Shine Magazine, Issue 3, April 2010 - Department of Education and ...

Single mothers
resource now in
different languages
Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development Maxine
Morand at the launch of the translated parenting resource.
SuPPort hAS been extended to mothers of diverse
backgrounds with the release of the Single Mothers: a resource
for parenting solo booklet in Chinese, Vietnamese and Arabic,
by Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development
Maxine Morand. The English version of the booklet was
released in July last year.
Developed by the Parenting Research Centre and the Council
of Single Mothers and their Children, the booklet offers advice
on coping with change, connecting with children and keeping
healthy, and provides information on how and where to get help
and support.
“Single parents, most of whom are single mothers, can face
extra challenges,” Ms Morand said. “They can be dealing with
negative attitudes from family and the community, parenting
without a larger ‘team’ around them and often navigating the
tricky area of parenting after separation.”
The number of single parent families has risen sharply in recent
years. Between 1996 and 2006 there was a 23 per cent increase
in the number of single parent Australian families with children
aged under 15 years. By 2006, about one in five Australian
children were growing up in a one-parent family and of those
families, 87 per cent were headed by women.
Other resources that support non-English speaking parents
include the Mch Caterpillars, which are key age and stage
bookmarks produced in 18 languages, and a new cd-rom
resource for early childhood professionals about child rearing
practices of immigrant families in Australia.
Single Mothers: A Resource for Parenting Solo is available by calling
Parent Line on 13 22 89 or visiting www.education.vic.gov.au