take responsibility with their role and those who are just find their role as a parent as an everyday job.