Parenting Program

Learn and Grow with Your Child

Deepen connections with the children in your life, learn additional parenting skills, and raise children who thrive.

NOCE’s tuition-free parenting classes bring parents and children together to support social, emotional, and creative growth. Parents, grandparents, foster parents, and guardians can learn positive parenting techniques in a friendly and safe environment. Courses cover various topics and are for adults whose children are of any age (birth to young adulthood). Register today!

Parenting Class Focus Areas

• Classes taken with Children (“Child-and-Me” classes)

  Enjoy classes that promote bonding and expand students’ knowledge and skills to support the physical and social-emotional development of their child through music, movement, reading, arts, crafts, games, field trips, and other learning activities.

  Beginning in 2026, Child-and-Me courses will be hybrid classes in which enrolled adults enjoy weekly in-person class meetings and weekly online learning activities, too. 

  • NEW! Nature Nurtures: How the Outdoors Shapes Childhood (PARN 160). For parents, resource families, grandparents, or other adults with a child ages 4 to 6 years of age. Explore nature through hands-on activities, nature walks, wildlife observation, and creative projects. The course fosters curiosity, observation skills, and lasting connections with nature, while offering flexible, asynchronous access to lectures and resources online for enrolled adults.  (View more details for classes that begin in January 2026.)
    
    
  • Joyful Parenting. Joyful Parenting classes are for dads, moms, and other adults with children in the age range of 1.5-2.5 years and 2.5-5 years. Help build your child’s self-esteem with class activities and quality time together to support child development. You’ll also get the latest parenting skills through lecture, discussion, observation, and hands-on learning. Prepare children for preschool or kindergarten through interactive play, learning expectations, and following directions. 
    
    
  • Raising Thoughtful Children. Enrolled adults participate with a child ages 1.5 to 2.5 years old, or ages 2.5 to 5 years, to support social-emotional development, and guide their child to build awareness of self, family, community, and the world. The class uses developmentally appropriate activities that emphasize building a growth mindset and thoughtfulness toward themselves and others.
    
    
  • Developmental Movement. Learn to encourage development in large motor skills, coordinated body movements, and expressions of self-esteem in your child. Two types of Developmental Movement classes, including a class for adults with children ages 1-2 years, and another course for adults whose children are ages 3-4.5 years.
    
    

  More information can be found on the Child-and-Me courses page.

  Important Details About “Child-and-Me” Courses

  Parent or other adult (ages 18+) attends with a child; the adult is the registered student. Moms, dads, grandparents, resource family parents, nannies, and other adults who caretake a child are invited to enroll.   For more information about Child-and-Me courses, please review additional details on the parenting program registration info page.

  Students enrolled in a hybrid course may request to borrow an NOCE laptop or hotspot, while supplies last. Details and the online form to request to borrow a laptop or hotspot are available via the the Student Technology Support Services page. (Note: Parenting Program students enrolled in hybrid classes are NOT required to complete a Student Educational Plan to borrow a laptop or hotspot.)
• Child and Family Wellness (Building Trauma-Informed Communities) Classes

  With the information provided by these classes, parents, family members, resource families, and other adults learn ways to develop trust, build healthy relationships and healthy behaviors, and communicate with children to develop lifelong resiliency. Adults learn how to model desired behaviors (“do as I do” skills)  and methods that reduce stress and enhance the well-being of themselves and the children in their lives.

  The foundational Child and Family Welless class, Understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), introduces parents and other adult students ages 18+ to key concepts important to understanding their children’s and their own childhood experiences. More and more pediatricians have begun to routinely assess children for ACEs, as the impact of ACEs on health is profound and lifelong. 

  Other Child and Family Wellness courses explore a variety of other topics. NOCE is proud to help build a trauma-informed community through these classes. For more information on Child Wellness/BTIC courses, visit the Child and Family Wellness page.

  A Building Trauma-Informed Communities Conference is offered each year. This conference is attended by dads, moms, grandparents, and other adults raising children of all ages, and professionals including PK-12 teachers, administrators, school counselors, social services workers, college and university faculty and staff, and others. Details are on the Parenting Events page.
• Foudational Parenting

  Connected Parenting (PARN 102)

  Designed to lend support and provide some realistic parenting techniques that can be used in the parent’s day-to-day life, this wonderful course includes lectures, reading, videos, discussions to share best practices, and more. 

  This course is among the classes that adults can complete to earn an achievement award in parenting. For more information, view details on the Child and Family Wellness page.
• Practical Parenting classes (Love and Logic® Courses)

  Practical parenting classes include all of the Love and Logic^® classes offered by NOCE free of charge to our community.

  The Love and Logic^® approach to parenting helps adults raise self-confident, motivated children who are ready for the real world. Love and Logic® classes provide loving, yet powerful tools for parenting young children, adolescents, teens and even adult children. 

  NOCE’s Love & Logic® classes are valuable opportunities for parents, foster parents, grandparents, and caregivers of school-age and teen children, as well as social workers, teachers, and others interested in learning techniques for creating positive relationships. Courses include:

  • Parenting the Love & Logic Way^®
  • Love and Logic: Supporting Youth with Challenging Pasts^®
  • Love and Logic: Supporting Youth with Special Needs^®

  For more information, view the Love and Logic® page.

No-Cost and Convenient Parenting Courses

NOCE Parenting Courses are free and are for any adult who loves or cares for children, including caregivers and any adult family member. Parenting Courses are conveniently available at all three NOCE centers, community locations, and online. 

View the current NOCE Course Schedule to browse currently available Parenting Program courses. Start dates vary. NOCE Parenting Program offers open enrollment so you can join a class already in session if space permits.

Student Spotlight

Raúl Güereque

NOCE Parenting Program Student

Raúl Güereque, a stay-at-home father and longtime educator, discovered NOCE’s Parenting Program through the California Community Colleges website. Although not local to the area, he was drawn to the program’s flexible, tuition-free online courses—an ideal fit for his lifestyle while raising two young daughters. Having stepped away from the classroom, Raúl was looking for a way to stay mentally engaged and grow as a parent beyond books and podcasts. NOCE offered him the opportunity to reconnect with education, focus on personal development, and build confidence during his healing journey.

Since joining, Raúl has experienced meaningful growth in both his parenting and personal relationships. The supportive environment—shaped by educators like Parenting Instructor Chivonne Carter and fellow parents—has helped him feel connected and empowered. He hopes to return to teaching in the future, potentially focusing on parenting or mental health, areas where he’s found renewed passion. Raul highly recommends the Parenting Program to any parent seeking connection, growth, and practical tools for everyday life.