Aboriginal Parenting Tips Book Launched At St Marys

A NEW parenting book designed for Aboriginal families living in Western Sydney, Hawkesbury and the Blue Mountains has been launched at St Marys.

 Growing Up Strong and Healthy Bubs is one in a series of parenting books produced by Community Services to improve the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal children.

The book aims to give parents advice on raising children up to five years old.

Community Services Minister Linda Burney said the book would help parents, families and community workers give children the best start in life.

“Growing Up Strong and Healthy Bubs is a great resource to help local Aboriginal parents care for their children in the early years,” she said.

“It is full of information on looking after a child, and includes ideas about games and activities as well as many handy hints on ways to deal with things every parent experiences.”

The book offers tips to parents on care, behaviour, activities and diet for each of the child development stages, from newborn to five years old.

“The children featured in the book are from different nations but have been born and raised in the Darug nation,” Ms Burney said. “The book features a vocabulary list of body parts in the Darug language and a song in Gundungarra, which are local Aboriginal languages.”

The book was funded through the Community Services Aboriginal Child, Youth and Family Strategy, a State Government initiative supporting Aboriginal families and children.