Don't Waste the Single Most Important Tool in Your Fatherhood Program

Some fatherhood program facilitators aren’t utilizing the single most important tool in their fatherhood program toolbox. Is it you? Maybe it's because you are either unaware of or choose not to use it, but our 24/7 Dad® and InsideOut Dad® Facilitator’s Manual is seriously the single most important tool in your fatherhood program toolbox.  

I talk to fatherhood leaders every single day and I often hear this problem. Recently, I talked to a facilitator who was using only the Fathering Handbook to run his fatherhood program. Basically, this is like riding a bike without one of the wheels. It doesn't make sense. Let me explain why.

If you, the fatherhood facilitator, only use the Fathering Handbooks and not the Facilitator's Manual, you and the fathers in your program are missing out on the experiential activities that reinforce the key concepts of the program. You, the leader, must be intentional about going to the Facilitator’s Manual to find the 2 sections that are critical for maximum impact of the program: the Program Guide and the Session Guide.

The Program Guide provides the background on what you need to truly understand the program. This includes what you're facilitating (e.g. conceptual development, philosophy, values, and principles) and how to implement and evaluate it.

The instructions in the Session Guide bring the program to life through activities that raise awareness and build the knowledge and skills fathers need to be involved, responsible, committed. In short, if you aren't using the Facilitator's Manual with our programs, you're wasting the single most important tool in your fatherhood program. I say this because, in my over a decade of experience working at NFI and talking with fatherhood leaders, I know that if you don't use the Facilitator's Guide, you won't see the results you want to see and your sessions won't resonate with the dads you're serving as well as they could.

If you have the Facilitator’s Manual, but haven’t been using it, I strongly recommend you use it to prepare and deliver each session. If you don’t have the Facilitator’s Manual, you can order a complete 24/7 Dad® kit or InsideOut Dad® kit.

I also recommend downloading these free guides designed to help you maximize the impact of your program(s): A Guide To Implementing 24/7 Dad® with Fidelity and A Guide to Implementing InsideOut Dad® with Fidelity.