Discovering how to become an inspirational, memory making, legacy leaving dad!
The Dad Connection is a five-week programme on roles, life and legacy. It has been designed specifically for dads and those who fulfil the role of a father. This resource is a discussion-based parenting course, giving dads the opportunity to consider the role of a father, what impact they have, and what steps they can take to ensure they leave their children a strong legacy.
The five-session programme consists of these sessions:
- Introduction: An overview for course leaders, including tips on how to prepare for your course and great ways to get dads to come along.
- Session 1 – Leaving a legacy: Helping men to understand how important fathers are to their children, what the role of a father is, and to explore the legacy they would like to leave their children.
- Session 2 – Tuning in: Helping men to understand that tuning into your children is a challenge and requires a conscious act of will and a degree of sacrifice.
- Session 3 – Making memories: Helping men to explore how they were fathered and how that defines themselves as fathers, and to consider how they would like to be remembered by their children.
- Session 4 – Inspiring respect: Helping men to identify what respect-inspiring characteristics they already have and which ones they might need to work on.
- Session 5 – Nurturing values and spiritual beliefs: Helping men to explore what values and beliefs they would want to pass on to their children, and ways of passing on those beliefs and values effectively.
Each session consists of:
- The warm-up: Activities to help the group feel comfortable and get them talking
- The review: An opportunity to review the weekly challenge and share what was discussed in previous sessions
- The meaty bit: The main content of the session, which can include discussion questions, activities and handouts
- The meal: Time set aside to discuss the session’s subject over food, whilst getting to know one another more
- The challenge: A task for dads to take home during the week
The Dad Connection has been designed so it can be delivered by anyone who wants to lead a group discussion and activities. Initially developed as a follow-on activity for Who Let The Dads Out? Group attendees who want to dig deeper into some key aspects of a dad’s role as a parent and male role model to their children. It can also help to launch a Who Let The Dads Out? Group in your community.
